FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE!!!
COLUMBIA INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL 2021
SEE, TASTE AND EXPERIENCE THE WORLD UNDER TWO ROOFS!
Now that COVID numbers are decreasing, it’s time again to celebrate the international diversity of central South Carolina! We are going ahead with plans for an indoor/outdoor version of this popular festival on June 5&6, 2021, at the SC State Fairgrounds. Tentatively, food will be served outdoors, near an outdoor stage featuring international entertainment. National exhibits and other booths will be more spaced-out than normal inside the Cantey Building, in order to promote the safety and well-being of event attendees and participants. CDC recommendations and local regulations in June will determine our “mask” policy. The safety of everyone involved that is our primary concern.
There will be no “Global Education Day” for children this year, but an Art Contest for students is already underway (see https://www.cifonline.org/ged-art-contest for details).
This year’s festival will feel different, with a smaller number of nations represented (in part due to the smaller number of international students currently in the area), but now more than ever we need this popular venue to celebrate “Unity in Diversity” in South Carolina. Thousands of immigrants from scores of countries live and work among us, and most of us can trace our heritage to another part of the world. Working together, we’ve made South Carolina a prosperous home, which is a favorite destination for vacationers and for fellow Americans looking for a better place to live and work.
During the past year, CIF produced the YouTube Premiere “Christmas Around the World,” and plans to continue to release programs on its new YouTube channel. Teachers are encouraged to use clips from these programs in their classroom. Check it out at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtC5ZcYt_u62t5iIcvfH8Ag/featured
Festival Director Dr. Raj Aluri says that hundreds of people are busy making preparations for the 2021 celebration, which will be “a combination of the missed 25th anniversary and our 26th year.” Since 1996, tens of thousands of people have enjoyed the annual Columbia International Festival, which showcases the music, culture, food and performing arts of the various cultures, nationalities, races and language groups represented in South Carolina. The event brings all of the area's international communities together to build better community/race relations between various ethnic/cultural/language groups and with the South Carolina community at large.
Dr. Aluri and his staff invite you to “Come see, taste and experience the world!” on June 5&6, 2021, at the State Fairgrounds.
For more information on the Columbia International Festival, please visit: cifonline.org
facebook.com/columbiainternationalfestival
twitter.com/Cola_Int_Fest
and instagram.com/colaintfest.
Mailing Address
Columbia International Festival
610 Pickens St. P.O. Box 12504
Columbia, SC 29201 Columbia, SC 29211
Contact Us:
Office: 803-799-3452
Dr. Raj Aluri: 803-318-0800
Email: festival@ifmusa.org