Seven continents of culture meet at Fatih University
ASTANA. May 11. KAZINFORM The 7 Continents 7 Colors of Culture Festival is bringing the cultures, lifestyles, tastes and dances of 74 countries to students on campus, creating a unique atmosphere for learning about and coming to appreciate human diversity.
Organized by international students at the university, the sixth annual festival has come to be a symbol of intercontinental fraternity on campus, gathering world peoples, cultures, beliefs, lifestyles and perspectives under one roof. Realized through the efforts of 697 students from 74 countries, the three-day festival began yesterday and runs through tomorrow. Among the attendees and visitors at the festival are İstanbul Mayor Kadir Topbaş, TRT General Manager İbrahim Şahin, Mehtap TV General Manager Murat Kesgin and famous photographer Coşkun Aral. The festival intends to highlight the beauty and richness found in the world's incredible diversity.
The youths organizing the festival come from seven continents and are participating by wearing national dress and giving presentations about their cultures and lifestyles. Different foods that are the highpoints of national cuisines will also be offered to students and visitors, and traditional folk dance performances will be conducted. The student organizers say that through the festival they hope to emphasize that the generation of today's youth will be the architects of international peace and fraternity in a world where the wars and conflicts of adults have taken center stage. And the students have had tremendous success in bringing together some government representatives, consuls general and ambassadors who might ordinarily not sit at the same table or attend the same event -- the students are effective teachers in the art of living together.
As at many festivals celebrating culture, food is playing a central part at the Fatih University event. From sushi to Özbek pilaf, from Russian salad to Chinese food, the national stands set up at the fair each offer foods more diverse and delicious than the next. Elegantly presented Turkish foods stand alongside special herbal teas from South Korea, just down the way from cuisine that is from Kazakhstan and Macedonia. Traditional dances are also a big hit at the event so far, with students in traditional garments from African countries, Japan, India and Canada performing dance routines, followed by even more folk dances from Macedonia, Russia and Moldova, Today's Zaman reports.
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