One World Festival 2022
This Sunday, September 11, 2022 at Franklin & Marshall College, join in a celebration of “the heritage and flavors of our culturally diverse county” at the One World Festival.
“The One World Festival allows us to share our common values and uniqueness on one day, and in one place,” the event’s website explains. “Acceptance of one another’s traditions is a choice, and we in the Lancaster County community are joyfully proclaiming our intention to do just that.”
“The goal of the One World Festival is to share cultures and celebrate our diversity,” shared Dorothy Dulo, the event’s organizer. “There are so many ways in which we are all the same and few ways in which we are different. We want to celebrate both. We want to create a place where we can come together as one world and simply celebrate that without other distractions.”
Festival attendees can sample cuisine from a number of Lancaster’s beloved food vendors — including 4E’s Latin Cuisine, Piccolo Eatery, Rafiki African Festival, and Taj Mahal Restaurant — among others. One word of advice? Come hungry!
Then, get a head start on your holiday gift shopping with a selection of unique artisanal options from Food is Love (stop by to say hello!), Celt Wares, Chestnut Ridge Honey (a sister business to Food is Love!), Ten Thousand Villages, Krishna Fashion House, Viyanka Jewels — and many more. Mamta will be at the event, providing henna artistry.
Throughout the day, local performance groups will demonstrate their dance, instrumental, spoken word, and vocal stylings. Performances will include: Black Diamond All Star African dance and drumming; the Byzantine Cantors’ Greek Choir; Celtic Martins’ Irish music and dance; Shree Academy of Arts & Society for Indian Music and Arts’ Indian classical and folk performing arts, as well as a number of other local groups.
Attendees can also meet with local cultural and community organizations. The Jewish Community Alliance of Lancaster, Islamic Community Center of Lancaster, Lancaster Italian Cultural Society, Rafiki African Festival, and others will be available to speak with festival goers. Church World Services (CWS Lancaster), Lancaster/Lebanon Habitat for Humanity, MEDA, The Demuth Foundation, and United Way of Lancaster County will also be on site.
Event attendees can look forward to an incredible day this Sunday — and even larger future events from One World Festival. “The initial planning groups are from the Asian Indian, Greek, Latin/Hispanic, African, Irish, German, Italian, and Jewish communities,” explains the event’s website. “We anticipate and hope to add more as the Festival grows.”
“Expect to learn more about other cultures,” Dulo said, “Good food, have fun, and meet new people from our local community.”
Admission is free for the event, but each attendee will need to register in order to gain entry to the One World Festival. You can register for the event here.
For more information about Sunday’s event, visit oneworldfestivallancaster.org.
By Maddy Pontz
