Opening ceremony, UNT African Dance Ensemble
photos by David Minton, Denton Record-Chronicle
Yesterday's festivities for the WorldFest on the Square started with a parade of nations and moved into introductions of each country's flag and its bearer; many of them accompanied by local Brownie Scouts in uniform. Then dancing by UNT's African Ensemble, speeches by the university president, Mayor of Denton, Consul General of Mexico in Dallas, and others. There were three hours of great performances by international students...from a Japanese band (for whom I must find a CD!), tango dancers, Thai and Korean traditional dancing,
We had booths featuring countries from every region of the world, with a passport that visitors to the booths could get stamped after learning about the countries. There was international food to enjoy: Thai, Indian, Korean, and Peruvian. We partnered with organizers of Friday night's Fiesta on the Square, an established event that afforded us much assistance and excellent advice. We had sponsor booths there from the outreach group of a local Catholic church, Visual Arts Society of Denton, Girl Scouts, 2010 Census, Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Opening Doors Immigration Services, and more.
Must give props to the weather, which was gorgeous; the Courthouse on the Square, which provided a lovely, shady space under huge spreading pecan trees; the Courthouse Museum, which was open for our browsing pleasure and graciously allowed us to use its restrooms! Tremendous amounts of hard work by the organizers, volunteers, lots of students.
It was a great way for UNT to bring a lot of what we already do out to the community. We will be doing it again!!
