HUNTINGTON - Thousands of visitors from across the Tri-State flocked to Huntington Sunday to experience Marshall University's cultural mosaic.
The 52nd Annual International Festival, held at the Big Sandy Superstore Arena, featured authentic food, music and displays from more than 15 countries across the globe.
The event is headed by the Marshall University Center for International Programs. Various international restaurants, such as Hibachi Japanese Steakhouse in Huntington and Chateau D'Italia in Chesapeake, offered tastings of signature menu items.
But the display booths representing each participating country offered an even more authentic experience as international students shared bits of their culture with visitors.
A shadow puppet display sat next to Indonesia's booth as student Albert Dewanto Caesar explained that shadow puppetry, or wayang kulit, is a popular facet of theater on the islands of Java and Bali and is used for storytelling.
"It's originally from India, but we adopted it and adjusted it to our culture," Dewanto Caesar said of the shadow puppets. "The stories are almost the same."
In keeping with the vast spectrum of cultures coexisting at the event, every booth had something different to offer. As Taiwanese students handed out bubble tea and wrote people's named in Chinese, Saudi women served dates and Arabic coffee, spiced with ginger and cardamom, to others.
Marshall Students Muhammad Shaikh and Muhammad Rahim, both from Pakistan, spoke about the differences across the country's four provinces. While Urdu is the "common language," other spoken languages vary depending on the province.
"Indian culture is all over Pakistan; they are more or less the same, but the religion is different," Rahim said. He and Shaikh said one of the biggest misconceptions the Americans have about Pakistan is the prevalence of terrorism and extremism.
Despite being more than 95 percent Muslim, the country still observes Christian and Hindu holidays, Shaikh said.
With cities such as Karachi - the second-largest city in the world by population - and Gwadar, a major deep-sea port on the Arabian Sea, Rahim and Shaikh attested that their country is quickly developing to compete with the rest of the global economy.
The festival also featured various cultural performances throughout the day, including a Native American smoke dance and grass dance and Bollywood performances.
Reach Elaina Sauber at elaina.sauber@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-3051 or follow @ElainaSauber on Twitter.