Event like a "street festival" in NAIT's Centre for Applied Technology
The arrival of spring 2019 coincided with that of the Mosaic Festival, an event that showcases the talent and culture of students who attend NAIT from around the world.
It's an annual celebration, but it was renamed this year to better reflect the international community at the polytechnic, says Freya Fu, engagement coordinator at the International Centre and the festival's project lead.
"The word mosaic came up because it represents the different pieces that make up Canadian culture," she adds. "We felt that this word better represented the diversity that we have at NAIT and in Canada."
For roughly five hours, the event brought a street festival vibe to the Centre for Applied Technology. Students, staff and alumni (some of whom took a day off from work to attend, says Fu) staffed 12 booths and staged performances that included Bollywood guitar and African dance, as well as a round dance hosted by the Nîsôhkamâtotân Centre.
Campus food services staff from eat AT NAIT contributed the menu, offering eight stations that featured foods from their own cultures – "what their moms and grandmas made for them when they were young," says Fu.
"We don't always realize how rich our diversity is."
While hundreds came for the fun, the festival had a deeper meaning and purpose, adds Fu. "We don't always realize how rich our diversity is. This is a venue for people to talk about the different cultures they belong to. We want to initiate that conversation. The more we're aware of [those], the better we work together."
Here's a look back at the action – and the great many pieces that come together to form one unified, beautiful picture.
