Activities & Organizations News

Organizations to celebrate diversity at annual Carnival of Cultures

The Council of Ethnic Organizations will host the Carnival of Cultures on Tuesday to celebrate diversity and expose University of Houston students to different cultures from around the world.

The Carnival of Cultures, CEO’s signature spring event, will be held from 6:30 to 9 p.m. Tuesday in the Houston Room of the Student Center South. The event will feature tents representing each continent, a free taco bar and free activities such as face-painting, bracelets, caricature artists and drum lessons.

“It will be a chance to understand what is seen in different places and what their cultures are, said Fatima Siddiqui, CEO’s vice chair. “Even the tents that we use and the activities we have there are similar to at least one part of the culture over there.”

CEO hosted an event last semester, Siddiqui said, where 14 cultural organizations participated in a talent competition. Carnival of Cultures will feature dance-based performances from three of the same groups: the Nepalese Student Organization, the Vietnamese Student Organization and the Hallyu Club, a k-pop-based organization.

In addition to entertainment, CEO will set up information booths to allow students to learn about different cultures.

“This is to give a chance for students to understand more about different countries and continents,” Siddiqui said. “Each continent will have an information booth, too, because we don’t want to just do fun stuff but also learn through fun stuff. Students can come in and participate in the activities they want to participate in.”

Siddiqui said that tents will be set up for each continent, excluding Antarctica, with themes that exemplify a part of that continent’s culture. For example, the Europe tent will be arranged with an atmosphere like a French cafe.

Students will receive a card to stamp for each continent’s tent they visit. If they visit four tents, they will be eligible for a free shirt. Siddiqui hopes this will expose students to various cultural organizations.

“The function of CEO is to help and empower cultural and diversity organizations,” Siddiqui said. “We would like more and more students to know about different cultures and get interested in the events the organizations are putting up.”

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