5th Annual Multicultural Family Fair
Highlights Diversity of South Snohomish County
The Family Support Center of South
Snohomish County will host the 5th annual Multicultural
Family Fair at the Lynnwood Convention Center on Saturday,
April 22nd. This free, non-commercial event will be held
from 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. and is expected to draw more
than 3,500 attendees.
Volunteers from South Snohomish County will set up over
35 booths to share information about their culture through
interactive displays of personal artifacts such as traditional
costumes, photos, flags, maps and art. Many booths will
feature a hands-on project with cultural relevancy. Arts
and crafts activities will give fair-goers the opportunity
to try their hands at creating their very own piece of
another culture, which they can then take home with them.
This year’s activities will include Jamaican kite-making,
Chinese knot-tying, African quilt-making and East Indian
chalk-drawing.
Students from Edmonds Community College’s Culinary
Arts program will demonstrate cooking techniques from
around the world, providing free samples and recipe cards
to fair-goers.
Featured performers at the Multicultural Family Fair include:
Halau Hula O Moani Mokihani Hawaiian Dancers; the Sevdah
Bosnian Dance Ensemble; Lora and the Sukatai Dance Ensemble,
performing African dances; Ballet Folklorico, performing
the dances of Mexico; Sangeet Moksha, performing East
Indian dances; and the Hilltop Dancers, performing European
folk dances. The entertainment is continuous throughout
the five hours of the fair.
In addition, free children’s books donated by Volunteers
of America will be given away to kids and affordable ethnic
food will be available for purchase from local vendors.
According to Pam Graham of the Family Support Center
of South Snohomish County who spearheads the overall coordination
of the fair, “This is a very family-friendly event—you
can spend the whole day there. It’s all under one
roof, the food is very affordable, and there’s so
much to do and see. It’s a great setting for the
whole family to learn about other cultures.”
The Multicultural Family Fair started as a result of
a Family Support Center parenting group for biracial families.
The first fair was held at the New Cedar Valley Community
School and drew 450 participants. For the next two years,
over 1,000 people attended the fair at the same venue.
Last year, the Lynnwood Convention Center hosted the Fourth
Annual Multicultural Family Fair as part of their grand
opening event, with over 3,500 people in attendance.
According to the 2000 U.S. Census, 12% of the population
of Snohomish speaks a language other than English at home.
Within the city of Lynnwood, that number jumps to 24%.
21% of the city’s population was born outside of
the United States, with Asians, Hispanics and Pacific
Islanders making up a quarter of the city's population.
The Family Support Center organized this year’s
Multicultural Family Fair in partnership with the City
of Lynnwood, Edmonds Community College, the Lynnwood Convention
Center, Lynnwood PFD, Community Mobilization, the Interfaith
Association of Snohomish County, Lynnwood Enterprise Newspaper
and the Korean Women’s Association.
More information about The Family Support Center of South
Snohomish County is available at the organization’s
web site at: http://www.familysupportcenter.net.
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