Culture Fair or Asian Fair?

Diversity Club’s annual event proves successful once again

Diversity Club’s annual Culture Fair delivered March 31 yet another production of information, dress and performances of which attendees were amazed and awed.

“I think the turnout this year was amazing and the audience was very supportive and enthusiastic so it made the show even better,” senior Emily Wei said. “A lot of my friends were in the Culture Fair and performed, which was definitely my favorite part.”

From the colorful and traditional attire presented on the fashion runway to the energetic and fun performances, the Culture Fair was a night family and friends enjoyed.

One of the most memorable moments of the night was being backstage before the fashion show,” Wei said. “Since the fashion show was the first performance of the night, the audience was very hyped up and when the individual countries walked out, it was amazing to hear the support of the audience.”

Wei and senior Anna Qi represented the countries of Taiwan and China. They both wore qipao dresses, which are traditional Chinese dresses worn prominently during the Qing dynasty.

Many highlights of the night included dance performances from China’s traditional dance and India’s Bollywood dance troupes. Senior Shivangi Sheth wowed the audience with her impressive Indian solo dance performance.

“My most memorable moment of the night was when at the end everyone hugged each other on stage because this is the last time we will share the stage and that moment was priceless,” Sheth said.

Although the Culture Fair was a success, a majority of the countries represented, such as China, India, Vietnam, Korea,and Pakistan, were Asian. Though there were non- Asian countries as well, such as Nigeria, Uganda, and Mexico, it seemed like they were overshadowed by the overwhelming numbers of Asian countries that seemed to steal the stage in both the fashion show and performances.

I think there should have been more diversity in the show, because there were mostly Asian performances and barely any other countries,” freshman Sanika Dhawan said.

There was barely any mention on any European countries either.

For many of the senior performers it was a night filled with nostalgic memories and moments as it would be their last performance on the McNeil stage.

Since I’ve been to all the Culture Fairs ever since I came to McNeil, it’s definitely a bittersweet ending,” Wei said. “Culture Fair is one of the events I look forward to all year. However, I think this year’s was definitely the best out of all three years I’ve been to so I am glad that the last one was a good ending,” Wei said.