The City of Irvine held its 11th annual Irvine Global Village Festival (IGVF) at Bill Barber Memorial Park on Saturday, Sept. 29 from 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
More than 20,000 people attended the event, which included live entertainment, international cuisine, crafts, activities and merchandise from over 50 represented cultures.
“My favorite part about the Festival was definitely the food,” attendee Hyewon Han said. “Each year I’m so amazed by all the different food venues that come. I’ve never even heard about some of the restaurants before. Sampling the various cuisines is always fun.”
Presenting Sponsor KIA Motors, as well as Walmart and OC Family, sponsored the 2012 annual festival. City of Irvine Mayor Sukhee Kang, in his in his event welcoming letter, said, “planning the [IVGF] is a community-wide effort taking thousands of hours each year to bring the Festival to life.”
The IVGF, as Irvine’s signature community event, celebrates the city’s cultural diversity and international spirit.
“My favorite part about the Festival was just seeing the diversity of the community,” attendee Michael Fu said. “Seeing how so many different people with different cultures could come together was inspiring and reminded me of what a great city Irvine is.”
100 live performances, 124 vendors, 53 restaurants, 33 kids activities, 25 community partners and more than 25 religious organizations all participated in the Festival. The event also welcomed a number of International Special Guests, consulates serving Southern California, from Armenia, Belize, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Japan, Kenya, Lebanon, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
“Seeing the different cultures there made me realize just how diverse and unique all of us truly are,” Fu said. “The festival really helped me understand that I, we, need to embrace our heritage as part of who we are.”
Voted “Best Festival” by OC Weekly in 2009, the IVGF received a 2012 Cultural Diversity Award, recognized by the National League of Cities for its role in improving and promoting cultural diversity.
“I think it’s amazing,” attendee Chandni Patel said. “Seeing all the cultures that I’ve personally never looked into much. It’s really an amazing experience.”
