A procession of 20 members of the multicultural community carrying their national flags made a powerful statement Saturday that multiculturalism may not be as absent from Iowa as many believe.

Live performances, informational booths and ethnic foods characterized the fifth annual FACES festival – Families of Ames Celebrating EthnicitieS – which kicked off outside the Ames City Hall to educate residents about other ethnicities and cultures, said Penny Rice, co-chairwoman of FACES.

“We have an interesting population here at Ames. In order for people to live peacefully next to each other, we must understand each other’s culture,” Rice said.

FACES also helps encourage tolerance and understanding of other cultures and helps Ames residents better understand other cultures, said Bob Butler, President of the Ames Chapter of the United Nations Association.

The day started at 8 a.m. at the Campanile with international community members and students carrying their home countries’ flags to City Hall to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the United Nations.

Mary Jo Mattila, co-chairwoman of FACES, said the event started five years ago when the Human Relations Commission received several bias incident reports.

Several diversity groups met once a month to talk about the city and their hopes of sharing their culture with others.

“We had a few problems this year,” said Mattila.

She said entertainment for the event had not been listed on the schedule, and money has been tight and the event had trouble obtaining funding. Mattila added, however, “businesses were generous, and we received contributions from the Iowa State Alumni and the City of Ames.”

Despite the difficulties in planning the event, attendees said they still learned from the event.

“I came to FACES to learn more about different cultures. It’s nice to watch the kids learn new things,” said Ames resident Debbie Harris as she and her children walked from booth to booth.

FACES was made up of volunteers who dedicated their time to make this event work.

Yajie Liang volunteered and ran a booth for a group called Falun Dafa.

“Falun Dafa is comprised of five sets of exercises and the principles of truth, compassion and tolerance to help your health, mind and spirituality,” Liang said.

The booth is also raising awareness of the persecution of people in China for practicing Falun Dafa.

“In China, those who practice Falun Dafa are persecuted and many times killed,” Liang said.

“My daughter lives in Beijing, but I can’t see her because if I go back to China, I will be persecuted.”

She hopes raising awareness will help make the situation in China better.

Shameera Abeyagunawardena, a DMACC student, also dedicated his time to this event.

“I think that people can take away a piece of our culture,” Abeyagunawardena said.