Flags from more than 50 countries decorated the walls of the Memorial Union Great Hall as 11 organizations and groups hit the stage to represent their cultures and traditions during Iowa State’s annual Global Gala event Friday night.

The Global Gala is an annual celebration of diversity and inclusion on campus. With more than 300 visitors in attendance, this year’s event featured 11 performances, globally-inspired food and interactive activities focused on travel. 

“Global Gala is a way to showcase organizations on campus,” said Olivia Thompson, director of multicultural awareness for Iowa State University’s Student Union Board (SUB) and a sophomore studying management information systems. “We’re giving a voice to some of the maybe more minor cultural organizations that don’t get all the show around campus.”

The event is sponsored by SUB and partially funded by Student Government. Thompson said they strive to make the event accessible to all students, which is why it is free to attend. 

“It’s very rewarding knowing that people can be represented here,” said Lauren (Lo) Wilinski, SUB’s co-director of multicultural awareness and a first-year architecture student. “It’s a lot of work, but it was so worth it in the end knowing you can celebrate and allow international students to be seen.”

Thompson and Wilinksi were impressed with the number of people who attended despite the snowy weather, and they enjoyed seeing the level of engagement everyone had with one another and the activities. Wilinksi said people were still crowded around the crafts table and mingling around the food when the performances began. 

The evening’s performances included a traditional fan dance by the Vietnamese Student Association, a series of dances from the Tango Social Club and a sitar performance.

Maisara Nafeesa, a senior at Ames High School who will attend Iowa State in the fall as an architecture student, said she began to cry backstage when she saw her group perform a dance she choreographed. 

“I was overwhelmed,” Nafeesa said. “I was crying backstage, and it was just so heartwarming that they did really, really good.” 

Nafeesa said all five members of her group are part of the Bangladeshi community and had agreed to participate in a performance when she reached out to them. She first began learning how to dance in Bangladesh when she was three years old and has enjoyed finding a space to continue dancing since moving to the United States two years ago. 

“It was kind of depressing at first because a lot of people don’t know about the dances,” Nafeesa said. “They just come here for studying, not able to do any cultural activities. So I have enjoyed spreading the concept that you can still do these types of events and still carry on with your studies.” 

Before the performances began, visitors were encouraged to explore the event space and sample the international cuisine including bao buns, beef empanadas and fruit. 

Attendees were also encouraged to stop by a craft table hosted by the Workspace to select and decorate a journal using the stickers and markers provided.

Kendyll Stevenson, a junior studying supply chain management, said she has attended the Global Gala all three years she has been on campus. She decorated her journal with her bucket list of places to visit and dedicated two pages of her journal to Italy, as she plans to study abroad there next semester. 

“I love stuff like this just because you get to immerse yourself in the different cultures and meet new people,” Stevenson said. 

The event also featured a pinboard with a map for visitors to mark where they are from and with travel-related questions for people to answer.

One of the questions asked visitors to name their favorite part of their culture, which led to responses including “How everyone can find a place to call home?” and “The Language! Die Sprache!”