Variety is spice of life at Multicultural Festival
People enjoyed entertainment and food that spanned the globe at the annual Kingston Multicultural Festival.
KINGSTON, N.Y. » Scores of people crowded the Andy Murphy III Midtown Neighborhood Center on Sunday for the Kingston Multicultural Festival.
Visitors, many of them families with young children, were treated to music from all over the globe. They included performances by the Center for Creative Education’s Energy Dance Company, a Native American percussion performance by Rising Spirit of Thunderhead and Klezmer Berl’s Hotsie Totsie Klezmer Orkester playing Balkan, Roma-Gypsy and klezmer music.
Dining options included Argentinian empanadas, gyros or biscotti.
Geoff Miller, chairman of the Reher Center for Immigrant Culture and History, which presented the festival, said he was impressed with the turnout despite the fact that rain forced the festival indoors from T.R. Gallo Park for the second straight year.
“Last year we worked out the bugs and we made it a little more festive,” Miller said. “I’m enjoying it. We have a nice crowd here.”
Miller said the goal of the festival is to bring all the diverse communities of Kingston together and have conversations.
“Differences are only on the surface,” he said. “What moves us all as people is exactly the same.”
Along with enjoying the food, people could take part in craft activities, including an oragami workshop sponsored by the Mid-Hudson Japanese Community Association. Among those taking part were Daniel Woodham and his 3-year-old son, Miles, who was making a pinwheel.
“We thought the oragami might be a little hard for him,” the elder Woodham said.
Woodham, who moved to Kingston in March, said he heard about the festival in the newspaper and he figured it’d be a fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon, adding they enjoyed all the food and acts.
“It’s a little bit of a shame it had to be indoors,” Woodham said.
Jamie Ford of Kingston came with her sister Karoline Ford, who brought her daughter Leslie, 3, along.
As she watched Energy Dance Company’s performance, Jamie Ford said she loved everything about the event, especially the culture and the atmosphere. “Team Energy Dance Company was amazing,” she added.
Center for Creative Education Board Chairperson Micah Blumenthal said he was proud to be part of an event that celebrates unity and diversity in Kingston.
“It’s great were celebrating this,” he said. “It’s great to see so many people from so many different cultures.
Blumenthal also said each of the 21 students who took part in Energy Dance Company’s performance were happy to share their hard work.
“They earn every clap they get,” he said. “You work hard, it’s nice for people to appreciate it.”