COLUMBIA, S.C. — Hundreds of vendors served thousands of people on Sunday at the Columbia International festival with countries from around the globe on display.
Education was the theme inside at the State Fairgrounds as thousands gathered to experience the 27th Annual Columbia International Festival. Alex Vaughn's family is from the South American country Guyana. They had a table lined with information about a country that she said isn't well known.
"It's been a really awesome experience to be able to educate people about Guyana, where it is, the type of things that we offer, and that's actually an English-speaking country, so you can visit and not need a translator," Vaughn said.
The two-day festival kicked off Saturday and, according to director Raj Aluri, there were 150 different countries represented.
"South Carolina is a very diverse place, but many of us don't realize it," he said. "So, this event is to showcase how diverse we were."
Vendors filled up two buildings where they sold traditional clothing, novelties, and other gifts. A stream of live performances filled the day and, of course, food from every corner of the globe was being served.
Caver Mudzonga is originally from Zimbabwe. He had a table full of traditional instruments and information about his home country and was even playing the mbira for people who stopped by.
"This kind of event brings people together and some people have been having this urge to talk about a country that either they have been wanting to visit," he said. "Or a country they've visited so when they see our exhibit here, they are so excited to talk about it."
Samantha Phifer brought her granddaughter to the event says important for everyone to learn about different cultures, especially the kids.
"To see that everybody is kind, and there's no strife and everybody is just loving us, meshing together," she said. "I like it."
