Caution tape lines the windows of the Multicultural Center (MCC) in the University Union as club officers prepare for this year’s “Culturefest: Construction of Culture” festival at Mitchell park on Oct. 8. Twenty Cal Poly student clubs and San Luis Obispo community diversity groups will be holding booths, serving food, and putting on performances to promote both the ethnic and identity cultures and disillusion the common stereotype San Luis Obispo has of being a predominantly white community.
The Multicultural Center has put on Culturefest for 12 consecutive years, however this is the first year that the festival has been associated with Cal Poly’s homecoming events. Renoda Campbell, coordinator of Multicultural Programs and Services, helps student leaders organize events and awareness campaigns that celebrate diversity on campus.
“We are honored that the Cal Poly Alumni Association is including us in the large scale events during this special time for the university. This is the first and hopefully not the last of our collaborations,” she said.
Biology senior Ian Serrano worked with Campbell and served as the event coordinator for the festival this year. After putting in a year’s work of collecting sponsorship money and recruiting performers, he is looking forward to wearing his construction hardhat that Campbell ordered for club officers to play up the theme of the festival on Sunday.
Serrano wants students and community members to realize that there is diversity in San Luis Obispo, contrary to the common stereotype.
“A lot of people perceive San Luis Obispo as a very, very white community.” he said. “You don’t have to be of color to be part of a certain culture. What we’re presenting at Culturefest is the type of culture that we have here in our community.”
The interest groups participating in the event are not all ethnic or religious groups. The Bucket Busters, a group of young Central Coast drummers, will be banging on buckets at their Culturefest performance. Its group of percussionists identify with a culture of music rather than ethnic culture.
The cultural clubs on campus will also show their support. With three performances scheduled throughout the day, Cal Poly’s Pilipino Culture Exchange club plans on having its dance team perform a traditional Pilipino dance called kasayahan and a modern hip-hop dance.
The festival originally was held on campus but since performances were held inside and club booths were set up outside, MCC decided to move to the Mission Plaza to make clubs feel more involved. Last year, MCC held Culturefest at Mitchell park because they couldn’t reserve the plaza.
“It was a blessing in disguise,” Serrano said.
The response was overwhelming last year. About 500 people attended throughout the day.
This year, the club has received a lot of support and sponsorships from the colleges and the San Luis Obispo community. Fundraising for the event used to be one of the most difficult things about putting on the festival, Serrano said. But with the success of last year’s festival came even more financial support this year. The top five sponsors donating $1,000 or more includes the City of San Luis Obispo, the Cal Poly President’s Office, Wild 106 Radio, Popolo Rotisserie Café, and The New Times.
Serrano hopes that Culturefest visitors will be surprised to find the variety of cultures within the city.
“I want them to see that there is something in SLO that they can enjoy in terms of culture. We have some culture here, damn it. You just have to look around and be open about it,” he said.