To mark UNESCO’s World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development, the third Multicultural Day was celebrated at St Catherine’s National School on Friday 22nd May. This event has been run previously in 2018 and 2024 and this year’s event brought new countries and cultures to the exhibition.
The following countries were represented with a stand in the hall: Australia, Brazil, Central African Republic, Congo, France, Great Britain, India, Ireland, Mauritius, Nigeria, Pakistan, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.
Many of the stands displayed traditional artefacts and offered food from the country on display but the interpretation by some country’s representatives was quite broad. The Great Britain table featured a spotlight on Bristol and featured a model of Concorde and a large Darth Vader figure (played by Bristolian actor David Prowse in the original trilogy). The Australia table featured a Bluey playset which was complemented by the more traditional boomerang. Other sights included a mini Eiffel tower and a Christ The Redeemer statue displayed on France and Brazil’s stands respectively. One feature from the 2024 event that returned for 2026 was the long queue for food at the stand for Nigeria!
In addition to the exhibition stands, visitors to the event took part in an interactive Multicultural quiz to test their knowledge of flags, capital cities, patron saints and the world’s biggest rivers!
The atmosphere in the hall was wonderful, helped in no small part by musical accompaniment from CeltAfrik, a musical quartet that performs a fusion of African and Irish music, led by Dr. John Nutekpor. Dr. Nutekpor is a performing arts teacher who regularly visits the school to give music lessons to groups of pupils.
Hundreds of people came into the school hall to sample the sights, sounds and tastes of the various countries and cultures. It was fantastic to see many people from around the town, including past pupils and their parents, coming together to celebrate our diversity as well as the things that we all love and have in common.
