Garrett Neese/Daily Mining Gazette Indian students celebrate during Saturday’s Parade of Nations in Houghton.

HOUGHTON — With crowds and world flags lining much of the way, students and community members from 52 countries marched from the Rozsa Center to Dee Stadium Saturday for the Parade of Nations and Multicultural Festival.

Michigan Technological University puts on the annual event, which is designed to showcase the many cultures found locally.

“This is really for the students, for the representation of empowering them to be able to see themselves and validate their identities and their countries and kind of uplift those things,” said Christian Montesinos, director of international programs and services at Michigan Tech. “But I also love the community aspect of it, because sometimes it’s the only time that the general community gets to see our international students, and maybe they’ve never seen someone from India or Ghana. And so it really brings that notion together of community, or togetherness.”

The 52 countries included new entries such as Chad and Zimbabwe, Montesinos said. With the Chinese student population growing again, it also meant the return of the dragon, a longtime parade favorite, which students carried through the streets.

The parade set off from the Rozsa Center, where students milled around beforehand. Candela Calle, a Spanish exchange student at Houghton High School, painted flags on people’s cheeks.

Valentin Ravotti got the sky blue and white stripes and yellow sun of his home country, Argentina. He also carried a flag honoring his hometown, Malargüe, in central Argentina near the Chilean border.

“I want to show my culture,” he said. “I bring my mate (a caffeinated herbal drink), I bring the flag of my village, my things. I know a lot of other cultures, because it’s really interesting.”

Felipe Altamirano, an Argentinian undergraduate double-majoring in electrical and computer engineering, worked to reflect gaucho culture, with long boots, layers of belts, and a bandana around his neck.

He and Ravotti quibbled over whether the light shoes known as alpargatas fell under gaucho wear or casual, because even under one flag there can be multitudes. But the day was a great way to showcase their country, Altamirano said.

“We, the Argentinians, are a pretty small group, so it feels a lot like a brotherhood event for us,” he said. “We love Tech, and it’s lovely to be able to share our culture here.”

The parade route looped back around to Dee Stadium, where the first marchers passed the line that was already forming to get into the Multicultural Festival. The event had international food booths from students and local businesses, as well as performances onstage from local cultural organizations.

Nathan Bett of Hancock was anticipating his meal from the Bangladeshi Student Association, which included chicken curry, lentil fritters, vegetables and carrot halwa. He’s lived here for several years, but until now, he’s been out of town during the parade weekend and couldn’t make it.

“We moved here from New York a few years ago, and there’s a real lack of international food around here, so any chance we get, we’re jumping on it,” he said.

The Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers prepared 500 beef skewers, which sold out within 40 minutes.

SASE had bought lamb chops from Frozen Farms in Calumet, said Cate Roelant, a biomedical engineering student at Tech. Club members were busy for the two days beforehand, deboning them and cutting them Thursday, marinating them overnight, then grilling Friday into Saturday.

They’re seasoned with gochugaru, a Korean red pepper, as well as Indian red pepper, cumin and salt.

A lot of the money from those skewers will go toward funding the group’s trip to the annual SASE in Boston and the regional convention at Purdue University.

“Especially in Houghton, there’s not a lot of cultural diversity, so it’s just a really great chance for typical civilians to encounter and enjoy Asian culture, especially with more authentic seasoning,” Roelant said. “And we also really like to put our name out there and just have exposure for our club.”

It takes a village to be able to put the event on every year, Montesinos said. A committee of around 10 people takes on everything from logistics with the city, food preparations with students and the scholarship content with the logo.

This year’s parade featured an altered route solely through Houghton after Hancock pulled out, citing costs. Montesinos said there is no official word on the route will change back next year, but said Tech is hopeful the traditional route can return.

“Everyone from Hancock to Houghton to the surrounding areas is welcome, and we’re leaving that door open for whenever they want to come back,” he said. “We are more than welcome and happy to have that happen.”