Ben Garbacz/Daily Mining Gazette 57 nations were represented at the Parade of Nations on Saturday. Here students representing several African countries marched along Shelden Avenue.

HOUGHTON — The City of Houghton showed itself as a true melting pot of cultures during the 36th annual Parade of Nations and Multicultural Festival Saturday. The celebration began with a parade down College and Shelden Avenues and ending at Dee Stadium for the festival. This year 57 nations were represented by international students and assorted student organizations.

The parade was organized by continent, with each country represented by its national flag. Some groups entered floats or displays to accompany the marches such as the Chinese group, who were followed by a large dragon. While onlookers enjoyed the parade, those in the parade waved, played music from their countries or passed out candy.

†he event annually sees around 3,000 people involved according to Michigan Tech Director of International Programs and Services Christian Montesinos. “I always say it’s sometimes the only time that the community gets to see the international students and they love it,” he said. “They really love showcasing a lot of their traditional garb that they would wear for festivities in their home country. They love blasting their music and feeding the community with their food from their home countries.”

The Multicultural Festival following the parade featured 17 booths where student organizations which offered a taste of home with multi-cultural cuisine. The inside of the Dee Stadium was a large mix of cultural exchange, with peoples of all walks life sampling foreign foods and sharing their backgrounds with each another. While they ate, guests were entertained by the talent show featuring Finnish dancing and Taekwondo demonstrations and more.

Though many of the international students live in a vastly different culture while attending Michigan Tech, many said they feel welcome within the area. One such student was as atmospheric sciences PhD student Hasnaa Abo Shosha. In her second year at Tech, she waved the flag of her native Egypt in the parade.b”I feel so welcome, and this is surreal,” Abo Shosha said. “I mean, I’m from Egypt, also Muslim, so my appearance is maybe obvious that I’m different, but people here, they are so welcome, and I feel so involved in the community. So I feel I’m just part of Houghton, part of this community right now.”

Others were able to showcase cultural traditions passed down from their families while growing up in America. Third year data sciences major Erica Zhu was selling lamb skewers as part of the Society for Asian Scientists and Engineers. Zhu was born and raised in California, but wanted to share a dish she eats when she visits her grandparents in China. She said it was an honor to serve the dish because lamb is such a unique ingredient. “I think it’s a unique opportunity for organizations to get the funding that they need, first and foremost, but second of all, it’s very important that we build a community and home, that we share our culture, because there’s just so much unique food,” Zhu said. “And I feel like I don’t often get to try everybody’s food, but this is one of those days where I can, and I feel so lucky that we had it.”

She added there is a lot of pride involved in presenting her culture and does her best to connect herself. Zhu said sometimes she wants to share her culture and other times she feels alienated. She explained it is about reflecting on who she really is.

Other students represented countries due to an interest in overseas cultures, such as fourth year environmental engineering student Carsyn Boggio, a member of the German Club who is studying the language as her minor. She said the club was established last year to expand understanding German culture further than just the language. She said understanding the culture is important to students at Michigan Tech due to the field of engineering and Germany being well connected.

“We have a lot of mechanical engineers and people in the automotive industry, and if people want to go and work somewhere in Germany, having that cultural understanding is really important,” Boggio said. “And having a more informal setting to talk about experiences and share our own experiences has been really awesome.”

Boggio’s booth was selling a more authentic German bratwurst. She explained the German versions are sold in a smaller roll while Americans prefer to sell them in a larger hot dog bun. While the event eventually came to an end, the students will continue contribute to the multicultural aspects of the Keweenaw while they pursue their education at Michigan Tech.