The City of Irvine hosted its 21st annual Global Village Festival at the Great Park on Oct. 8. This year’s festival showcased live performances, art, food and games presented by Irvine’s diverse communities.
“Everything is very open… [People] can ask about the culture, ask about what’s going on in that culture,” Network of Iranian-American Professionals of Orange County (NIPOC) Cultural Director Doost John said.
The 2022 Global Village Festival consisted of 150 booths — located in five areas designated for community partners and sponsors — featuring local businesses, childrens’ activities, restaurants and cultural organizations. The sections for community partners and sponsors had booths from local organizations and schools such as Cool Irvine, Irvine Ranch Water District and UC Irvine.
The Global Marketplace highlighted 20 local businesses and sold an array of items from handmade jewelry to saffron. In a separate field, the Kids Village offered inflatables, games, a petting zoo and a variety of crafting activities for children and families.
At the North Lawn field, the food and drink area featured booths from over 25 restaurants. Cuisines ranged from Sudanese fusion to boba milk tea.
Cultural organizations were located in Palm Court, where 25 booths displayed traditional clothing and instruments, educational posters, ceremonial items and more. Booths representing Consulate Generals, cultural awareness groups and networking organizations provided information on their communities and services. Teacher and operating personnel You Jung Lee worked the Korean American Center booth that teaches Hangul, or the Korean alphabet.
“Our Korean culture wants to show Hangul, so we prepared Korean crafts,” Lee said. “We go where we are used to, [but at this festival] we can meet other cultures in a small area.”
Throughout the day, over 50 groups performed at the festival’s four stages. Scattered throughout the park, each stage hosted a variety of live performances, from cover bands to traditional dance and music. At the North Lawn, the UCI & UCI Health and FivePoint Stages featured performances from groups including Kerry and the Surftones that played surf music and Aztec dance and drumming group Huehuetl Yezka.
Las Estrellas Ballet Folklorico of Long Beach and the South Coast Chinese Cultural Center performed traditional dances and music on the Chinese American Mutual Association Stage located in the Kids Village. Performances at the Palm Court Demonstration Stage included the Dhwani Dance Academy, which showed Bollywood and Indian classical dances, and Sasaki Mitsuru Sangen Kai, whose performance featured the shamisen instrument in a repertoire of traditional Japanese folk music.
Shaina Grover, a senior at Northwood High School, performed at the festival with Adaa Dance Academy. This was her third year of attendance.
“We have always performed at the Global Village Festival; it’s always a ton of fun!” Grover said.
Local martial arts schools also demonstrated different martial arts styles at a designated area in the Kids Village. Inside Hangar 244, festival go-ers engaged with art exhibitions and presentations.
Questions regarding the festival or its future dates and locations may be directed to festival@cityofirvine.org or 949-724-6606.
Beatrice Lee is a City News Intern for the fall 2022 quarter. She can be reached at beatrirl@uci.edu.
