The Global Brown Center hosted its annual International Festival in collaboration with Brown Cooking Club on Saturday afternoon. Held on the Main Green, the event featured 15 booths run by student groups, as well as live music and performances.
Festival organizers hoped to provide “a day of delicious food that feels like home, performances from our incredible students, games to enjoy and — most importantly — a day to uplift our diverse global community,” the event description reads.
Food available for purchase included spring rolls and stir fried noodles from the Chinese Students Association, grape leaves and baklava from the Brown Arab Society and brigadeiros from the Brazilian Student Association.
Participants could also learn to play with the diabolo, a type of yo-yo brought by the Brown Taiwan Society, or enjoy performances from Brown Badmaash and Mezcla Latin Dance.
The diverse array of foods at the festival “celebrates and centers the cultural histories, experiences and importance of food, cooking and sharing a meal together in community,” according to the event description.
Many clubs began planning for the event in March, according to Samantha Rosario ’26, vice president of Latinas@Brown.
Rosario, whose booth sold iced hibiscus tea and horchata, explained that participating in the festival was a way to expand the club’s reach.
“We’re trying to grow our visibility on campus because we’re usually a smaller club,” she said. “We wanted to make homemade stuff that isn’t usually accessible on campus and spread the word about our club and what we do.”
Benjamin Cordova Herrera ’26, co-president of the Central American United Student Association, ran a booth selling seasoned fruit cups. Through participating in the event, Cordova also hoped to expand his club’s presence on campus.
“We just wanted to get our name out there and let more people know about the association,” he said. “It was also a good way to share our culture, food and the types of things we do.”
Cordova Herrera added that the event was a great way for students to gain “more cultural exposure.”
For attendee Isabelle Boun ’27, the event offered a great opportunity to take a study break while enjoying cultural foods.
“I did not know that we had to bring money for tickets, but it ended up being fine — there was plenty of free stuff,” she said.
Boun said that her favorite booth was run by Kazakh at Brown, remarking that their tea and blackcurrant chocolate were “really good”.
Through the event, organizers hoped to offer a sense of community to international students, as well as the student body in general.
“I hope that students were able to enjoy some of our cultural foods, a little piece of home,” Rosario said.
Irene is a freshman from the Washington, D.C. area concentrating in Applied Math and International and Public Affairs. In her free time, she enjoys trying fun new snacks and exploring Providence's parks and shops.
