More Reflections on the International Faribault Festival

Although the International Faribault Festival took place more than a week ago, memories of it are still fresh in my mind. I have been thinking about it, and have dwelt, in particular, on two or three aspects that I wish to share here.

Though taking place in a small town in south eastern Minnesota, the Festival bore the label "International," which signifies something on a world scale. Yet, the label was not far-fetched.

The Festival did attract people from different countries who live in Faribault and surrounding areas. There were not millions of them, but they represented many countries. I met with individuals from Ireland, Nigeria, Peru, Somalia, Sudan, and, of course, the U.S.A. If every participant were to tell us the people they met, we would surely discover that many other countries were represented. There were, for example, many people originally  from Central or Latin American countries. That was obvious from the language they were speaking--Spanish--and from their appearance. Among the entertainers was an Aztec dance group.

That, for me, is the clearest proof of the "International" nature of the Festival. However, I like to think of other dimensions of that label. I think of the fact that all of us who attended the Festival have family members and friends, some of whom live in different parts of the world. It is fair to assume that we involved them in the Festival through messages, photos, phone conversations, and other ways. We shared, and continue to share, stories with the rest of the world.

The Festival was featured in Facebook messages sent out, especially, by Peter Van Sluis, chair of the Festival organizing committee. It was mentioned in the Faribault Daily News, which is available online and accessible to people around the world. I wrote blog posts, in English and in Swahili, which are read around the world.

Several years ago, during the Faribault International Market Day--the precursor of the International Faribault Festival--I told my friend Milo Larson, who was chairman of the Faribault Diversity Coalition and main organizer of the Market Day, that I saw the Faribault International Market Day not as a small town event, but as a truly global one, because the people who attended it were sure to tell other people--far and near-- about it, and the story might spread around the world. What appears to be a local, small town event, works like a pebble that you throw into a pond, or a lake, sending ever-widening ripples far and wide.