The city of Mountain View is set to host its annual Multicultural Festival this weekend in downtown Mountain View.
Scheduled 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday (March 15) at Civic Center Plaza, the free event celebrates the community’s cultural diversity.
The festival will feature 12 live performances and more than 20 booths highlighting cultures worldwide. A cultural art showcase, which has been on display in the City Hall Rotunda since the start of the month, is part of the festivities. The showcase features artifacts and art from several local organizations and peoples’ homes.
“It’s actually a really cool display,” said Maureen Grzan-Pieracci, the city’s recreation supervisor. “We have some paintings from South Asia, dresses from Turkey and African masks.”
She added that proposed displays include attire from different cultures, informational boards, interactive activities, crafts and even some free samples.
Along with the festival, city officials have partnered with downtown businesses in a promotion to boost commerce in the area.
“We want to encourage the participants and guests to visit our local vendors in the city so that we can continue to have our downtown thriving,” said Xavier Webb, the city’s human relations commission liaison. “We want to also give people more exposure by handing them coupons for these businesses.”
Throughout the day, guests will be offered promotional coupons for discounts at Red Rock Coffee, Pokeworks and Dandies Barbershop & Beard Stylist.
This year’s festival has been in the works since November, according to Grzan-Pieracci. That’s when the event committee contacted community groups about getting involved.
Webb added that diversity is integral to the festival’s success.
“We’re trying to reach out to the community in different forms to ensure that we can get as many diverse performers and booths,” Webb said. “We want to make this festival not only just about multicultural day; we want to make this something that people can be proud of, and we encourage attendees to wear their traditional clothing to celebrate along with us.”
Civic Center Plaza is located at 500 Castro St.
For performance times, coupon access and more information, visit tinyurl.com/yff4ajr3.
