Multicultural Navruz festival brings together people within, outside IU

Numerous student associations came together to celebrate spring at the Navruz festival on Saturday. Navruz, which means “new day” in Persian, is a common celebration in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Iran, Uyghurstan, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. This celebration also marked the 10th year of Navruz at IU.\nThe festival began in Willkie Auditorium at about 2 p.m. Informational boards were set up, showcasing cultural and social difference for the countries represented at the festival. Cultural videos and music were also playing as people arrived, giving them a chance to learn more about the respective countries.\nInner Asian and Uralic National Resource Center Outreach Director Fatima Morrisroe said some people traveled from Chicago and Indianapolis to attend this event. Morrisroe said there is not a sizable Central Asian population in those cities to celebrate the event.\nKazakh Student Association President Gaziz Shakhanov said one of the goals of his organization is to promote the culture of the region through events and conferences.\n“One thing is to avoid negative ideas,” Shakhanov said. “We provide information through these events.”\nThe event drew a crowd full of students, professors and families with children. Dancers in colorful performance attire mingled with friends and the crowd as the festival started. The first dance began at about 2:30 p.m. and about 22 dances or songs, spanning seven different countries, were performed.\nDancer Anna Gallagher is a first-year student at Ivy Tech of Bloomington. Originally from Uzbekistan, she has immersed herself in the various IU groups to stay in touch with people from home. \n“I started performing back at home in Uzbekistan,” said Gallagher, who participated in two different routines. “I met people here, and they asked me to participate.” \nThe crowd then moved to Forest Quad, where food was served. Visiting professor Gulnisa Nazarova served her winning pilaf to the crowd. People could also eat lamb stew, various salads and stuffed chicken. \nMorrisroe said serving food went a lot better this year than last year. \n“We were trying to serve people quicker this year, and that worked out well,” Morrisroe said. “Everybody got served, and there were even a lot of leftovers.” \nMorrisroe said the Navruz festival at IU is one of the largest in the United States, and she estimated that there were no less than 300 people present throughout the day. She said the event was successful. \n“The concert, I felt, was a lot more fun this year,” Morrisroe said. “This celebration was definitely a good example of celebrating spring. It definitely has to do with the 10-year anniversary, because every year we plan this we try and make it better than last year.”