By Nikki Perry | Celebrate music, food, and traditions from around the world at Small Town, Big World: Lilburn International Festival on September 10 in Lilburn City Park. This free event features cultural performances, food vendors, a parade of flags, international games and crafts, and free bounce house play for the kids.
The opening ceremonies are at 10 a.m., as State Rep. B.J. Pak and Mayor Johnny Crist welcome the crowd. Along with an impressive parade of international flags, the Stone Mountain Chorus will sing a barbershop harmony rendition of our national anthem.
Entertainment will continue throughout the event, including Bollywood, Hispanic, Irish, and Bulgarian dancers, Korean drummers, and a jazz fusion band. One of the youngest performers is 13-year-old Angelina Kim, who plays Korean folk songs on a traditional stringed instrument called the gayageum.
Aside from the bounce houses, there will be plenty of activities in the park. High school exchange students from South Korea, China, Germany, Poland, Italy, Spain, Thailand, and Vietnam have organized games and crafts representative of their countries to engage youth attending the festival. Students from Charles Minter’s Tae Kwon Do studio will give martial arts demonstrations. CrossFit Lilburn 678 will set up a ninja style obstacle course. Henna artists from the Amadiyya Muslim Community will create intricate temporary tattoos. The BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir will host a free photo booth.
There will be a variety of international foods to try, from pho to tropical ice cream. Presenting sponsor Nam Dae Mun will serve samples of fruits and vegetables from the farmers market. For the less adventurous, American staples like hot dogs will also be sold.
The festival is organized by Lilburn Community Partnership, a grass roots effort to create and sustain a safe, vibrant, and prosperous Lilburn through fostering community engagement. Diana Preston, who is president of the nonprofit and a former Lilburn mayor, says the international festival is an opportunity to see the world without leaving Lilburn. “Lilburn is home to people from all over the world, but we are still a small town. We see people from different cultures at school or at the grocery store. This festival is a chance to learn more about each other.”
Lilburn Community Partnership teams up with the City of Lilburn to present the international festival, which is now in its third year. Mayor Crist hopes the festival will help promote understanding in this diverse community. About one third of Lilburn residents were born in another country, according to the U.S. Census 2015 estimates.
Mayor Crist says: “Residents of Lilburn, regardless of their cultural background, are bound together by the values that we share. We have chosen to live in a safe, friendly place where people know their neighbors and are involved in the community.”
- The “Small Town, Big World” Lilburn International Festival will be September 10, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Shuttle service will be available from the First Baptist Church of Lilburn parking lot. For more information, go to www.cityoflilburn.com.
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