Festival celebrates cultural diversity

10:50am Sunday 20th July 2008

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Thousands of revellers turned out to celebrate cultural diversity in Welwyn and Hatfield yesterday, enjoying foreign foods, finding out about different religions and listening to a variety of music.

Stanborough Park, in Welwyn Garden City, played host to this year’s Kaleidoscope Festival, which again saw families flock to the event and enjoy the sun.

Religions from across the district were represented at the event with an array of stalls, while foods from across the planet were served to curious visitors.

Ray Tant, who was there with the Soka Gajjai International, a Buddhist group, said the day had been “fantastic”.

“We are here to talk about Buddhism to anyone that is interested and to really explain what our organization and philosophy is all about.

“This is our third year here and we have always found it to be really busy and a lovely event to come to.

“The type of people that come here are very interested in what we talk about.”

Azita Saberian, representing Baha’I Faith, said: “It has been wonderful this year.

“I think we come here because one of our main principles is unity and diversity, which is the whole aim of this festival.”

She said compared to previous years more people were relating to the idea of unity and social harmony.

“People seem to be actually listening this year and they seem a bit more interested in what we are saying.”