Helena celebrates diversity with premiere cultural festival

Published 1:31 pm Tuesday, May 3, 2022

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

By MICHELLE LOVE | Staff Writer

HELENA – The Helena Diversity and Inclusion Board celebrated a successful turnout at its inaugural International Unity Festival on Saturday, April 23.

The festival, which was held at Buck Creek Amphitheatre Park, aimed to celebrate Helena’s diverse community and familiarize Helena residents with cultural groups they may not be familiar with.

Local food trucks were there to provide diverse menu options from barbecue to tacos. The participants of the festival enjoyed a cooking demonstration by Dewayne Thompson of Big Daddy BBQ and also a line dancing demonstration from Luther Jarmon, Jr. while they listened to music from different genres and cultures. They also enjoyed face painting, shopping with vendors as well obtaining information from various cultural groups.

“It was a great event for all to enjoy each other,” said Dominga Gardner. The Helena International Unity Festival event was about bringing all walks of life together and embracing each other commonalities and differences.”

Gardner said planning has already begun for the next year’s festival.