Thousands of attendees are expected to converge on College Street in downtown Athens Saturday, the crowds will gather to celebrate the 20th International Street Festival, also known as ISF.
“I would say our hope from the festival is that people leave with a better understanding or a taste of all the different cultures and experiences that people have out there.”
Sai Nagula is Senior Coordinator of International Student Life at UGA.
“People in Athens might not necessarily interact with some of these cultures unless they actually left the country, and so it’s a really cool way to bring all the different cultures from around the world together so that you can just experience it in your backyard essentially.”
The group’s director, Justin Jeffery says the family-friendly event features cultural displays and performances from a variety of community organizations.
“The main content that I think a lot of people come out to see are the individual student organizations and community groups that provide table displays or activities. Whether that’s sampling different types of food from cultures around the world,” according to Jeffery.
He believes that type of interaction is a large component in drawing 3,000 to 5,000 visitors to the festival each year.
“And that’s what we’re really what we’re excited about because it’s a collection of UGA’s intercultural organizations and cultural organizations that are there to showcase that cultural diversity that UGA and Athens have to offer.”
The free event will feature a children’s corner. It’s being held on College Street between Broad and Clayton Streets.
For more information about the International Street Festival visit the website.