Photo Credit: Emily Edmonds
On Thursday August 8th, Great Falls celebrated their 3rd Annual Cultural Fair. Their Cultural Fair was held indoors for the first time this year at the Mansfield Convention Center. The event was put on by Rotary Electric and was advertised for festivities to occur 5-8pm. When 5 o’clock rolled around, locals were quickly gathering. I arrived at 5:30pm and cars were filling up parking spots while couples and family walked close together eagerly wanting to get in the door. Attendees gathered at the entrance with $10 ready to get their passports.
Passports were stamped as friends and family lined up to taste cultural cuisine from 11 cultures around the world — Native American, Black American, Mexico, and Puerto Rico to name a few. Each vendor had food and a small exhibit presentation which shared fun facts and enriching history about their cultures. One of my favorite displays was seeing our “Black American” Sunday Best. The outfit they brought was iconic — an orange woman’s dress suit with beaded work, adorned from head to toe; featuring a matching hat, bag, and heals. I told the lady I wanted her to dress me! She laughed and said those outfits are for older ladies and what she wore to the event was her Sunday Best.
As the evening went on, I saw that the cultural fair was truly a family friendly event. Everyone from all ages were there! It was such a fun, vibrant, and welcoming atmosphere. Many individuals sat in front of the stage watching live performances while snacking on delicious food from local vendors.
Live performances started with and ended with Assiniboine Cree from Rocky Boy reservation in Montana. They brought with them Native American singing, drumming, and dancing. Between these show cases there was Mona Dance Hula representing Hawaii, Hip Hop Saints representing Black American, and All-Stars Entertainment representing Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Colombia, and Dominican Republic. Some groups of people who were not affiliated with a dance company came together to represent Tonga, Samoa, and much more.
2024 Montana Cultural Fair is a treasured event with locals coming together to celebrate one another. It was a total success this year and hopefully years to come.
Author: Staff
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