The Peace Day Festival allows for young people to share their cultural dances with fellow Iowans. (Photo: IRIS)
By Jinessa Lewis
Nonprofit organization Iowa Resource for International Service (IRIS) will celebrate their annual International Peace Day Festival this Sunday at Mainframe Studios. The festival will aims to share a story of harmony and unity through dance.
The local celebration is part of a global effort created by the United Nations. Known as International Day of Peace or World Peace Day, the UN-sanctioned holiday serves as a day for everyone around the world to stop hate and promote peace. IRIS is using this day of peace to not only spread love, but share diverse cultures with the city of Des Moines.
For 11 years now, IRIS has hosted businesses, cultural groups and international students to come and share their culture with the local community during the Peace Day Festival. While each year has music, food and art, the main focus of this year’s festival is dance. Dance groups from various cultures will come to perform for the community and even teach the crowd a couple moves.
“I’m excited about the dance aspect of it because for me, there are so many ways to demonstrate culture, but dance has a special place in that it appeals to many different senses,” said Del Christensen, executive director at IRIS.
The dance groups set to perform include the Hmong Iowa Youth Dance Group, Rwandan Community of Iowa, Jovenes Embajadores DSM, Love Samba Dance Des Moines, The Bosniak American Association of Iowa and Ishara Dance Des Moines, as well as a Chinese fan performance by Diana Yong Cai.
“We have dance that’s tied to traditional ceremonies, cultural beliefs and celebrated occasions, so to me it’s just that sweet spot,” said Christensen.
As always, vendors at the festival will be serving diverse foods, selling merchandise, showing local art, and much more. The event will also hold a silent auction for the art exhibited throughout the festival. Bids start on Friday and end on Sunday.
The festival will take place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday at Mainframe Studios. The festival is free to attend with donations welcomed. For more information visit the IRIS website.
