A Kaleidoscope of Cultures : Two-Day UCI Festival Celebrates Diversity, Harmony Among Races

IRVINE —  A boy dressed in American Indian leather garb posed for a photograph with a big grin, while nearby a couple of Japanese women in kimonos walked and shared an umbrella.

Everywhere at Saturday’s Kaleidoscope Festival ‘93, dancers, crafts and food from many cultures created an idealistic world of racial harmony at UC Irvine’s Aldrich Park. The festival continues today from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

On the main stage Saturday were performers from the Doireann Maoileidigh School of Irish Dancers.

The six girls, dressed in blue dresses with light pink shawls and black ballet-like shoes, and four boys, wearing black jackets over white shirts and blue kilts along with hard-soled shoes to make clopping noises, took turns showing fancy footwork to the upbeat rhythm of taped Irish violin music.

After the 30-minute performance, the dancers, ages 9 to 21, walked through the food and crafts area to get to a smaller stage, resting briefly to quench their thirst before the second show.

“I like doing these multiethnic shows, but the bad part is we don’t get to interact much with the other performers,” Therese Sullivan, 21, of San Pedro said during the break. “But maybe we’ll get a chance after we’re through dancing.”

Kaleidoscope was first held in 1989 to help mark the county’s 100th anniversary. Its sponsor, the Multicultural Arts Council of Orange County, continued it in 1991, and this year marks the celebration’s third year.

One of the many displays was a memorial altar to the late Cesar Chavez, presented by the Mexican-American Committee of the Multicultural Arts Council.

The sad eyes of the man who founded the United Farm Workers of America, and died April 23, stared out from a black-and-white portrait. The altar, filled with candles and flowers, invited Chavez to partake of the food and opened bottles that were laid out for him, said committee member Genieve Barrios-Southgate.

“This signifies a lot of things important to the Mexican culture,” she said. “First, honoring the dead, which we do on All Saints Day in November. Second, to honor family, and thirdly, Cesar Chavez was important because he symbolized the nonviolent struggle of the poor and the working people.”

To the altar’s left was a chair for his spirit to rest, Southgate said. And the basket holding grapes and skeleton figures portrayed his fight to improve working conditions of farm workers.

Food from 15 countries included tacos with blackened calamari, Armenian stuffed grape leaves, Louisiana fried catfish chunks and Chinese dumplings, among other specialties.

Members of Girl’s Lately, a five-member group of female hip-hop singers from Santa Ana, decided to get some catfish after changing from their costumes.

“I’m enjoying myself,” said Pernicia Jordan, 19. “I get to look around at different performers from different countries.”

Marie Ferreri, a volunteer at the food booth from the Orange County Italian-American Assn., said she likes to try unfamiliar cuisines.

While eating stuffed grape leaves from Armenia, she noted the popularity of her group’s pizza at the festival: “Everybody likes pizza. It’s an international food or something.”

“But I told my friends I wasn’t eating our food. I wanted to try new things,” Ferreri said.