UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — WPSU-TV and PBS KIDS’ will host the Multicultural Children’s Festival on Saturday, April 1, 2023. The event is free and open to children, their families, caretakers and friends.
Isabel Reinert, executive director and general manager of WPSU, said it is an honor to be able to host this multicultural event—now in its second year.
“It is a privilege to bring together families to experience the cultures they may have left behind or have yet to experience in person,” Reinert said. “We are thrilled to be hosting this nationally recognized event honoring the diverse backgrounds of so many in our community.”
Sue Garner is the director of Tir Na Nog of Central PA, an Irish dance school located in Bellefonte. Garner said dancers from Tir Na Nog will perform at the Multicultural Children’s Festival to share Irish heritage.
“I feel it’s important for the community to see what is available for children to participate in and Irish dancing has grown to be a global performing art and I love being able to promote it,” Garner said. “Irish dancers learn teamwork, reaching for a goal and self-confidence. I take children as young as 3 years old and have many dancers over the age of 18. Some of them come for the fun of Irish dance, some compete at the championship level. One dancer, Christopher Resuta, will be competing in the 2023 World Irish Dancing Championships April 2-9, in Montreal, Canada.”
Table stations will feature Center for the Performing Arts at Penn State, Friends of Ten Thousand Villages, Caribbean Community, Centre Safe, Allied Milk, PennAEYC, and the countries of Japan, India, Botswana, Peru, Mexico, Romania, Afghanistan and more. All events, activities and performances will take place at the WPSU studios, in the Outreach Building in Innovation Park.
WPSU and PBS KIDS’ Multicultural Children’s Festival
Schedule of Events
10 – 10:15 a.m. Dragon Dance
10:15 – 10:45 a.m. Mexican Folkloric Dance
10:50 – 11:20 a.m. Tir Na Nog
11:25 – 11:55 a.m. Chinese Students and Ping
Noon – 12:15 p.m. and 12:45 –1 p.m. Black Cat Belly Dance
1:15 – 1:45 p.m. Traditional Hispanic Folk Music
2 – 2:30 p.m. Venezuelan Music with Andy Martinez & Friends
Children attending the festival will receive a PBS KIDS’ Passport to visit the activity stations and learn about global cultures and people through art, music, crafts, activities, and food.
Check out a video from the 2022 WPSU and PBS KIDS’ Multicultural Children’s Festival here.
The festival is free, but registration is required for organizers to have adequate supplies available. Register to attend the event here.
WPSU serves 24 counties in central Pennsylvania and reaches 515,000 households, and WPSU-FM is accessible to more than 450,000 listeners in 13 counties. The public media station also includes WPSU Digital Studios, which offers original web series that explore science, arts and culture. WPSU is a service of Penn State Outreach.
Visit the WPSU website to learn more about central Pennsylvania’s public media station.
