The Global Village Festival, an Amherst event that celebrates cultural diversity, is returning for its second year.
The festival will take place on Saturday, April 11, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Amherst-Pelham Regional High School. The event will feature live entertainment, food trucks, local vendors and a youth market where young entrepreneurs can showcase their talents. Various town departments and community organizations will also be on hand with resources and games.
“It’s a celebration of who we are. And we are a country that is built on immigrants, on the Indigenous population, and also from members like myself who have their history from folks who were enslaved and brought to this country, and the festival allows us to take celebration in all aspects of the country,” said Pamela Nolan Young, director of diversity, equity, and inclusion for the town of Amherst.
This year’s entertainment includes hula dancing, a gospel choir, western swing music, Latin dance, Irish Gaelic music and Cambodian dance.
New additions to the festival this year include bilingual storytimes in French, Spanish and Chinese; official “mini passports” for children to get stamped at vendor booths; and a new sensory space featuring noise-canceling headphones, fidget tools, verbal cue cards and weighted lap pads for guests to borrow.
The youth market, which is cash-only, is the culmination of a five-week entrepreneurship program for students in grades 5-12 led by Samantha Giffen, communications manager for the town of Amherst. As part of the program, young vendors meet local business owners and create their own products to sell. Last year, nearly every youth vendor sold out.
“I think there were a few who had products lingering, but … no complaints from any of the kids making over $100!” said Philip Avila, assistant director of diversity, equity, and inclusion for the town of Amherst.
All vendors — both youth and adults — keep 100% of their proceeds.
“It really is accessible,” Giffen said. “It really allows everyone in the community, from established small businesses to someone who just makes something and wants to share it with the community, [to participate]. You can see all of the ‘homegrown-ness’ of it — the true roots of the community, which I think is really cool to see all come together.”
Continuing the theme of accessibility, festivalgoers who need help with food vouchers for the event can visit the Glass Room of the Bangs Community Center in Amherst or call the Department of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at 413-259-3198.
The festival debuted last spring with an estimated turnout of nearly 2,000 people; organizers expect this year to be even bigger.
The event coincides with the Festival of Languages and Dialects, a new two-day celebration at the University of Massachusetts Amherst that aims to celebrate linguistic diversity. To encourage residents to visit both, shuttle buses will run between the two locations on Saturday.
“I think [the overlap is] reflective of the town’s efforts to be welcoming and inclusive,” said Nolan Young. “It presents unique opportunities for families and visitors alike to experience what we call the ‘global village’ that Amherst is.”
At both festivals, “What we’re trying to do is get people to meet each other across these different communities — have them spend time talking to other people, learning about their different perspectives,” said UMass anthropology lecturer Edwin Everhart, who created the Festival of Languages and Dialects.
Nolan Young added that a multicultural festival like this is important because it reflects the values of the community.
“This is a community of immigrants, of individuals from various backgrounds, and the festival simply highlights what is in existence, what is our everyday reality,” Nolan Young said.
Admission to the Global Village Festival is free. For more information and a full lineup of vendors, entertainment acts, and more, visit amherstma.gov/global-village-festival.
