Kaleidoscope
showcases diversity
By Sean Emery
On-line Forty-Niner
 The
annual Kaleidoscope festival will take place
on the Cal State Long Beach campus Saturday
from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The campuswide festival
will feature a variety of displays, food
and booths.
The festival, which has been an annual event
at CSU Long Beach since 1985, is meant to
highlight the academic pursuits of the university,
as well as celebrate the diversity of CSU
Long Beach, and its community. According
to organizers the event has attracted 30,000
individuals annually.
Lee Vail, an associate dean for the college
of the arts, originally conceived the festival.
“I wanted to showcase the diversity of the
university in a fun, festive atmosphere.”
Said Vail
“The overriding goal [of the festival] is
to open up the campus to the community and
to exhibit the different offerings and departments
that our school has,” said Zanaida Stewart,
the coordinator of Kaleidoscope. “[It’s
also] to provide a good time for the community.
It’s a festival day, this is our biggest
party of the year.”
The festival is made up of booths, entertainment,
and food sponsored by students, staff and
faculty groups. Off campus groups
are allowed to participate only with the
sponsorship of an on campus group.
“This is an opportunity for student groups
and other campus organizations to raise
funds,” Stewart said. “Whoever wants to
participate is welcome to participate.”
The festival is broken up into seven sections:
Engineering Day; Earth Day and Health Fair;
Caesar Chavez Village; African American
Market Place; Kaileido-carnival and Kids
Zone; Greek Row; and Children’s Day.
“We look at all the participants that apply,
then, according to what they offer and what
department they are from, we put them in
[the correct section].” Stewart said.
The Earth day section will include a variety
of booths from different organizations,
such as the Sierra Club and the Conservation
Corps of Long Beach, about environmental
issues. It will also include the health
fair, a rock-climbing wall, and the Muscle
Car 500 push cart race.
Caesar Chavez Village will include a variety
of groups and booths featuring foods and
performances from Latino and other international
groups. The African Marketplace will also
include ethnic foods, arts and crafts. In
addition, it will feature a showcase performance
by a jazz band at 2:00 in front of the bookstore,
in conjunction with the Gerry Mulligan Festival.
Engineering Day will feature a micro-mouse
race. The Kaleleido-carnival and Children’s
Day will both feature game booths and groups
geared toward children of all ages.
In addition to all the various sections,
the festival will also feature an open house
for freshman and transfer students. More
than 4,000 prospective students have signed
up to take advantage of the open house,
which will be available for students their
parents, and their other family members.
“[Visitors] should expect lots of food,
lots of games, rides, and a wealth of information
about all the departments and organizations
on campus. Expect to be surrounded by at
least 20,000 other people who are having
a good time,” Stewart said. “My advice is
to make sure you visit all the areas. This
is a mile long campus, and stuff will be
happening all over it.”
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