Celebrating Rivers’ Multicultural Heritage: 2025 Global Fair

Leah Jin ’25, one of the BRIDGE leaders who introduced Monday evening’s programming, declared Global Fair her favorite event of the year, one where the entire Rivers community is invited to contribute cuisine, traditions, activities, and music. 

Small flags were strung together around Kraft Dining Hall, which was full of the smells of foods from around the world, including Ethiopian coffee beans roasting on site and fresh dumplings being made and steamed during the event. From entrees to snacks to desserts, there was something for everyone. Plates were quickly filled with everything from Venezuelan arepas and tinga de pollo tostadas to mujaddara and stuffed grape leaves, Korean japchae, and sweet treats such as Chinese crullers, Italian cookies, and Danish pastries, among many others. Many of the dishes were homemade and had special ties to family history. Director of Institutional Equity Jenny Jun-lei Kravitz P’28 shared the Ng family beef and peas, which she said connects to her own family history of immigration.

In addition to the long table of food, stations were set up throughout the room, offering experiences with cultural practices or globally focused organizations at Rivers. Participants received Global Fair passports and could have their passports stamped when they “visited” a station, and participants who collected stamps from every station were entered to win a prize. Some stations offered education and awareness on a particular topic or group, such as the tables devoted to Juneteenth, Model UN, global education, community engagement, and BRIDGE. At others, there were interactive activities, such as creating origami with Sam Vandergrift and Betty Bloch, making dumplings with Adalia Wen ’25 and her mother, and making julehjerter or Danish heart baskets with Charlize Thomsen ’26.

Performances, musical and spoken word, also offered food for thought during the evening. Katherine Shaw ’26 read her original poem “My America,” and Kayla Thugi ’25 read her poem “Equality.” The Select String Ensemble performed the Chinese folk song “Lan Hua Hua,” with Leah Jin ’25, Jake Winneg ’25, Christopher Kim ’25, Jason Liu ’27, Alex Ho ’27, Eddie De Souza ’26, Evan Canty ’26, Joelle Chang ’26, Henry Goldstein ’26, Alex Slywotzky ’28, and Robby Hargrove ’26 all performing. Maylea Harris ’26 and Esme Asaad ’26 performed the dialogue “Complex Questions,” reflecting on their multitude of identities. A band led by Gavin Bollar ’27 performed the standard “Quizás, quizás, quizás,” with Bollar on drums, Gabe Manasseh ’26 on bongos, and Ben Schouten ’26 on trombone. They were also joined by faculty members Ryan Urato and Zaidi Barreto on violin and vocals, respectively, and Miguel Bollar P’27, Gavin’s father, on guitar. 

Katie Henderson, director of DEI programming and support, took the stage with her fellow colleagues from the Equity and Engagement team and remarked that this is the biggest year yet since combining the offices of global education, DEI, and community engagement under one umbrella. 

The event ended, as it has for the past several years, with a traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony led by sisters Eden Hossaena ’27 and Meron Hossaena ’28. 

“We take coffee very seriously,” said Eden Hossaena, and she explained how Ethiopian coffee is traditionally prepared. The coffee station was set up with green coffee beans and dark roasted coffee, a coffee roaster, a jebena (a traditional coffee pot), and small cups for sipping the coffee. Traditionally, there are three servings or pours of the coffee. New water is boiled with the coffee grounds, serving a more distilled version each time, each serving with a different significance. 

“Community is what makes the ceremony special and unique,” Meron Hossaena concluded.