Some 2,000 visitors attended last Saturday’s Festival of Nations.

During the day-long event, Driscoll North came alive with vibrant colors, exotic smells and foreign music.

The festival, in its 19th year, was sponsored by the International Student Organization.

Amanda Qwandt, a sophomore and the president of ISO, and Annique Petit, the advisor and a graduate student, were pleased with the attendance this year. Petit said that the festival is “meant to bring together…the community…for one day of celebrating diversity.”

The entirely student-run event featured 38 booths and 16 performers.

Pin Huiprasert, Chayanis Thammasungkeeti and Waraporn Thianphithak performed a traditional Thai dance. Chayanis said that doing the dance “made me feel proud to be Thai.”

The three also said that it helped to bring together not only the entire community but also members of similar ethnic backgrounds.

Sophomore Noah Kim helped run a booth that promoted his Korean background. Noah said that it was “good to know there is diversity” at the University of Denver. He added, “It’s good to try new stuff.”

Freshmen Hollice Davenport, Kristin Shaw and Tyler Deweese were “caught up in all of the action,” Davenport said.

“The diversity was amazing,” Tyler Deweese said. “Plus there’s a lot of good food.”

All three felt that the event was very successful at imparting its message of acceptance and understanding in a diverse world.

Petit said, “This year was more poignant…because of the events of 9-11. We wanted to highlight the importance of acceptance and understanding.”

The 20th anniversary for the Festival of Nations is expected to be much bigger next year. Students interested in joining ISO can e-mail apetit@du.edu or aqwandt@du.edu.