Just inside the global village known as the 35th Annual Ethnic Expo international festival, Friday visitors easily could see and hear they were no longer in downtown Columbus.
Or so it certainly seemed.
“Salut! Salut!” said French native Anne Bonnier as she greeted people entering the host country corner for France.
What had been the simple intersection of First and Washington streets was transformed into a Parisian guinguette, a 100-seat, umbrella-bedecked, open-air cafe with crepes served in one area, authentic French wines in another, and two French dancers in layered and ruffled dresses waiting literally to kick up their heels for the can-can on an empty dance floor.
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A few feet away, a 10-foot Eiffel Tower model stood watch over the scene.
The gathering of food, culture, music and more continues from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. today, rain or shine, at Second and Washington streets.
“This is a lot of work,” said Bonnier, secretary of the year-old, small-but-growing Columbus Indiana Accuweil that helps French citizens assimilate locally. “But we have an added mission of promoting France here in Columbus. And this (festival) is a perfect way to make our country better known.”
The group worked with staff from the France-based Faurecia, one of the city’s largest manufacturers, and other volunteers to give the event a European feel.
Attendees Donna and Mike Keogh, who visited France two weeks ago as part of a European trip, described the Ethnic Expo layout as charming. They waited in line for fruit crepes while accordion-laced, recorded French love songs filled the air.
Can-can dancer, instructor and French native Marie Fontana said she was ready to demonstrate a few moves that people could try for themselves. She smiled when someone asked if a couple glasses of wine might loosen a first-time dancer’s joints and inhibitions, not necessarily in that order.
“That could help things out,” Fontana said, followed by a laugh.
Katherine Dunn, the new Expo coordinator and first-time festival attendee, walked among a crowded First Street food booth area in crisp, 50-degree fall temperatures with a happy warmth about her.
One of the city’s largest and most popular events, launched to make international residents feel more at home while sharing their native culture in Columbus, was unfolding smoothly as she had envisioned it.
“It’s wonderful,” Dunn said.
The smells of Asian, Indian, African and other dishes mingled and wafted along on the breeze as diners lined up as many as 15 deep at some vendors. At the Kenya booth, Ethan Sellers drove 10-plus hours from Minnesota Thursday to serve chapati Kenyan flatbread wraps and fruit juices for his Kenya native boss. The juices were especially popular last year in 80-degree heat.
“Those drinks really flew off the shelves,” Sellers said.
Among the bazaar vendors, Dolores Mitchell of New Albany stood at her Ecuador booth filled with authentic sweaters, shawls, knit caps, and jewelry that Ecuadoran women make for her. She has sold her items at Expo for more than 30 years, a considerable testament to her love of the proceedings.
“I really like the idea,” Mitchell said, “that it highlights people of all cultures and countries.”
The world, you might say, is at Columbus’ doorstep.
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Food booths
11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Parade
11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.: Starts on Eighth Street, goes south on Washington Street, west to Third Street.
Entertainment
Noon – 12:45 p.m.: Southern Indiana Pipes and Drums, City Hall steps
1 – 2 p.m.: Steel Away, City Hall Plaza
2:30 – 3:30 p.m.: Route 161 Happy Wanderers, City Hall Plaza
4 – 4:45 p.m.: Columbus Got Talent winner, City Hall Plaza
6 – 6:15 p.m. – Columbus Symphony Orchestra, corner of First and Washington Street
6:30 – 7 p.m.: Columbus Symphony Orchestra, City Hall Plaza
7 – 7: 15 p.m.: Cabaret Dancers and Columbus Symphony Orchestra, City Hall Plaza
8 – 10 p.m. – Flat Earth, City Hall Plaza
8 – 10 p.m. – Cathy Morris, biergarten
Children’s Activities
2 – 4 p.m.: kidscommons French Inventor Lesson and Craft, children’s tent
4 – 4:30 p.m.: French Story Time/Craft presented by Columbus Indiana Accueil, French Village Stage
4:30 – 6:30 p.m.: Face Painting presented by First Financial Bank, children’s tent
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