One could say that Ethnic Expo means the world to Columbus — and now that world will have to wait until 2021 to highlight a rich diversity of culture, food, music and more.
Columbus Mayor Jim Lienhoop announced Thursday that the free, downtown international festival that was set for Oct. 9-10 has been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lienhoop said the city is looking forward to the time when city residents can once again gather and celebrate as a community.
“…But (we) want to ensure that we are not putting our residents, neighbors, and our most vulnerable at risk,” he said. “It was a difficult decision to not hold Ethnic Expo this year, but we want to be responsible in keeping the community safe.”
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Expo, launched in 1984 by late first lady Barbara Stewart, aims to allow the city’s international residents, often brought here for work with corporations such as Cummins Inc., to share their culture with others. Plus, Stewart wanted to help those residents feel more comfortable in south central Indiana, especially when they were missing their homeland.
Organizers with the city of Columbus estimate that 25,000 people yearly attend the two-day festival highlighting food, music and an international bazaar with everything from jewelry to jackets.
Ethnic Expo has been made possible by donations from the presenting sponsor, First Financial Bank, for the last 10 years, and other sponsors including Coca-Cola, ERMCO Electric, and Milestone.
It is also made possible, in part, with support from the Indiana Arts Commission, the Columbus Area Arts Council, and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency, as well as the Columbus Area Visitors Center.
The expo normally includes more than 30 food booths from area organizations raising money and also local restaurants, plus music ranging from ensembles such as Asian drum groups, Mexican dance ensembles and the Cummins Diversity Choir. An international bazaar also is featured.
Perhaps more than any other event, Ethnic Expo fittingly attracts the community’s richest variety of ethnic groups mixing and mingling, which is part of what Stewart said she envisioned when she organized it.
