Thousands are expected to fill Haggard Park in downtown Plano on Saturday for the 20th annual Plano International Festival.
The event is free to the public and will include cultural performances, children’s activities, a wellness fair, artwork and celebrations of heritage and community. It is run entirely by volunteers.
Graciela Katzer, president of the festival, said it is the largest and longest-running multicultural festival in North Texas. For two decades, it has invited attendees to “experience the world in a day,” according to the festival website.
The event’s mission is to celebrate cultural diversity in the city, raise awareness of Plano’s many ethnicities and build bridges between groups to make a stronger community.
Diversity has increased in Plano, according to the city’s comprehensive plan. The plan states that 1 in 4 Plano residents was born in another country. Non-white communities are expected to increase by 2030 and make up nearly half of the city’s population.
“When you embrace the diversity of the community where you live, you make that community stronger because everyone feels at home here,” Katzer said.
Katzer expects more than 20,000 attendees to come through the festival this year. Here’s what to know before you go.
Schedule of events
The festival will start at 11 a.m. with a parade of flags, the presentation of the colors by the Plano Police Department color guard and the national anthem. The opening ceremony will also feature a proclamation from Mayor John B. Muns.
A naturalization ceremony will follow. Thirty-five people from 18 different countries are expected to take the citizenship oath, according to event organizers. Since the event began in 2005, more than 800 new citizens have been naturalized at the annual festival, according to Katzer.
“It’s very exciting every year, and it’s a very emotional part of the festival,” Katzer said. New citizens take photos with their flags and receive a certificate of citizenship, she said.
Throughout the afternoon, there will be music, vocal, dance and acrobatic performances by local community groups, clubs, schools, organizations and individuals at the park’s gazebo stage, representing a variety of different cultures.
Dancers will represent Spain, Armenia, Greece, Poland, Azerbaijan, Palestine, Egypt and others. A full schedule of cultural performances can be found on the event’s website.
From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., the festival will also host a wellness fair, with free flu and COVID-19 shots, dental and eye exams, a blood drive, health screenings, fitness demonstrations and more, according to the festival’s website. Attendees can also call ahead for a free mammogram appointment.
At 1:30, an international fashion show will take place at the park’s gazebo stage.
At 4:45 p.m., the North Texas Performing Arts group will present “On Your Feet! The Musical – The Story of Emilio & Gloria Estefan.”
After 5 p.m., events in downtown Plano will continue the festivities in association with, but organized separately from, the festival.
At 5 p.m., Ugandan singer-songwriter Bolton Serunjogi will perform at McCall Plaza.
At 6 p.m. in the Courtyard Theater, the Garage Arts Project will present Bridges, a show combining music and dance fusions from different cultures. Tickets can be purchased online and at the door and cost $10-15.
Booths, activities, art and more
Several organizations will be represented in booths at the festival, including the Celebrating Asian American Heritage Foundation, Collin College, Egyptians in Dallas, FC Dallas, the International Women’s Club of Plano, Light of Hope Immigration Law Center, Raising Cane’s, Scottish Society of Dallas, Zahra Henna Design and dozens of others.
Cultural vendors will sell jewelry, clothes and other products at the festival, Katzer said.
The event’s Global Village for children will feature educational, hands-on activities for children near the park’s Saigling House. STEAM activities will promote science, technology, engineering, art and math.
Georgia’s Farmers Market will host a pumpkin patch near the park’s Interurban Railway Museum.
The Rotary Clubs of Plano sponsor a passport activity for children at the festival. As kids learn about different countries at the event, they can receive a stamp or sticker for their passport.
This year, the passport will include Argentina, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Indigenous Peoples of the Americas, Indonesia, Iran, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, Palestine, Pakistan, Peru, Russia, Scotland, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Ukraine and America, according to the festival’s website.
A multicultural art exhibit is on display through Sunday at the Courtyard Theater in collaboration with the Plano Art Association. The ArtCentre of Plano will sponsor flag coloring activities for kids at the Saigling House. Artist Santos Lozano will perform live chalk art drawing near the park’s Interurban Railway Museum.
The festival hosts prize drawings throughout the event, Katzer said.
International cuisine
Food trucks will sell cuisine from a number of cultures. All-G’s BBQ & Soul will serve fries, wings and collard greens. DonutNV will sell donuts and lemonade. Angel Touch Kitchen will offer halal Indonesian cuisine like beef rendang and nasi kuning.
Fast and Furious will serve bowls with Korean BBQ, teriyaki chicken and more. Nacho Loco will sell burritos, nachos and tacos, and Bobaddiction will offer boba tea and fruit drinks. Boardwalk Bites will sell carnival food, and Kona Ice and Soft Social will sell deserts.
This year, adults can also attend a “Sip and Stroll,” with international drink samples available from 2:30-5:30 p.m. throughout downtown Plano. Tickets will be sold near the park’s Interurban Railway Museum and online for $30. The stroll is organized separately from the festival but in collaboration with the event, Katzer said.
Eco-friendly programming
The festival emphasizes eco-friendliness and encourages recycling and minimizing waste. In 2008, the festival implemented a zero waste program to divert trash from landfills, according to the event website.
Around 94% of waste at the festival was diverted from the landfill last year, Katzer said. She expects the festival to divert even more this year.
The festival will use compostable, biodegradable food service items and encourage attendees and vendors to compost and recycle at the park. Attendees can sort their trash at waste stations around the park, and volunteers called “Green Ambassadors” help with recycling efforts.
A section of the event, near the Saigling House, will feature eco-friendly activities and demonstrations.
Where to park
Free public parking is available throughout downtown Plano near Haggard Park. The Cox Courtyard Lot, Haggard Park Lot, Municipal Center Lot, North 40 Lot, Municipal Court Lot, McCall Lot, Lower 14th Lot and 14th Lot are all near the event. The Upper East Side Garage is also nearby. For a map of downtown parking, visit the event’s website.
About the festival
Mayor Pat Evans established the Multicultural Outreach Roundtable as an advisory board to the Plano City Council in the early 2000s in an effort to “give the diverse residents of Plano a voice in city government.” The volunteer group founded a nonprofit to organize the festival, which was first held in Haggard Park in 2005.
The festival has been there ever since and still takes a large volunteer effort to host. It takes around 4,800 hours of volunteer hours and around 700 people to make the event happen, according to the festival’s website.
More help is still needed, Katzer said, and those interested in volunteering can sign up online. The festival is also seeking interpreters for Spanish, Russian, Urdu, Vietnamese, Farsi and Mandarin Chinese to help at the wellness fair.
Outside of the festival, the organization also hosts monthly cultural events and pop-ups. On every second Thursday of the month, the group attends Legacy West On Tap with a cultural performance. It also hosts events throughout the year and partners with the city to support diversity in Plano.
Ultimately, Katzer hopes the festival serves as a “safe place” to share culture and heritage and communicate through art, music and food. Festival vice president Linda Adler hopes the event strengthens connections in the community.
“Immigration adds to the community. It’s a benefit,” Adler said. “[Attendees] get to see all the things that different cultures actually have in common through artwork and the dances that we present… hopefully that does break down those barriers of communication.”
