The Riordan community excitedly awaits cultural diversity shaped through traditional dances, foods, and music. The glamorous Cultural Night is an event that people of all backgrounds look forward to after experiencing the successful debut of the event last year. The Polyenisian Heritage club has been practicing everyday to prepare for the upcoming event. The second Cultural Night at Riordan will take place on April 24.
The event is one where members of Riordan’s student body bring their pride for their cultures together to share with everyone.
Lily Lincoln ’28 attended last year’s event and shared about her experience, “My fondest memory of last year’s Cultural Night was definitely the performances.” She said everyone was “simply enjoying the music.”
Lincoln added “Cultural Night gives us the opportunity to learn about the different backgrounds and cultures that make Riordan such a diverse and welcoming community.”
And, the importance of this event is “A great way for us to see what makes our community so special and unique.”
Lincoln experienced watching all the performances and got to try the various different cultures of food that were shared. She is also planning to go to Cultural Night again this year because of the joy it brought last year.
Student performers spend weeks to months practicing and perfecting their dances and presentations.
Neve Devlin ’28 performed an Irish dance last year and is planning to perform again this year. She, as well, shared her thoughts on Cultural Night, “Cultural Night betters our understanding of others’ cultures by letting us experience performances we might not see otherwise.”
As a performer of the event Devlin explained,“The best part of performing last year was not only being able to share my culture with everyone but to learn and watch others.”
This year at cultural night many clubs such as Latinos Unido’s and Irish Heritage will perform cultural dances and performances. Some clubs will also bring a variety of foods for people attending the event to try.
Cultural Night is an important part of the Riordan community that deepens the understanding of those in the community. As the school year is drawing to a close, the event under the sparkling theater lights is one that will leave students feeling seen and proud of their cultural image.
This year’s Cultural Night will continue to highlight the diverse traditions represented within the Riordan community through student performances and cultural displays and will bring students together to share and experience different cultures in one shared space.
