Fusion Festival a feast of fun

Chinese students Likna Wang, Mengzhu Dong and Bingru Zhou try some of the international foods at the Fusion Festival at SCU today.

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SCU’s Gold Coast campus was buzzing today when the Fusion Festival celebrated cultural diversity and unity with a veritable feast of international food, film, music, dance, calligraphy and a surfing expo.

The free festival drew crowds from throughout the region and was aimed at furthering intercultural understanding and communal harmony through interaction in various forms from cultural to social, intellectual and sporting events.

"The day celebrated the university’s diverse and multicultural community and the contribution it makes to intercultural understanding both on campus and in the local area," said Rachel Callahan, the university’s Head of Equity and Diversity.

Ms Callahan said she was thrilled with the turnout and the level of performance by Southern Cross University students and local community performers.

Food tasting from around the world and a forum entitled "The Kaleidoscope of Learning" were highlights of the day.

During the forum a panel of students and staff spoke about how international study and cultural diversity enrich their learning experiences.

A surfing expo and wave rider competition were other highlights of the festival with students and surfers Paul Hartley, Sunny Fassler and Wes Nienaber testing out the wave rider.

"The wave rider is something new," Sunny said.

"It's not easy to stay on that surfboard without wax.

"But it’s more about fun than surfing expertise."