Travelers moved around, clutching their passports, as they learned about the local cultures and customs and tasted some native cuisine.

The annual Focus International Festival of Nations gave visitors the opportunity to visit an array of foreign countries without even having to leave Fort Dodge. The event was part of Iowa Central’s Dr. Mary Sula Linney Focus International Series, named after a former Spanish instructor and administrator at the college. The series has been an annual event at the college since 1989 and is open to the public.

Booths representing countries like Kosovo, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Colombia, Palestine, Sweden and more, lined the halls of the building.

Each year, the Festival of Nations will also have a focus on a different region. This year’s focus was on the Middle East.

-Messenger photo by Kelby Wingert
Iowa Central sophomores Abby Chalstrom and Matthew Helmers scoop up some root beer floats at the USA table at Iowa Central’s Focus International Festival of Nations on Sunday afternoon in the Bioscience and Health Sciences building.

Iowa Central Professor David Drissel gave presentations on the people and culture of Egypt, using photos and stories from his own international travels.

“I think the purpose of the International Focus Festival is to expose the community and our student body to diverse cultural influences and raise awareness about other nations and other people from around the world,” Drissel said. “This festival reminds us all that we’re all human even though we have different cultural backgrounds.”

Maddie Leal, a freshman studying pre-law, stood by her booth to tell passersby about her native Portugal. Leal was an international exchange student at Fort Dodge Senior High last year, and decided to come back to study at Iowa Central this year.

“Portugal is a really small country, so I feel like there’s just not a lot of people coming here,” she said. “I like it here; it’s just a different environment.”

Leal said she enjoys that Iowa Central hosts events like these to teach students and community members about other cultures.

-Messenger photo by Kelby Wingert
Isabelle Lara, 11, and her sister Harper, 8, show off their "passports" at Iowa Central's Festival of Nations on Sunday afternoon.

“I think it’s really interesting to just be able to come here and meet people that are from other countries and learn about them,” she said.

Buck Lara brought his daughters, 11-year-old Isabelle and 8-year-old Harper, to the Festival of Nations after Isabelle heard about it from her teacher.

Harper Lara was excited to learn about Sweden’s Midsummer festival, and Isabelle thought it was a little strange that people from the United Kingdom call soccer “football.”

-Messenger photo by Kelby Wingert
David Drissel, professor of social science at Iowa Central, gives a presentation on his trips to Egypt during the Iowa Central Focus International Festival on Sunday afternoon.

-Messenger photo by Kelby Wingert
Bailey Anderson, 16, of Paton, demonstrates the tradition of pepparkakor, or Swedish ginger wish cookies, at Iowa Central's Festival of Nations. According to tradition, after the individual makes a wish and they press their index finger into the center of the cookie, if the cookie breaks into three pieces, the wish will come true.