For Amy Swaim, every culture has a story and that’s why she volunteered for Kaleidoscope: A Celebration of Cultures.

“I love how every culture has their own story, and this event just ties it in together. It shows how colorful life can be”, Swaim said.

On Saturday, Coppell hosted its Kaleidoscope event at Andy Brown Park East, near the Coppell Recreation Center.

The event aimed to promote and recognize other cultures throughout the world. There were various foods, dances and music featured from all around the globe.

According to some attendees, this event was a perfect idea to represent various cultures from all around the planet.

“We absolutely need these types of events now, so that we promote our understanding and awareness of other cultures,” attendee Sudeshna Basu said. “So many citizens can come together to witness other traditions and talents. This event shows that we are united, and beauty can come in any form. It truly is a kaleidoscope.”

Coppell hosted this event for the first time this year, as citizens chose the types of events they wanted through a mass voting poll online.

There was no admission fee and all ages were welcome to the event, as this was an event about culture and diversity.

Dance groups, such as the Lasya Sudha Dance Academy, performed classical Indian dance called Bharatnatyam to depict old tales through dance.

There was also the Coppell Community Chorale that sung various classics from different genres.

At the event, there were many activities including bouncy houses, learning about the history of Coppell and henna (temporary art, generally done on hands).

There were also local food trucks that stopped by to enjoy the ambience and serve citizens.

For Brolen and Jourdan Jourdan, owners of the Liberation Coffee food truck, it just made sense to come out and reach the people of Coppell.

“The big part is that it is nice to see all the different foods and cultures being represented here in the DFW Metroplex,” said [ Brolen Jourdan].  “It is nice to see everything from so many different viewpoints.”

Behind the scenes, setting up an event like this came with certain difficulties and required hard work.

“First we had to get council consent, then we had to get a theme for the event, we had to reserve the park, then we had to reserve a bunch of food trucks because those fly out quickly, then we had to find performers, order the decoration months in advance, then the last thing would be finding volunteers,” said volunteers [ Rachel Hardeman and Lauren Sutton. “We had to incorporate a lot of different cultures which was also difficult.

The event also had volunteers who were part of the Allies in the Community program.

The Allies in the Community program surveys citizens of Coppell on how to include activities like Kaleidoscope more often in Coppell. The program had 120 National Honor Society students from CISD who volunteered in the Kaleidoscope event.

“There was a lot of work that went into it, but the outcome was worth it,” Allies in Community coordinator Tasnim Benhalim said.

Follow @Nishantnm1