Madison Shumway

Staff Writer

Sipping on paper cups full of coffee and sweet tea, guests at Sunday’s Kuwait Festival gathered around tables adorned with balloons and red roses and Arabic music streaming through the PSUB ballroom’s speakers.

The event, featuring Kuwaiti food, dancing, decor and educational videos about the country, honored Kuwait’s National and Liberation Days.

The holidays commemorate the 1950 establishment of the country and its 1991 liberation from Iraqi invasion, both pivotal national events.

“It is really an unforgettable moment for Kuwaitis,” said Kuwaiti Student Organization president Ammar Abdullah of Liberation Day. “But it’s not just for Kuwaitis. It’s for all people who value peace and freedom.”

In order to celebrate the holidays and to bring some Kuwaiti culture to the community, the organization hosts Kuwaiti Festival each year. According to Talal Alazemi, Chairman of the Committee Media, this year marked the club’s third festival, and members hope to see it grow even more in the future.

The organization has multiple other activities held throughout the year, including soccer games every Sunday, but Alazemi said the festival is its biggest endeavor. Members spend about three weeks preparing for it, he said.

This year, the festival featured two videos about the history of Kuwait, including one specifically about the Iraq-Kuwait war. Alazemi said the goal this year was to educate students about the history and culture of the country.

“I think a lot of the students want to know about other cultures,” he said. “And we want to help them.”

As attendees filtered in the doors Sunday night, they mingled around tables set with Kuwaiti colors, snacking on doughnuts and drinks.

Some stopped next to a lounge area in the corner, decked out with carpets and tapestries. Others pumped flavoring into their coffee at booth provided by local coffee shop CoHo.

The lights dimmed, and on two screens a series of informational videos played, with a voiceover describing Kuwait’s economy, culture and history. The Kuwaiti flag then appeared on the screen, and the crowd rose to their feet, singing the national anthem if they knew it.

Several students took the stage, performing spoken-word poetry, live music and a comedic skit in Arabic.

“This event will make a lot of people understand our culture and respect our traditions and rituals,” said Kuwaiti student Sarah Alsager.

She said that in Kuwait, the celebrations typically involve months of concerts, plus parties in the streets with water balloons and water guns.

Perhaps hoping to channel some of that party mood, Kuwaiti Student Organization members headed up a trivia game with simpler questions for non-Arabic speakers and more difficult ones for Kuwaitis. Those with correct answers won t-shirts and other prizes.

Each guest then took one of the red, green and black balloons that decorated each table in hopes of winning the grand prize of the night, an Apple Watch. Each balloon held a strip of paper, and attendees had to pop the balloons to see if theirs was the winner.

Doors obscuring platters of Kuwaiti food were then pushed back, and a hungry horde converged upon legs of lamb, chicken wings, rice, bread, fruit and a host of other Kuwaiti dishes.

“I loved the food. They really went all out,” said international music student Dera Offokaja. “It’s one of the best meals I’ve had at an international program.”

After diving into plates piled high with food, attendees danced, listened to music and socialized. Kuwaiti students had celebrated their own culture, and others had learned more about it.

“We live there, and study there and have a lot of friends there,” Alazemi said of his home country. “Our American friends and everyone here should know about us and our country.”

Madeleine Coles contributed to this article.