Representative Types
How to represent your country or culture
We welcome all members of the Charlotte community to showcase their country/culture at the International Festival through being a cultural representative. Cultural representatives are encouraged to highlight their country/culture by arranging a display at their booth to educate attendees and show off what makes their country unique. To this end, we request that they sell items that are from or representative of their culture, rather than solely focusing on traditional money makers such as t-shirts and cookbooks. There are three main categories cultural representatives can fall under: food sales, cultural item sales and cultural display. A more in-depth description of each type is listed below.
- Food Sales
- Food Sales booths are available for groups to sell ethnic/cultural/national food that is fresh or requires preparation, cooking, or temperature-controlled storage. Food Sales booths may also sell prepackaged food items and cultural items, please see the following section for guidelines.
- A mandatory Health and Safety Training Session will be required for all groups with a Food Sales booth. Office of International Programs staff will reach out to confirmed participants with more information.
- A complete Cultural Display must also be included with the sale of any items.
- Cultural Item Sales
- Groups are able to sell arts, crafts, jewelry or other items that represent their country/culture. These booths may also sell prepackaged food items such as candies, bottled water, and soda. However, such items must meet the following criteria:
- Be low-cost (under $5 per item)
- Be in their original packaging
- Be individually wrapped
- Not requiring any preparation or heating/cooling for storage.
- The following items cannot be sold: Club promotional, social or political, or basic “money makers” such as t-shirts and cookbooks.
- A complete Cultural Display must also be included with the sale of any items.
- Groups are able to sell arts, crafts, jewelry or other items that represent their country/culture. These booths may also sell prepackaged food items such as candies, bottled water, and soda. However, such items must meet the following criteria:
- Cultural Display
- Cultural Display booths are provided free of charge, but MAY NOT be used to sell any items. They are for display and education purposes only. However, groups are permitted to provide complimentary prepackaged food items associated with their culture/country at no charge to Festival attendees. Complimentary prepackaged food items must meet the requirements stated above under Cultural Item Sales.
To maximize the number of represented countries and cultures, we are offering a single booth per country or culture on a first-come, first-served basis. If multiple groups express interest in the same representation, we will encourage collaboration. However, priority and final decision-making will reside with the group that registered first.