Free Cove multicultural festival set for Saturday

Special to Leader-Press

Copperas Cove hosts its first multicultural festival at Ogletree Gap Park on Saturday, Sept. 22. Ms. Five Hills Ashley Coombs and former pageant ambassador Edith Natividad are co-chairing the event that is free to the public.    
“Killeen and Harker Heights both host multi-cultural festivals. Copperas Cove needs a multicultural festival as well to serve not only as a tourism event that brings money into our city but to also expand the cultural knowledge of our citizens and build a further appreciation for diversity,” Coombs said. “Knowing this, we wanted to find a new, fun, and free-to-the-public festival to help raise funds for sports and activities scholarships for students through Communities in Schools. Hosting a multi-cultural festival was the obvious choice.”
Vendor fees will provide the scholarships for students to enrich their education through the arts, sports, dance, music and other activities. The scholarships will be administered through Communities in Schools which already determines financial and socio-economic need through its own programs.
Coombs and Natividad have worked tirelessly on the event for the last six months with Coombs focusing on vendors and Natividad lining up the entertainment which includes performances from more than a half dozen countries. 
“We are beyond excited to offer a free event in Copperas Cove to expose our citizens to entertainment that literally comes from around the globe including performers from Korea, Philippines, Turkey, Mexico and several others. A different group will perform every half hour with many of the performers inviting audience members to learn their dances.”
Cultural wares and food will also be for sale, said Coombs. Committed vendors are offering Polynesian, Hawaiian, Thai, Korean, and other types of food as well as clothing, jewelry, and more from their native countries.
The event will be held Saturday, 12 p.m.-6 p.m. at Ogletree Gap Park. The admission is free.