People from all over the world celebrate at Botanical Garden’s final Tyson Tuesday

People from all over the world celebrated their different cultures during the International Celebration at the Botanical Garden of the Ozarks (BGO) on Aug. 30 as the final Tyson Tuesday event of the summer.

Music rang out from the main stage as International groups from the area performed a variety of dances for the estimated crowd of 500 people, made up of families from all over the world. Dances featured were from Croatia, Albania, Pakistan, Brazil, Mexico, Ireland, China and the Terra Nova Tribal Belly Dancing Group.

Al “Papa Rap” Lopez, community liaison with the Springdale School District, emceed the event and also performed some of his own music. Guests at the event browsed 20 booths from a variety of organizations and countries such as Iran, Iraq, the Philippines, Brazil, China, and India. Many booths contained posters telling facts about the country and items to look at such as artwork, clothing, carved wood, and other items common to the country.

Sherry Shao, with the Chinese Associated of Northwestern Arkansas (CANWA) said her group enjoyed the opportunity to let people know about China.

“Chinese culture is very rich. It’s our pride. We want to share our culture with this community,” Shao said.

Shao said there are about 1,000 people of Chinese heritage in Northwest Arkansas and the group is active, celebrating the Chinese New Year, the Moon Festival and the Dragon Boat Festival together throughout the year.

The International Celebration showcased the diversity of Northwest Arkansas and was an educational event for people in the area to learn about different cultures and countries from around the world, Roslyn Imrie, education coordinator for the BGO, said.

“We live in an amazingly diverse planet. I want people to learn about these other cultures and realize that they are similar in some ways and different in some ways and come together as a community to learn about each other and learn what great things we all have to offer,” Imrie said.

Tyson Tuesdays, provided through a grant from Tyson Foods, are events offered free to the public each Tuesday at the BGO, from June through August. Events have ranged from concerts to health and wellness events to gardening education. Imrie said that Tyson Tuesdays have been a great success and have brought many people to the BGO that had never come before.

“It was very well received and we hope Tyson will do it again next summer,” Imrie said.

The BGO is a 40-acre community–based non-profit botanical garden, which consists of 12 themed gardens and includes the region’s only butterfly house. The mission of the BGO is “to provide educational, entertainment and recreational opportunities for students, residents and garden visitors to increase their appreciation of the native and natural ecosystem of the Ozarks.” The BGO is located on Crossover Road in Fayetteville.