Celebrating Cultural Diversity Festival

About CCDF

Since 1990, the Celebrating Cultural Diversity Festival (CCDF) has given members of The University of Iowa and its surrounding communities an opportunity to learn about each other through food, games, dance, music, literature, storytelling, arts, and crafts. Annual attendance is between 3,000 and 5,000 people, making CCDF the second largest non-athletic event sponsored by The University of Iowa. The festival consistently and successfully creates meaningful cross-cultural interactions and deeper appreciation and understanding.

CCDF includes different cultural programs from year to year. Visitors can stop by the event at any time to sample the rich selection of food, entertainment, and crafts, such as:

Live Music: African drumming, Latin jazz, traditional Scottish bagpipes, Turkish folk music, and gospel have all been features at CCDF.
Dance: Past performers have included traditional Mexican folk dance, Mid-eastern belly dancing, classical India dances, hip-hop, and Step. Dance instruction in salsa and swing has also been offered.
Arts & Crafts: Vendors offer hand-made goods for sale such as embroidered handbags, festive paper flowers, and hand-knit sweaters.
Food: Native American fry bread, Hunan Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, Greek, Indian, Chinese bubble tea, and even American food are all available.
Children’s Area: Crafts, Face Painting, Music, and Storytelling are new additions to the festival.
Sports Demonstrations: Brazilian fighting dance- capoeira, Chinese martial art of Ta’i Chi, Korean Tae Kwon Do, and Japanese Kojokan Samurai sword fighting are featured.