3-Day Fair at Valley College Will Toast Multiculturalism

The San Fernando Valley’s rich cultural diversity will take center stage this weekend at the third annual Valley Heritage Fair at Valley College.

Event organizers anticipate some 20,000 visitors will celebrate the area’s multiculturalism through ethnic music, dance, food and arts and crafts from around the world, said event chairman Richard Hardman.

The fair, which runs from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday through Monday at the college, 5800 Fulton Ave., Van Nuys, will also feature a midway with carnival rides, games, clowns, acrobats and pony rides.

A featured attraction will be a re-creation of an authentic encampment of the Buffalo Soldiers, a post-Civil War group of African American U.S. Army soldiers who helped settle the West.

Other performers scheduled to appear are Sining Ginto, a Filipino dance group; Basma Music and Dance Company, a Middle Eastern troupe; Moishe, an Israeli musical group; Alex Acuna, performing Caribbean and South American music; and Pete Connolly, an Irish tenor, among others.

Admission to the fair is $5.95 plus a nonperishable food item, which will be donated to a food pantry operated by MEND (Meeting Every Need with Dignity) of Pacoima.

Valley Heritage Fair is sponsored by the All American Heritage Foundation Inc., a nonprofit charitable foundation based in Northridge. The organization is dedicated to uniting the culturally diverse community, Hardman said.

Proceeds from the fair will benefit organizations promoting the cause of multiculturalism, he said.

For information, call (818) 349-5680.