CranFest celebrates diversity, creativity
CRANBERRY TWP — Those who attended CranFest in the township’s municipal building Saturday likened the experience to visiting Walt Disney World’s Epcot.
Between performances, food, activities and information, attendees were completely immersed and enthralled in various cultures from across the world.
Hundreds of families ate and experienced parts of Indian, Native American, German, Filipino and myriad other cultures as part of the event by the Cranberry Area Diversity Network and the township.
Sonia Jaiswal, diversity network coordinator and event organizer, said CranFest has been in existence since 2014. This year’s fest is the first since the start of the pandemic.
“We have a lot more cultures, performances and information booths this year,” she said. “We want everyone to have a good time.”
The goal of the day, Jaiswal said, is to create a welcoming and inclusive environment in the township.
“It’s to get the community together and connecting with people,” she said. “People crave connections. We want to spark conversations.”
Attendees browsed the many information booths for religious organizations, LGBTQ community, public service groups and outreach programs. Many children received henna tattoos, a tradition of Indian culture, and participated in crafts or the Japanese tea ceremony demonstration.
In the packed gymnasium, visitors tried food from the Philippines, India, the Mediterranean and more.
While enjoying their meal, they looked on at energetic performances by Pittsburgh Xiaobo Chinese Waist Drum Dance Group, D'Lustigen Isartaler Bavarian Club, Young Brothers Tae Kwon-Do and Bell School of Irish Dance.
Mary Lou Intong of the Phillippine-American Performing Arts of Greater Pittsburgh, said her group has been serving food and performing at CranFest since the event was launched.
“It’s so diverse, it’s a chance to mingle with the community,” she said.
The group performed “salakot,” a traditional dance in Filipino culture performed on special occasions.
Intong said she hopes understanding will be part of what visitors take away from the festival.
“I hope (people) have more knowledge about different cultures so they can know and understand better,” she said.
One booth at CranFest had a unique mission: signing people up to register to donate bone marrow.
A ”Match For Jax” representative spoke to passersby about signing up for a national bone marrow donors registry, focusing on one 7-year-old's journey.
Jackson “Jax” Ramirez, a boy from Zelienople, was diagnosed with IPEX syndrome, a life-threatening disease that requires him to have a bone marrow transplant.
“He’s of Latino heritage, so he’s less likely to find a match,” said volunteer Carolyn Welshonce. “None of his family is a match for him.”
She added CranFest was a good event to encourage sign-ups.
“We’re hoping to add more names to the national registry so there’s more diversity on (it), and people have more of a chance to get a match,” she said.
Sumedha Gupta and her son, Atharv, returned to CranFest.
“I forgot what was here, but I remembered that I liked it,” Atharv said.
“We’ve loved it so far, we’ve been here before and (Atharv) really wanted to come back,” Sumedha said.
Kevin and Alex Larson attended CranFest with their three children, who were mesmerized by the various performances.
“The kids are loving the dancing and music,” Kevin said.
Scott Hershberger said his family enjoyed trying food from the different cultures.
“This is great. I’m a Cranberry resident, so I’ve enjoyed embracing cultures in the community and experiencing the arts and crafts with my kids,” he said.
