Aurora prepares for Global Fest to celebrate culture, community

For the first time since the pandemic, the City of Aurora is preparing to have its Global Fest in person. This is the 8th year the city has hosted the event, and it's meant to celebrate the cultures and communities that call Aurora home.

For the past 10 years, Binisha Shrestha has lived in Aurora. Shrestha is one of dozens of vendors participating in Global Fest on Saturday and will be serving up some of the best Nepalese food the state has to offer. She and her family opened up a food business a few years ago.

"People have really been generous with each other. They really appreciate, and they really respect others from other communities," Shrestha said. "And then we decided we should do something on our own, and then while doing this on our own, we also wanted to promote our identify, our culture at the same time."

Shrestha isn't the only one feeling the city's warmth. Aurora is one of the most diverse cities in the country and the most diverse in the state. Foreign-born residents make up 20 percent of the city population, with 55 percent coming from the Americas and with a quarter of immigrants and refugees coming from Asia.

"We do have a really established international community, who speak their languages, who understand their cultures," said Minsoo Song, with the city of Aurora's office of immigrant and international affairs.

The city has also made it a priority to offer resources to refugees and immigrants that historically many don't qualify for like business loans and housing services.

"And we try to provide language assistance to our residents, and also leadership program, ESL programs, and art and culture is another thing," Song said.

For Shrestha, Aurora is the place where she's been able to find community away from her home country.

"In context of representation, in context of opportunities, it's better than other communities," she said.

Global Fest is Saturday, Aug. 20, 2022, from 11 a.m.-6 p.m at the Aurora Municipal Center located at 15151 E. Alameda Parkway. For more information visit: https://www.auroragov.org/things_to_do/events/global_fest