By Matt Koper/ne news editor

The NE International Festival will begin April 13-15 celebrating campuswide diversity and will feature the Grammy Award-winning band Brave Combo for the kickoff event on the 14th.

Brave Combo, a band from Denton, will play music that is hard to label, combining blues, polka, salsa and other genres.

NE German instructor Maddalena De Nicola, who helps run the festival, expects the band Brave Combo to be one of the performers that really “stands out” to students.

“They perform world music but in a different way from what you would expect,” she said.

The festival begins with the noon workshop Inclusive Language Conversations in the Heritage Room (NLIB 1129). On April 14, all activities will be held in Center Corner (NSTU 1615A) beginning at 9:30 a.m. with a presentation by English associate professor Edwardo Perez on the musical themes in Game of Thrones. 

At noon, the kickoff event for the festival will feature performances from the SE dance Rhapsody Movement Company, Brave Combo, followed by a game of international trivia.

Other events scheduled Tuesday night include a cooking class on crepes beginning at 6 p.m., followed by a performance by NE music associate professor Stan Paschal and a tango dance class to end Day Two.

NE Spanish associate professor Marsha Hall, who is charge of the festival, said she expects this to be a good chance for students to learn about culture and have fun.

“It’s like hopefully being able to travel without paying all the money to travel,” she said.

The final day moves outside with the Taste of Cultures at 10:30 a.m. that features a variety of local cuisine and performances by the African drum ensemble Bandan Koro and the NE dance company Movers Unlimited before ending with the Jazz Club playing Latin jazz.

Hall said as a whole the festival tries to be as inclusive and creative as possible.

“Hopefully, we will have chosen something that someone likes,” she said. “We’ve done a variety of things, and that’s where it gets difficult to not repeat and keep trying to create.”

For more information about the International Festival, call student activities at 817-515-6688.