Hundreds of students celebrate Oxford’s global mix

Hundreds of Oxford students, as well as local residents of Oxford, attended a festival this week to celebrate the international mix of the University student body, enjoying food and performances representing some of the 145 different countries from which Oxford students come. Over a third of Oxford's students are non-British: nearly 7,500 out of a student body of 20,000. The Oxford International Festival, held at the Examination Schools and organised by students themselves, celebrated cultural and international diversity through performances, exhibits and food stalls from cultures around the globe. 1,500 people attended, enjoying highlights such as a Chinese orchestra, a Turkish folklore show, Middle Eastern dance, and West African drumming. For many attendees the best thing was the food, coming from over 20 different countries. They sampled Lebanese baklava; Russian beetroot salad; Korean chilli and sweet fried chicken; Israeli chocolate rugelach cakes; Caribbean sweetcorn fritters; Algerian tagine; Pakistani traditional spicy nuts; Japanese miso soup; Greek cheese pie (tyropita); Chinese spring rolls, Romanian Easter chocolate bread; Indian flatbreads; Ugandan samosas and chapati, and Turkish delight. The festival, now in its third year, is organised by the International Students' Campaign, one of six autonomous equal opportunities campaigns of the Oxford University Student Union (OUSU).