Yesterday the town of Alfaz del Pi celebrated International Day at the Poly Deportivo Sport Centre, with an estimated 3000 people attending the event. Every year the occasion gets bigger and better and the sun shone throughout the entire day, attracting a record number of visitors. However, for the poor stallholders standing in the blazing heat, probably not so good though!
The Mayor, Vicente Arques officially opened the event by cutting a ribbon at 12 noon, together with officials from a number of Scandanavian Consuls, surrounded by representatives carrying flags of the participating countries. Prior to the official inauguration, they paraded around the streets with their flags to draw attention to the event.
He then gave a welcome speech in which he mentioned Alfaz´s diverse multicultural society – over 50% of the population are non Spanish and thanked everyone for attending and taking part. The objective of the day is to encourage integration between all the different cultures and to learn about the traditions of others living in the same community.
The Mayor then walked around and visited each of the 54 stands, talking to the representatives of each, many of which were dressed in their national costumes and sampled food – even trying his luck on the tombola! The South American stands were very popular – especially Cuba with its ice cold mojitos at only 2€ a cup!
It was a real International affair and you could sample a huge variety of cusine, ranging from Spanish tortilla to Indian samosas and Mexican tacos or pop to the "Carnes a la Brasa" tent, where the waft of bbq meats, ribs and sausages got everyone hungry - as was evident from the long queues.
There was a program of activities throughout the day, with many of the countries performing on the central stage, which included singing and traditional dancing as well as some fantastic routines by the children of two local dance academies – The Broadway Academy and Hazel Hiles school of Dance.
Contestants from the Best International Male & Female model competition, being held here on the Costa Blanca this week also strutted their stuff, with a fashion show modeling a range of sports and swimwear. This Thursday they will be strutting their stuff with the first of two catwalk shows. This will take place at the Centro Commercial Monver from 9pm and feature fashion ranges from a host of internationally acclaimed designers.
On Friday 24th, once again starting at 9pm three further catwalk shows will take place in the same venue and then the collection and models will head to the KU Beach Playa Lounge Café in Benidorm for a late night show and after party. The grand finale takes place on Saturday 25th, with the best International Male & Female Model World results and full show along the Passeo de las Estrella on the beach front, near to the anchor with music, dance and catwalk show. All the events are free to attend
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