Students gathered outside the Modern Languages building on Friday for the annual Evento Cultural, a festival put on by the Spanish and Portuguese department.

The event included performances in Portuguese by students currently studying the language.

“”The Evento Cultural is the annual close-out event for the spring semester. It provides students with the opportunity to speak in Portuguese,”” said Selene Moreno, a graduate teaching associate in the Spanish and Portuguese department.

Teaching assistants and associate professors were encouraged to get students in their Portuguese classes involved in the event.

“”We wanted to gather students to experience the Portuguese language while they perform and preserve the Brazilian culture. Students put something together, whether it be a theater performance, song, poem, dance, play an instrument or capoeira,”” said Ana Carvalho, an associate professor of Portuguese.

Fatima Valdez, a civil engineering senior, participated in the performances to help broaden people’s perspective of the culture.

“”I am currently in a Portuguese class and my teacher told me about the celebration. I love doing artistic things so I decided to sing a song and dance. It’s important to do things like this to expand our horizons and get a taste of the culture,”” Valdez said.

Students who attended were glad for the opportunity for cultural immersion.

“”In class we are not always exposed to people constantly speaking in Portuguese, so this celebration is a good way for students on campus to listen to a great language. I think Portuguese is often overlooked by Spanish, and is not necessarily a huge language on campus but this festival proves people care,”” said Alana Sorge, pre-education .

Festivities like the Evento Cultural help the Portuguese language gain more publicity,

Carvalho said.

“”Evento Cultural is very important, especially nowadays, because it brings cultural diversity to campus and highlights the importance of humanities,”” she said. “”We do this in the last couple of weeks of the year to hopefully strengthen enrollment for the coming years.””

Katia de Costa Bezerra, associate professor of Hispanic and Luso-Brazilian Literature and Linguistics, coordinated the event with help from the Dean of Students Office and the Spanish and Portuguese Department.

“”We wanted to create a different way to interact with students and get them in contact with the Brazilian culture. Students need to feel a part of the Portuguese community and hopefully more visibility will be given to the language and the number of students in the department will continue to increase,”” de Costa Bezerra said.