Taylor’s University Lakeside Campus brought a huge crowd of people with different religions, ethnicities, backgrounds and cultures together through an event called Fiesta 720 which was held on the 16th November 2017, a blissful Thursday at Lecture Theatre 21&22.

Fiesta 720’s festive decorations. Picture credits to Geraline Goh.

The lecture theatre at the beginning of the event. Picture credits to Geraline Goh.

Just taking a few steps into the lecture theatre the air already felt electric, like anything could happen.  A colourful fashion show opened the event, filling the void of colours. It was really smart of them for how they did not overdo the decoration, simplicity is definitely the ultimate sophistication. The fashion show was then followed up by few other performances from the Komando 45 Society, Tradisi Society and the Yemen Society.

The enraptured audience. Picture credits to Geraline Goh.

The ex-president of Tradisi Society, Muhammad Syafiq Mohd Fadli said that “Fiesta 720 was hard work but we managed to give out a memorable performance, it was a great experience working with these people.”

After a hearty dinner, it was time for the 24 festive drum troop as the fourth performance for the night. They walked in neatly dressed in red and black, each carrying a drum and positioned themselves precisely. One can only imagine the amount of dedication and work that was put into reaching that level of perfection.

The 24 Festive Drum Troupe in action. Picture Credits to Geraline Goh

The fifth performance was by a lady from the Sri Lankan Society. She sang with a voice that was mellow, bright and warm. Then, we had the Bollywood dance which bedazzled the crowd in their shimmering clothes. The Korean society performed later, in their pretty hanbok (a traditional Korean dress). They started singing which sounded like a mixture of rap and traditional song. The performance ended with a truly exhilarating rap verse by one of the male singers.

The Japanese Society performing. Picture credits to Geraline Goh.

The eighth performance for the night was by the Japanese Society. The crowd was very engaged as they were taught a few Japanese words to scream out loud at a specific time throughout their performance.

The Maurishelle society’s closing performance. Picture credits to Geraline Goh.

The Maurishelle society performed as the grand closure for the electrifying night. The girls with their vibrantly printed luxurious skirts and the boys with their floral-printed shirts moved rhythmically to the song. They brought a wordless interpretation to the song through their movements as though no matter what language it was the audience could understand.  All the crowd saw was beauty as they gracefully twirled around each other, seductively moving with their floral prints.

Members of the Japanese Society. Picture credits to Geraline Goh.

Yuki Tsuchido (fourth from the right), Vice President of the Taylor’s University International Club, said “No challenge, no success,” before adding that it was truly a challenge for them as all the societies have eagerly aimed for the prize of best performance, thus the competition was intense. As a member of Japanese Society, Yuki said that he felt the despair of his members when they couldn’t get the prize last year, thus he was jubilant when his society members finally took the best performance prize back home this year. He also added that his members had improved themselves tremendously and have realized that a great performance should be able to move people.

The joyous mood at Fiesta 720. Picture credits Geraline Goh.