ALL NATIONSRISE Count me in

All Nations Rise 2027

Can we truly love one another without knowing one another?

· Ariel ArenaMount Vernon Nazarene University, Ohio

Thirty-three countries. One room. One night.

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Countries
33
Regions
6
Expected
600
Night
1

Every community has a story. Every culture has traditions worth sharing. And every person has something that can teach us about the world around us.

All Nations Rise brings together cultures from across the world and across the United States through food, music, dance, fashion, art, and shared experiences. From international traditions to the distinct cultures found in our own communities, this is a space to discover, connect, and celebrate what makes us who we are.

The countries of MVNU

The night

Two floors. Every country.

Visualisation of the upstairs concourse lined with country stands. Visualisation

Upstairs

The marketplace

A table for every country. Food you can taste, clothes you can try on, music at each stand, hair braiding, live painting, and student businesses selling their own work.

Visualisation of the arena floor set for the showcases, with a runway and a stage. Visualisation

Downstairs

The court

The parade of flags, six regional showcases, the runway and live music.

These are visualisations of the night, not photographs. It has not happened yet.

The day

How the day goes

  1. 1:00 pm

    Doors and the exhibition

    Pick up your passport at the door. Upstairs: a stand for every country, food from all of them, and the art gallery in the lobby. It runs until the court opens.

  2. 2:45 pm

    Take your seat

    Head downstairs to the court. The main event begins at 2:45.

  3. The parade of flags

    It opens with every region’s flags coming through to the court.

  4. On the stage

    Dance, a fashion walk of traditional dress, a panel and student voices. One thing at a time, nothing competing with it.

  5. 5:00 pm

    One song to end on

    The whole room sings together. Finishes at 5:00.

Six regional showcases

Each region gets the floor

Rwandan women in umushanana, draped gowns in lilac, emerald and rose.

Africa

Rwanda, Nigeria, Kenya, Cameroon, Senegal, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa

A Mexican couple in a charro suit and a china poblana dress.

Latin America

Mexico, Brazil, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Venezuela, Belize

A Jamaican group in red madras bandana dress.

The Caribbean

Jamaica, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago

A Korean couple in hanbok.

Asia

South Korea, the Philippines, China, Turkmenistan

A couple in Nordic folk dress.

Europe

United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Albania, Iceland

Young men in 1920s American tailoring. A man in a navy suit and striped tie.

America

One of the six regions, with its own leaders and its own stand.

Performing is optional. A stand counts as representing. If a country does not have the people for a showcase, it still gets a table, a flag and a space on the floor.

What people will wear

Everybody in their own clothes

Thirty-three of these in one building. Nobody feels strange, because everybody is dressed like home.

Rwandan women in umushanana, draped gowns in lilac, emerald and rose.
RwandaUmushanana, one of many
Nigerian guests in agbada, gele head wraps and patterned ankara.
NigeriaAgbada and gele, one of many
A Mexican couple: a man in a black charro suit holding a wide sombrero, and a woman in an embroidered blouse and sequined china poblana skirt.
MexicoCharro and china poblana
A woman in a ruffled off-shoulder dress striped in yellow, red and blue, with beaded necklaces and flowers in her hair.
BrazilOne festival style among many
A Jamaican group in national dress: red madras bandana skirts and head ties with white blouses.
JamaicaBandana dress
A woman in a full ruffled skirt and off-shoulder blouse in rainbow tiers, with a wrapped head tie.
Trinidad and TobagoOne heritage style among many
A Korean couple in hanbok: a pink skirt and striped jacket, and a long cream robe.
South KoreaHanbok
A Filipino couple: an embroidered barong tagalog and a lace Filipiniana dress with a fan.
PhilippinesBarong and Filipiniana
A couple in Nordic folk dress on a beach: a plaid waistcoat and an embroidered navy bodice and skirt.
IcelandFolk dress, one of many
A woman in a red and white flamenco dress, mid-twirl, in a tiled square in Seville.
SpainFlamenco dress, from Andalusia
A man in a navy suit, white shirt and striped tie, sitting back in a wooden chair.
AmericaClassic tailoring
Young men in 1920s American tailoring: tweed waistcoats, flat caps, braces and ties.
America1920s Harlem tailoring

Reference images. Photography from the night will replace these.

The committee

Who Is Behind All Nations Rise?

All Nations Rise is organized by a student-led committee at Mount Vernon Nazarene University, bringing together leaders across event planning, cultural programming, communications, and community partnerships to create a meaningful celebration of cultures and shared experiences.

Who else is involved

Everyone’s invited

Just come.

Everyone is welcome. You do not have to perform or represent a country to be there.

Count me in

Want to do more?

I want to do more From another school?

Register

Put your name down

Thirty seconds. Your name and email are all we need.

Questions? Email us.

Do more

Be in the night, not just at it

For MVNU students and staff

Take part

Dance, walk the runway, make music or act for your country or culture.

What do you want to do?

Tick as many as you like.

For other universities

From another school

Students and societies from other universities: tell us what you could bring.

What do you have?

Tick as many as you like.

Faculty, partner universities and churches

A celebration that moves beyond borders

  • Bring a country.If your school, church or organisation is connected to a country we have not reached, help us give it a table and a flag.
  • Bring your students.A class, a club, a congregation’s young people: give them a reason to be in the building on 10 April.
  • Come and be seen.Faculty and leaders in the room tell students this matters, so come for the parade of flags and stay for the song.

Write to the committee

Ariel Arena at dusk: a glass entrance under the lit ARIEL ARENA lettering, with brick wings either side.
Ariel Arena, Mount Vernon Nazarene University, Ohio

Made Possible Together

With the support of our university, community partners, and sponsors.

Mount Vernon Nazarene University Student Government Association MVNU Intercultural Life Fairbanks Center for Global Engagement
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