Building Bridges, a festival which celebrates diversity in the community, was in full swing, with people taking in the sights and sounds of other cultures from around the world. Others were milling around the different booths set up by local churches and organizations.

Wandering about amid the crowd was Fred Armstrong, the man who had originally thought of the festival a year ago. A camera slung around his neck, he seemed as excited as the little children running around and swaying to the music.

Armstrong thought of the idea for the festival when he realized that even though Saratoga and its neighboring cities were growing more ethnically diverse, there was little mingling between the different groups and little understanding of each other.

He then approached the Saratoga Rotary Club with his idea. The club loved it, and Building Bridges was on its way.

This year, the second time the event was being held, almost 200 people joined Armstrong in planning the event. The celebration of diversity included a series of lectures at the Saratoga Library titled "Religions of the World."

"If you look at the history of the world, religion has been a problem when it comes to international relations. We must learn to get along," said Armstrong.

Cynthia Chang, a member of the organizing committee, said that she had learned a lot from the Religions of the World series at the library. "It was an extremely popular event. More than 100 people showed up every day for the lectures," said Chang. "This is all an effort to reach out to each other. Every church and every school in Saratoga is participating in Building Bridges."

The final event and the showpiece of the celebration was the daylong event at West Valley College. Visitors to the college that day could have mistakenly believed that they had stumbled onto a jamboree being organized by the United Nations.

Flags of different countries fluttered in the wind. A little distance away were the names of countries that were represented in the event.

And participation there was plentiful, be it the Ti-Ra-Ki-Ta School of Tabla or Chinese martial arts. "I just love the ambience here. It is good for my students," said P.V. Sridhar, the instructor for the tabla school.

There were plenty of people who were there for the ambience. The event was five hours long, and people drifted in and out of the venue throughout the day. Organizers estimated that between 3,000 to 5,000 people turned out. Some heard about it from their children, others from their neighbors or community organizations.

Thomas Su and his wife, Vivian, who live in Los Gatos, had heard about the event from the schools and decided to show up.

"This is a perfect day for us," said Annmarie Harrop, who was enjoying the event with her husband, Geoffrey. The elderly couple said that they had bumped into many people they knew.

"We love the different costumes, the things you do not get to see otherwise," said Corinne Vita, another visitor to the event.

The Diversity Quilt, a project of the elementary schools in Saratoga, was on display during the event. Students at these schools had been asked to design and draw cards that reflected diversity. "About 60 cards were chosen from each school," said Laura Tillet, who was one of the people in charge of the project.

Indumathy Ganesh, an instructor at the Nrithyollasa Dance Academy, an Indian dance school in Fremont, said that she liked the informal character of the event. "This gives confidence to my students. It also helps in imbibing other cultures," she said.

This being election season, all the candidates running for the city council elections showed up for the event. Andy Barnes and Aileen Kao were seen walking about and talking to people. Mayor Ann Waltonsmith, who is also running for re-election to the city council, spent the day in the city of Saratoga booth encouraging Saratoga residents to vote for Measure V, the proposed utility tax.

Whole Foods provided the food for the event. Any visitor could get a free tasting of Whole Foods' ethnic menu.

The Muslim Community Association, located in Santa Clara, had set up a booth for the event. On display were books like Islam 101 and the Essential Koran. "We were asked a lot of questions about the meaning of Islam," said Mohammed Shommo, who is part of the group's outreach program. At the next booth sat representatives of Congregation Beth David, a Jewish community group in Saratoga.

One of the more popular booths at the celebration was the Indian Cultural Awareness Club. A group of students from Saratoga High School spent the entire day helping visitors apply henna tattoos.

"We were asked a lot of questions. Many wanted to know about the Indian custom of applying henna tattoos before weddings," said Vaishali Bhatnagar. All day long, a patient group of people--most of them women--patiently waited for their turn so that they could get henna tattoos painted on their hands and arms.

George Bunyard, who was on one of the organizing committees for the event, said, "This is an excellent celebration of diversity with all the music, the food and the booths. We need this kind of an event in our communities. There is a great division in the country now, and everyone needs to build some bridges."