Host Country Application

Ethnic Expo is requesting that all potential Host Country candidates complete an application prior to selection of the 2024 Host Country. These will be reviewed by the Ethnic Expo Selection Committee before the 2024 Host country is chosen. Deadline to submit an application is March 1, 2024.

Requirements:

• Must not have been a Host Country in the last 5 Expos;
• Political, religious, or commercial displays and/or advertisements are not allowed unless preapproved by the Ethnic Expo Steering Committee;
• Represent your country in the Host Country Corner (south of the intersection of First/Washington streets). Destination for the community to experience your country’s culture and interact with your group;
• Must prepare a proposal with a cover letter and detailed plan of what your group would like to do with the Host Country Corner to be presented to the Ethnic Expo committee, including interactive/immersive experiences the community can participate in; For example, the 2018 Host Country France modeled the space around a Guinguette, a riverside pavilion with music, food and dancing;
  • Key Objectives and deliverables
  • The Event
    • Food – prepare and serve authentic cuisine reflective of your country’s culture
    • Craft – have booths with merchandise for sale that represents the host country/culture.
    • Education – organize and fully staff a host country booth to highlight the culture and welcome visitors to the host country corner; work with kidscommons on an authentic craft for children who attend.
    • Entertainment – suggest entertainment representative of your country; this will be coordinated with other festival entertainment groups and will be contracted through the City of Columbus
    • Layout plans
  • Stakeholders’ involvement and benefits
    • What does the core planning team look like? Please include the number of individuals who will be able to help with different aspects of planning the event;
    • What is the plan for volunteers prior to and during the event?
    • Plan details must be finalized by May 31, 2024.
  • Financial Plan
    • How do you propose raising funds/soliciting sponsors to cover costs? In the past, Host Countries have raised between $10-15,000.

Ethnic Expo will provide:

• Double food booth – 9’x20’
• Host country cultural booth – 9’x20’
• Tented stage in the Host Country Corner – 24’x24’ covered stage with a 9’X20’ backstage dressing room area.
• Entertainment funding – City of Columbus contributes an amount not to exceed $5,000, additional

• Marketing Plan
  • All marketing to be coordinated and approved by the Ethnic Expo Committee and not compete.

Please submit all proposals to Jody Coffman by email at jcoffman@columbus.in.gov,  in person at Columbus City Hall, Community Development, 123 Washington Street, Columbus, IN 47201, or by mail. Proposals submitted after the deadline will not be accepted for 2024 but may be held for upcoming years at the discretion of the Ethnic Expo Selection Committee.