Cleveland, OH – With a record breaking attendance at the 77th annual One World Day, the volunteers who worked on the event had reason to celebrate. Cleveland Police estimated that over 50,000 people attended at some point during the day. And the Parade of Flags was also a record breaker. Over 1500 marchers from 53 heritages marched in colorful costumes carrying flags. Video and a list of the 53 groups
A small team led by producer Johnny Wu produces the annual One World Day event. This includes committee chairs Sheila Crawford, Angela Shute Woodson, Dan Hanson, Lisa Wong, Oanh Powell, Mike Gibbons, Nick Muhlbach and Siu Yan Scott as well as Cleveland Cultural Gardens Federation officers Dr. Wael Khoury and Tom Turkaly and Executive Director Lori Ashyk.
Over 100 volunteers helped in numerous ways from directing people, helping with parking, tent setup, trash collection and everything else imaginable at an event for 50,000 people.
Most of the team and volunteers gathered at Das Schnitzel Haus for an appreciation dinner on September 24. Besides the camaraderie, raffle and great food, the volunteers heard from Volunteer Chair Mike Gibbons about the results of the survey taken of One World Day attendees.
Some of the highlights of the survey:
More than double the number of survey respondents from last year
94% spent more than 2 hours at OWD
93% said they experienced a new culture at OWD
86% attended with two or more people
81% spent more than $10 at OWD
27% noted it was their first time at the Cleveland Cultural Gardens
92% noted they are likely to return to OWD next year.