The Interfaith Council brought students together for music, food, and information at their first-ever Holiday Festival, a celebration of eight different religious holidays.

The event, which was co-sponsored by the Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations, drew a crowd of over 200 students to the Kirkland Dining Hall on Wednesday night, according to Om L. Lala ’06, president of the Council.

Lala said that the celebration was part of the Council’s new effort to give students the chance to learn from each other about different religions without the pressure of a formal discussion setting.

“The purpose of the event is basically to celebrate and showcase all the different religious holidays happening in this year, because normally the only ones recognized are Christmas and Hanukkah,” Lala said.

Wednesday’s celebration featured the holidays of seven different religions—Christianity, Judaism, the Bahai faith, Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism—and the African American festival, Kwanzaa. Students manned booths decked with cultural displays and delicacies, ranging from ethnic specialties to Krispy Kreme donuts.

Students came out despite the cold and spoke enthusiastically about the event.

“I think this was a great idea,” said Lazeena Rahman ’06, who heard about the festival from Lala. “People are actually learning a lot.”

Another senior, Beatriz M. Mac Donald ’06 said she agreed.

“This is a perfect setting at Harvard for food and information; a lot of people definitely came, and the music was a nice touch,” she said.

Many said the relaxed setting helped stimulate conversation without turning away people of different views.

“I think this is a really nice mix of a relaxed atmosphere that clearly is not an academic setting with information still available,” said Kate A. Hasty ’07, who came to the event because she lives in Kirkland House. “It’s nice to meet so many different people.”

Housemate Ezra M. Cohen ’07, who was sitting next to Hasty with a plate full of food, added, “This is my first time at an Interfaith Council event. I think it’s a great way to initiate people into the group.”

Lala said he had been hoping for that reaction. “This year is about trying to foster a sense of interfaith community—to reach a larger group of people and have impact,” he explained. “People can get to know each other and socialize and get substantive background on each others’ religions. We want to make it less intimidating.”

Parvinder S. Thiara ’07, who staffed the Sikh booth, said the event allowed students to ask questions they might not normally feel comfortable asking.

“This is a good opportunity because most people don’t know what Sikhism is. When they see me they just think I’m Muslim. This is a good place for people to ask questions without feeling awkward,” he said.

The holiday festival follows last month’s successful Chocolate Fountain event thrown by the Council to promote discussion about religion on campus.