The UK south coast’s international education association, the International Education Forum, is organising the second One World By The Sea festival in October to celebrate cultural diversity in the county of Dorset.
The free festival aims to celebrate the cultural diversity of Bournemouth and Poole’s local community and to showcase the area as one which welcomes international students. It will incorporate everything from music, food and dance, to film, fashion and education.
“The festival provides an opportunity to raise the profile of Bournemouth and Poole as an education destination”
Members of IEF include accredited language schools, an independent boarding school, Bournemouth University and Bournemouth University International College, among others.
The association is promising this year’s event will be bigger and better and is hoping to attract 10,000 people – up from 6,000 in 2017.
“We are extending our range of venues to include a One World: Many Voices music night in an area of Bournemouth where several language schools are based,” said Lauren Cooper, projects supervisor at Anglo-Continental, one of the organisers of the event.
“We’re also planning an afternoon of pop-up international entertainment and activities along Poole High Street.”
Cooper said that it is difficult to make a direct connection between the festival and student recruitment.
“The festival provides an opportunity to raise the profile of Bournemouth and Poole as an education destination which is welcoming to international students,” she explained.
“It also gives IEF members effective marketing collateral to illustrate this message.”
Working alongside the Council and local business groups, the importance of international students to the local economy will continue to be recognised and factored into high-level decision-making, Cooper added.
International students contribute close to £300 million per year to the area’s economy according to statistics provided by the IEF, and Bournemouth and the coastal town of Poole are the number one choices for international students outside of London.
One World By The Sea 2018 will run across various venues in Bournemouth and Poole between October 11-13.
Anyone who would like to support the Festival can find more information here
