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The scene at the eighth annual International Festival in Upper Darby on Saturday painted a vivid picture of the township’s moniker, “The World in One Place.” Vendors offered everything from elote and aguas frescas to mango paste and henna, while children paraded in front of the Upper Darby Municipal Building waving flags from dozens of countries.

“This allows us to bring all of those cultures and all of that beautiful diversity that we have in our township together and to showcase that we have all of this entertainment from the different cultures,” said Upper Darby Mayor Ed Brown.

Upper Darby, the sixth-largest municipality in Pennsylvania, is home to around 87,000 people who speak more than 100 different languages. Saturday’s festival featured musical and martial arts performances, a kids zone and around 50 vendors.

The township’s diversity is its strength, said Rita LaRue, Upper Darby’s director of community and economic development.

“A lot of small business owners, they’ve brought their food to Upper Darby Township, and right here in downtown Upper Darby, you can taste amazing food from all over the world,” she said.

But amid the festivities, the mood was subdued for some residents.

Anel Pérez, owner of El General Zapata, a Mexican restaurant in Upper Darby, said the turnout Saturday was much lower compared to previous years.

She said she thinks it’s due to fear of ramped-up immigration enforcement in the region. Pérez said some of her clients have told her they’re hesitant to leave the house, and sometimes order food for delivery instead of coming to the restaurant.

“Ha sido difícil porque hay mucha gente que está con miedo”, dijo. “No quiere salir, no quiere arriesgarse, pero yo pienso que tenemos que hacerlo por necesidad porque tenemos que trabajar, tenemos que pagar renta, tenemos que mantener a nuestros hijos, nuestros negocios, los que tienen negocios, y si no trabajamos no comemos”. 

“It’s been hard because a lot of people are afraid,” she said. “They don’t want to go out, they don’t want to risk it, but I think that we have to do it out of necessity, because we need to work, we need to pay rent, we need to support our children, our businesses, those of us that have businesses, and if we don’t work we don’t eat.”

Pérez said she is encouraged to see community members, including those who aren’t immigrants, attend events like Saturday’s festival.

“Siento que hay mucha gente que se une a nosotros, como inmigrantes”, dijo. “Nos apoya y sabe que nosotros somos gente trabajadora”. 

“I feel like there are a lot of people who unite with us as immigrants,” she said. “They support us and they know that we’re hardworking people.”

Brown said the township has been “adversely affected” by the threat of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids, making Saturday’s celebration all the more valuable.

“To have something like this is important where people are not scared, they are proud of their culture, and they get to showcase it and not have to worry about, you know, being deported and things like that,” he said. “This is a way for everybody to come out and enjoy each other’s cultures and focus on what’s important, and that’s connecting us all together. We have more things in common than we do different, and we try to showcase that and feature that with an event like this.”

LaRue said the mission of the festival is to bring people together.

“No matter what’s going on in the greater world, and it’s a big world, and there’s always something going on, we want to celebrate our people, our residents, any visitors that want to come and join us in celebrating our really diverse, wonderful residents of Upper Darby Township,” she said.