Pitt Nationality Rooms Holiday Open House Dec. 8

The University of Pittsburgh’s Cathedral of Learning Commons Room will jingle with excitement during the annual Nationality Rooms Holiday Open House from noon to 4 p.m. Dec 8. The event is free and open to the public.

“The annual Nationality Rooms Open House is an opportunity for people of all backgrounds to come together and share Old World traditions,” said E. Maxine Bruhns, director of the Nationality Rooms and Intercultural Exchange Programs and mistress of ceremonies for the open house. “The Nationality Rooms represent the best and noblest heritage of the ethnic groups which helped to make Pittsburgh an industrial and cultural capital of the world. At this annual event, we perpetuate the customs and the traditions that have made our city unique.”

Throughout the event, a diverse range of ethnic dance and musical presentations will be performed. Each Nationality Room committee will offer traditional foods and crafts for sale; proceeds of sales will go toward committee funds for the Nationality Rooms Summer Study Abroad Scholarships.

The 29 Nationality Classrooms on the first and third floors that encircle the Commons Room will be adorned in traditional holiday decorations reflecting their ethnic heritages. Guides wearing national dress will be stationed in each room, where they will explain the history behind the rooms’ decorations and holiday traditions celebrated throughout the world.

The Nationality Rooms, which are also used as University classrooms, were designed to represent the culture of ethnic groups that settled in Allegheny County and are supported by these cultural groups and governments.

Rooms will be decked in holiday decor through January 17, 2014, but will be closed Dec. 24-26, 2013, and Jan. 1, 2014. Tours, including audio-guided tours, of the Nationality Rooms are available. For more information, visit www.nationalityrooms.pitt.edu or call 412-624-6000.