Cold weather couldn’t stop Lafayette Square-area residents from celebrating the community’s diversity.

With flags flying from several international groups and trumpets sounding from the Northwest High School marching band, the Lafayette Square Area Coalition hosted its second International Parade on Oct. 24 — part of its World of Difference event.

The parade featured more than 30 organizations as well as city leaders and elected officials. Participants marched, danced, drove and walked down Lafayette Road from the Walmart parking lot near 46th Street to Lafayette Square Mall, a few blocks to the south.

“This highlights the richness of the area,” said Mary Clark, coalition president. “There is nowhere else in the city that you can see the diversity of the Lafayette Square area.”

The parade was followed up by a new resource fair hosted by the Rotary Club of Indianapolis, the third Taste the Difference event that featured food from local restaurants, and the inaugural Celebrate the Difference event at the mall, featuring live music, disc jockeys and performing groups.

Gretchen Becker