"We want people to get sweaty," said Sidiki Diallo, encouraging the audience to dance at the Unity in Diversity Festival Sunday afternoon.

Diallo and three other hand drummers then proceeded to pound out rhythms on various drums such as the djun-djun, djembe and mandinka. Diallo, who hails from the African country of Senegal, reminded the audience that the drums were healing drums and later explained that the rhythms can help people forget about their problems.

"You see the old man sitting in the chair and he is dancing," Diallo said in his thick West African accent. "He forgets about his problems and he becomes young again. A sick man can come and enjoy it and they love it. It makes them feel positive. It heals them in that way."

Diallo and his healing drums were just one of the acts that were spreading positive vibes at the festival.

There were belly dancers, Scottish bagpipe players, actors and a host of others that came together Sunday in the name of unity. The festival, hosted annually by the Paradise Center for Tolerance and Nonviolence, is a way for local residents to celebrate differences while learning about different cultures. But it wasn't all local. Poppy Reybin and Barbara Chandler were visiting from Palm Desert when they heard about the festival.

"We saw the banner over the street and we decided to come and check it out," Reybin said.

The pair had just arrived to the festival in the early afternoon and started by viewing the World Culture posters created by the Paradise Intermediate School. The posters included information and photos about different parts of the world such as Japan, Italy and Spain. Also enjoying the posters were Christie and Myles Beebe from Paradise.

"We wanted to come and see the festival and enjoy the food," Christie said. She said in addition to the food, her favorite part of the festival was the African drummers. Those rhythms were enough to get Paradise residents Loic Massias and Gypsy Rader and their youngsters Bizou and Yasko dancing. After getting loose with the African drumming the family headed to the kids craft table for some fun and games. With the help of Jessica Wood, the youngsters made hats out of newspapers, which they later decorated with the help of Massias and Rader. The festival was a good family outing, Rader said.

"We usually go to Chico to do things," Rader said. "So it is nice to have something fun and festive going on in Paradise."

"Being outside in a nice environment is pretty cool," Massias added.

In addition to the food being "really yummy," Rader said she enjoyed the drumming as well as the kids crafts.

The event was the tenth festival hosted by the PCTN. The PCTN's goal is to create a safe, nonviolent environment for individuals of all kinds and the festival has become a staple summertime activity promoting those goals on the Ridge. With the weather heating up and the positive vibes flowing the festival was a successful event again this year.

As Christine Beebe said while looking at the World Culture Posters, "It's a nice little festival."