Tasting new foods, bouncing up and down, and seeing a Chopstick Man were only a few of the things to do at the Indianapolis International Festival. Including myself, many foreign language students at Lewis Cass recently participated in this celebration of cultures. This is the place to go if you want to learn more about other nations!

              On November 22^nd of this year, I participated in the International Festival. This celebration of cultures took place in Indianapolis, Indiana. Happening a few times each year, the event is growing in popularity. My classmates and I took a field trip on a day that the festival was put on. It was a great experience, and I appreciated the opportunity to partake.

The first thing that comes to my mind when I think of other cultures is food. This festival had food from so many countries. Mexico, Egypt, Holland, Iran, and Italy were only a few of the nations represented. I tried some mini pancakes from Holland called poffertjes. Served with a white covering and syrup, these miniature versions of the popular breakfast food tasted delicious. The other wonderful creation I sampled was Italian ice. Consuming this was similar to eating a combination of ice cream and a snow cone.

Entertainment played a key part in the festivities too. I saw some Spanish dancers. Their movements were fluent and worked perfectly with the music. I also observed two musicians known as Salaam playing music from all around the Middle East. They explained that Salaam was a way of saying hello in certain countries. Unfortunately, our school could not stay longer because a naturalization ceremony was going to proceed. That would have been really neat to see.

Other than food and performances, the building contained vendors selling almost everything. They had jewelry, candy, toys, art, and more from other nations. I didn’t buy anything, but I noticed plenty of people who did. Some students from Cass purchased temporary tattoos and our teacher obtained a scarf.

My favorite thing to do during my time at this festival was walk around and look at so many things to see. A giant map of Asia and Indiana sat on the floor. People could pay to see how fast they could kick a soccer ball. There was even a contraption in which people bounced up and down from ropes. Some individuals were interesting too. One man called the Chopstick Man wore a large robe and walked around on stilts.

Going on this trip was a lot of fun, and hopefully I will get to go again someday. I strongly suggest others check it out too!