ST. LOUIS — The recent Summer Olympics brought together people of countries from around the world in the spirit of peace and understanding.
The Festival of Nations, which will be held Saturday and Sunday in Tower Grove Park, does much the same thing, but with food.
Of course, there is also international dancing and music, and vendors selling the wares of their native countries. This year, for the first time, there will also be fashion shows. Those are all vital parts of the festival, too.
But when most people think of the Festival of Nations, they think perhaps of empanadas from Argentina. Or grilled pork skewers from Vietnam. Or curry from Uganda. Or samosas from Ethiopia.
The food from nearly 80 countries will be sold along the park’s Main Drive, and it is the large number of countries represented, from all parts of the globe, that is the point of the festival.
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The event is sponsored by the International Institute of ºüÀêÊÓƵ, an organization devoted to welcoming immigrants and refugees to the region and offering them opportunities to thrive. It promotes the benefits of multiculturalism, and it doesn’t get much more multicultural than the Festival of Nations.
Sumak Kamari, a troupe that performs Ecuadoran dances, will appear on the same stage as a group that performs Filipino dances and a woman who plays a Chinese zither called a guzheng. The Kenyan faith-based singer Kanji Mbugua will perform, as will the Indian Folk Dance Group and a dance troupe called Alma de México.
Everywhere you look, people from one culture will be mingling with people from another, sampling their food, listening to their music, enjoying their dances.
“The goal of Festival of Nations is for each person to show up as their true selves, embrace one another, and experience the tastes and cultures from more than 75 countries in one place,†Arrey Obensen, the International Institute’s president and CEO, said in a statement.
That has been the goal of the festival dating all the way back to its beginnings more than 100 years ago.
The International Institute was founded in 1919 as a way to help refugees and displaced women in particular fleeing countries ravaged by World War I, according to a history published by the institute. Nearly 60 similar organizations across the country opened around the same time, working with the Young Women’s Christian Association.
Just one year later, in 1920, the institute held its first International May Festival, which featured the music, dance and handicraft of people who had settled in ºüÀêÊÓƵ. Two thousand people are said to have attended.
That event paved the way for the Festival of Nations, which the institute first held in 1934. It was part of the celebration surrounding the opening of what was then called Municipal Auditorium. It is now the site of the Enterprise Center.
From 2,000 people at the first International May Festival, the Festival of Nations has grown to a cultural behemoth, with more than 100,000 people attending last year, according to a spokeswoman.
Some come for the shopping. The festival is ringed with vendors, each representing a different country. They usually sell arts and crafts typical of the country, along with traditional clothing, art (the artists themselves are often selling it), jewelry and similar affordable items.
Some come for the music and dance. Many of the nearly 50 performers and groups are local (Elsie Parker and the Poor People of Paris, ºüÀêÊÓƵ Cultural Flamenco Society). But many others are national or international, with equally wide reputations.
One of the headliners is homegrown: hip-hop influenced soul and R&B singer Mai Lee will perform on the Main Stage; she shares the name of the popular Vietnamese-Chinese restaurant opened by her parents in Brentwood. One half of the duo Brooklyn Saint, another headliner, is also from here; their music is a combination of soul and jazz.
The other headliners are more far-flung. Mannywellz adds his silken voice to smooth melodies sometimes flavored with beats from his native Nigeria; he moved to the United States as a child and now lives in Maryland. And Lisa Ramey, a fan favorite on “The Voice,†was born in ºüÀêÊÓƵ but is now based in New York.
But more than anything else, the Festival of Nations is a festival of food. Some of it is produced by cultural institutions making the cuisine of their homelands. Some of it is made by professionals — the people who run food trucks, such as La Colombianita, and chefs with their restaurants such as Alex Henry of El Molino del Sureste.
It can be daunting. How do you know what and where to eat?
Festival spokeswoman Madeline Jones has a plan for dealing with the seemingly endless line of food vendors.
“I would recommend taking a walk and seeing what everyone has to offer. It’s super easy to go to the first five (tents) that you see,†she says.
“Take a lap and take everything in. See what caught your eye, and then go back.â€