At the 2024 Festival of Nations, various international students and community members showcase their music, dance and fashion through live performances.
A group of Haitian students burst with enthusiasm, supporting their compatriots on stage who are performing in long skirts to Haitian pop music.
Possibly the loudest strongest voice is Anika Johnson, 16. She’s recording with her phone and bouncing to the music. Her first language is Haitian Creole.
Live performances from Indian, Chinese and Panamanian students and community members are included. Tables line the Old National Events Plaza, where students of various nationalities share their culture with visitors. There is also a lot of international food available.
The Japanese booth illustrates food, chopsticks, important cities, religious shrines and the Japanese language. Marin Kazahaya is one Japanese student.
“I want them to know about Japanese people's personality, like through talking with me,” she said.
The Festival of Nations is at its core, a showcasing of the English as a Second Language (ESL) program students, through the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation (EVSC).
EVSC ESL middle school teacher Susan Riordan is checking over some presentation slides by student Feniben Chaudhari.
The assignment is to create a slideshow contrasting her home, Gujarati, India, to Evansville, Indiana. In this case, contrasting animals she thinks are cute in either country — like a lion in India.
“I don't know that I want to meet that cute animal in India,” Riordan jokes. “Did you show examples of homes, maybe languages show those kinds of things?”
This is the International Newcomers Academy for brand new ESL students.
“They will come to us and we will work on speaking, listening, reading and writing,” Riordan said.
In her class alone, there are 21 students and probably a dozen languages. These include Haitians, Indians, south and central Americans. In other classes there are Ukrainians, Marshallese, Dominicans. They are all using the ESL program to hone their English skills.
Festival of Nations co-founder Janelle Nisly said the festival was birthed from the great cultural education teachers got from students.
“We just felt like it wasn't fair that we got all the goods, we got to see the good stuff, we got to hear about culture, we got to learn to know people from all over the world. And nobody else was getting that opportunity.”
Niti Moore is from India. She works for the EVSC Foundation event coordinator.
“I believe it's important to celebrate as an immigrant myself, I think when you move to another place and other country, another city, you are constantly aware of how different you are,” she said. “And you're assimilating, you're trying to assimilate. But I think it's a great opportunity for immigrants to showcase who they are and be proud of their culture and their traditions.”
Moore said this festival also helps connect Evansville to its own immigrant history.
Over the past 10 years, Nisly said the festival grew from the cafeteria at Bosse High School to what it is today, adding that there are more students and more cultural variety today, and more “buy-in” from the community.
“People are starting to see that there is a huge and growing international population,” she said. “And they're starting to recognize that this is something extraordinary that they now have an interesting opportunity to participate in.”
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