Culture Fest Brings Vibrancy and Spirit to Kinkaid

Across Falcon Green, colorful booths decorated with cultural items and foods call out to passersby to "visit their country” at the annual Kinkaid Culture Fest. 

This all-school celebration is a time for community members to pick a country to learn about and present. It is also a completely student-led event, as the Culture Fest Committee handles event setup, entertainment and other facets of the campus spectacle. 

This year’s Culture Fest, held on April 4, was themed around festivals. The ongoing construction of the Lower School Administrative Building did not hinder the event, thanks to the Culture Fest Committee’s planning. 

Over two dozen booths were set up, each with a variety of entertainment, food, and cultural items. 

The Sri Lanka booth used banana leaves instead of tablecloths and had Buddhist artwork on display, along with jackfruit rice as a snack. Anime Club’s Japan booth was decorated with Hello Kitty merchandise, and they distributed Japanese mochi-flavored candies. A group of Pakistani families manned the Pakistan booth, with the principal attractions being the variety of South Asian snacks, as well as Pakola, a type of cream soda. 

The South Asian Heritage Club put together the Sri Lanka booth. 

Junior Wills Leighton, who was on the Culture Fest committee, oversaw the setup of the event. He also upheld a two-year tradition: the hot chili challenge. 

Last year, Leighton’s challenge took place at the World Update Club’s Thailand booth. This year, he chose to start his challenge at the drinks booth, a pretty fortunate location for the spicy mayhem that followed. 

“Hey! Do you want to try this pepper? Try it!” he urged community members. 

Those who assented were taken to a booth with a variety of peppers occupying a range of values on the Scoville scale. 

At his side was junior Kaveen Shah, also a member of debate team and co-vice president of the South Asian Heritage Club. 

“Culture Fest is an amazing experience,” Shah said. “It’s a chance to explore the variety of countries on display, try a bit of every booth’s food and drinks, and watch some great student performances.”

Shah participated in a variety of dance numbers choreographed and organized by the South Asian Heritage Club. The club swept the Culture Fest entertainment awards, taking home first, second, and third place for their dance and musical performances, including to popular Bollywood songs like Nagada Sang Dhol, Jai Jai Shivashankar, and Balam Pichkari.

“In the middle of the crazy months of April and May, I think Culture Fest was the perfect break for the Kinkaid community,” Shah said. “It was a nice outlet and a chance to socialize and have fun.”