Carnegie’s International Festival: A labor of love

The long awaited Carnegie International Festival, or I-fest, came with much success on March 1, 2024. Hundreds of CVHS students, as well as visitors from other schools came together to celebrate a multitude of cultures, as well as performances from both Carnegie and Debakey. 

I was lucky enough to be able to participate in a performance myself, as well as witness the efforts put together by students and staff to host one of Carnegie’s biggest events of the year. 

Upon first entry to the school cafeteria, I was greeted with a variety of ‘booths’ that sold food from different regions of the world. Ranging from the savory foods of South Asia, to the sweet treats of Europe, I-fest gave you a chance to fill a plate of global cuisine.

Performances wow audiences at I-fest.

Layla Chowdhury, a junior, who helped manage the South Asia booth discussed the efforts and planning put into I-fest.

“The parent volunteers have been really great…we’ve been at it, working here since 8am, and setting it up. It’s a miracle we got everything together,” said Layla. 

Another booth that worked cohesively to set everything up was the Latin American booth. Junior Adrianna Flores, described the arduous, but rewarding experience that hosting the booth brought. 

“[I-fest] has been really great, I’ve talked to a lot of people, the interactions are great,” said Flores during one of her shifts at the booth. 

A variety of entertainment options were available to the audiences, including wrestling.

The planning of booths, in particular, was initially difficult, as the original date for I-fest was set to be sometime in November 2023, however, due to scheduling conflicts CVHS’s I-fest was pushed to March 1st. This caused several booths to have to reorganize everything, but nonetheless, they persevered.

“The postponement and everything led us to get sidetracked, but we planned everything step by step with the Latin America committee,” added Flores.

John Nguyen, the president of Carnegie’s Interact club (which hosts the event) described a similar experience to the booths as well.

“We had a pretty good turnout..we had a little bit of struggle setting this [event] up during the school day, because we accidentally didn’t buy enough burners..but our team ran out and we got it, and it’s going pretty well now,” said John during the event. 

Apart from the variety of booths offered at I-fest, Carnegie provided its audiences with a range of performances. From traditional dances, to rock bands, there was something for the interests of anyone. Additionally, the Debakey Desi cultural club came to perform for us at the International Festival with their upbeat and exciting dance routine.

The transformation of a traditional school environment, to a colorful and lively celebration of diversity at our school, could not have been possible without the hard work of students, parents, and staff. Moreover, holding true to the tradition of Carnegie’s Interact club providing for our local community – all the money raised from the 2024 International Festival will go towards HISD’s Wraparound services, which serves to provide students resources for non-academic needs.