OUR STORY

Seven years ago, two ESL teachers decided to stage a public festival for their English as a Second Language students in order to give them an opportunity to bring their rich cultures to the Evansville community. With lots of hard work and a shoestring budget, we pulled off a small but fun event in the Bosse cafeteria. Maybe 100 people attended!

Knowing we needed more resources to truly make this work, we wrote a grant to the Public Education foundation the following year, and were awarded the maximum amount for the Festival of Nations. 

At this point, the Bosse World Language department joined the team. Not only did we include our Spanish and French language students, but the Spanish teacher who is the sponsor of the International Club, saw this as a great opportunity for the club to develop awareness and relationship with international students and community.  With more student participation and a larger leadership team, we were able to include more community tables from restaurants and businesses as well as bring in a greater variety of dance and music performances. 

In 2016, we requested and were granted a renewal of the grant and we were able to include the Stockwell Elementary School annual International Day in this proposal. Not only were we able to build a collection of artifacts and costumes that can be used in both events, but students from Bosse and Harrison (where the high school ESL program is currently) assisted the elementary students and teachers in a variety of ways. 

For the 2018 Festival of Nations, the event moved from the cafeteria to the gym due to increasing interest from students and the community in being involved in this celebration. We had 70 tables in the gym including 26 country tables created by students with displays, artifacts and food, 15 restaurants who shared samples, 6 corporate businesses, 3 universities and a handful of other community organizations and businesses who shared information and demonstrations with the participants. 20 dance groups and singers filled the evening with amazing performances. Well over 600 people experienced this international celebration through food, dance, music, games, and conversations. 

We have been able to firmly establish this as an annual event showcasing the diversity in our community and bringing together families, community leaders, organizations, and businesses who are interested in networking and fostering collaborative relationships in support of Evansville’s growing international population. And, we have been nominated for the 2019 and 2020 Leadership Evansville award in the Community and Neighborhood Category!