Festival of Nations Feedback – Please!
Festival of Nations 2007 was a fantastic success. Held August 25-26 in Tower Grove Park, the festival drew 75,000 newcomers and long-timers; young and old – and every age between! Mouth-watering ethnic food competed for center stage along with a colorful cultural kaleidoscope of dance and music. Tell us about your favorite events; offer suggestions about additions or changes you’d like to see. This is your chance to speak out – please!
August 29th, 2007 at 6:54 pm
Thanks to all the volunteers who put in a TON of time and hard work! We really, truly cannot produce the festival without the 250+ community members who come out and sell water, make children’s crafts, set up, clean up and make the Festival great!
I have set up a Festival of Nations 2007 group on Flickr.com for you to share your festival photos!
http://www.flickr.com/groups/491797@N23/
Please share and discuss.
Sincerely,
Kate Howell
September 4th, 2007 at 10:09 am
The following is an email received Aug. 28, 2007:
Hi There
I was very proud to be a part of the 2007 International Festival at Tower Grove Park in St. Louis this year.
I was the Bagpiper with the Scottish St. Andrew Society.
I played for both days and had a wonderful time.
Kindest regards
Jim
Pipe Sergeant
John Ford Highland Pipe Band
September 4th, 2007 at 10:10 am
The following is an email received Aug. 29, 2007:
International Institute Staff and Volunteers:
I know that you do a variety of great things for immigrant and refugee populations in our region, but I want to compliment the International Institutes’ Festival of Nations. What a wonderful event! It was great to see and celebrate the diversity of our region. My mother and I attended the event on Saturday – listened to music, ate, shopped, and learned about various cultures. I even connected with someone about bi-lingual education for my children. It was delightful. Congrats on a success!
Anne
September 4th, 2007 at 10:11 am
The following is an email received Sept. 3, 2007:
This was the best fest yet, but I have a suggestion. Have the food vendors sell smaller portions rather than entire meals. Most of us want to do a lot of sampling and tasting instead of buying full plates. It would certainly lend to more variety for patrons.
Frank
September 5th, 2007 at 4:48 pm
The following is an email received Aug. 27, 2007:
To whom it may concern:
I would like to make a couple of comments about the 2007 Festival. I attended yesterday, August 26th.
Having the Food Booths lined up along the walkway DOES NOT WORK!! The lines get long and go across the sidewalk while people walking down the sidewalk have to go through the waiting lines for each booth. There was a lot of confusion and people walking up and just getting in the front of the line without noticing the line was 30 people deep on the other side of the sidewalk! The menus should be higher b/c they are difficult to see low when there are so many people. We waited in several lines (the beer line, Grbc, Thai, and one more I don’t remember) only to get to the front and be told what we wanted - which hadn’t been crossed off the menu - was not available. It would only take a few seconds for the food booth people to come around and cross something off the menu!
The other complaint I have is about the persistent Christian group that was all over the place handing out free “The Greatest Gift” DVDs. I’m sure the Intl Inst does not support one religion over another - b/c where were the Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, Jewish, etal proselitizers? When we walked from the Grand entrance all the way to the other end we were stopped FIVE times by members of this group passing out dvds - including twice by small children. They should have had a booth or been asked to leave. Friends who went on Saturday tell me the situation was the same then. They were annoying and one of the women stepped right in my path to shove the “Greatest Gift” at me. Next year when they show up I hope you ask them to leave or pay for a booth like the other groups and not walk around cornering people with their missions. They were at every entrance and throughout the park. If they will be allowed you have to ask Muslim, Jewish, etal groups if they want to do the same and next thing you know you’re not going to have a very nice festival!
Thank you for taking my comments.
Rodney
September 5th, 2007 at 4:54 pm
Rose Alivernia wrote the following poem about the Festival of Nations
Where the people of the world come together
over food, drink and music.
Willing to learn and teach each other about themselves.
People joining as one melding together as well as just mixing with others.
Many tongues, many sounds all become the background.
As everyone meets, greets and sees glimpses of other cultures.
Realizes that for each difference between cultures how much there is alike.
Coming from around the world to share and live in this city.
To express our hopes and goals for ourselves and our families.
Finding out how similar they really are.
That’s how the whole world should be forgetting the differences and just blending as one and being one with each other.
September 7th, 2007 at 9:30 am
My husband and I really enjoyed participating in the Festival of Nations by volunteering to sell drinks.
I would like to suggest that booths be given cash register drawers that have spaces for all denominations of bills. The drawer I was using did not resulting in extra time needed to find correct change and the possibility of giving wrong change due to the large amount of customers we were serving.
September 10th, 2007 at 10:01 am
Overall, I thought the festival was a wonderful experience. It was so exciting to see the diversity and richness of St. Louis’ many cultures. My favorites of the weekend were all the dancers, the Scottish games and of course, the mouth-watering items sold by the food vendors. I cannot believe this was my first Festival of Nations! Where have I been?!
I do agree with the previous comment that traffic along the pathways, due to the placement of the vendors, was difficult to navigate. Selling out of food and long lines is what to expect at most any event, though.
Congratulations to everyone who made the festival enjoyable and for celebrating the melting pot!
October 31st, 2007 at 9:17 pm
greatings…
i agree…