North hosted the  first annual “World Culture Fair” in the gym during all periods on Feb. 16. 

Nine countries from around the world were displayed with the purpose of bringing together different types of backgrounds and cultures through music, dance, song, performance and food. 

“It was a really cool experience,” senior Caleb Mellencamp said.  “I represented the Philippines by performing a song along with tin ik ling. I met a lot of awesome people and had a really great time with everyone who participated in the whole thing.” 

Fellow participant junior Iniya Mani learned a traditional Bollywood Indian dance for the fair.

“I had fun teaching it to others and mixing the music,” Mani said. “My biggest challenge was overcoming the nerves but everyone was beyond kind, and we raised so much awareness about the different cultures.”

The world culture fair offered a variety of experiences for everyone from each culture and elements that are important to them. 

“I really enjoyed the food from India which I never have had anything like it,” senior Victoria Garcia. “It was so delicious, and it was gone immediately after they put the food out. I wish I could’ve gotten seconds.” 

Juniors Anushka Menon, Meghna Menon and Santoshi Yadagiri organized the fair after seeing a similar event take place at East. 

“Planning this event was incredibly fun especially because we got to meet so many new people and learn about diverse cultures,” Yadagiri said. “I had a lot of meetings with [Principal] Draper to help make the first world culture fair a success.”

The fair participants appreciated the courage of fellow classmates. 

“It was exciting to be a part of something that displayed my culture for the whole school,” junior Gavin Galias said. “I would say it was pretty nerve racking since many people tend to make fun of small things, but it was extremely fun.” 

After months of preparation both participants and spectators felt it was a success. 

“We were definitely extremely stressed, especially towards the end when the fair was coming closer,” Yadagiri said. “We made sure to give our participants more practice days to relieve all the stress and nerves.”

Though nerves were high with the desire for this to  succeed, many students enjoyed the performances and wished for the fair to be a yearly event. 

“Watching the entire production of the fair was beautiful,” senior Angela Ennin said.

 “Each and every single thing was intriguing and beautiful in its own way, I believe it was a huge success.”