CRESTVIEW — Swirls of color, flashes of light and bursts of smoke punctuated the Shoal River Middle School gymnasium during the second International Festival and Hispanic Heritage Celebration.
Though coordinator Blanca Golinda said she was enjoying a bit of down time following the event, she and organizers from the Okaloosa County School District were already making plans for next year’s festival.
“It’s getting better and better every year, Golinda said. “I just can’t wait to do it again. More people asked me to do it. We’re getting famous.”
Organized by the district’s English for Speakers of Other Languages program, this year’s festival drew more than 350 spectators, including Brandon Knake, 7, who said the most interesting cultural exhibit was Japanese origami.
More than 100 representatives of more than 20 countries, cultures and community organizations, including Boy Scout Troop 773 and the school district, offered cultural displays, with many participants clad in traditional dress.
Cultural performances included Panamanian dances, Korean drummers, an Afro-Colombian dance by Shoal River Middle School students, a sultry Argentinean tango by Holly Tucker and Jamil Harris, Middle Eastern dances by the Kasba Dancers, and a Hispanic music by students from Wright Elementary School.
“Latin American Idol” star Amid Montelongo made participants of observers, many of whom flowed down to the gym floor from the bleachers to dance to his lively performance.
Baker school sophomore Bianca Peters underscored the festival’s joyous mingling of languages, music and cultures with a presentation about growing up in a multi-lingual household where her family speaks English and Dutch.
“I am just like many others who learned English after their mother tongue,” Bianca said. “For us, the world of words is twice as large with which to record life as it transpires. Very cool for sure, or as we say in Holland, ‘gaaf man!’”
Email News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: International Festival draws 500 to Crestview (VIDEO, PHOTOS)