Celebrate St. Louis' Many Cultural Traditions Virtually August 28-30
It may look different this year, but the International Institute’s annual Festival of Nations is as devoted to sharing and enriching culture in the St. Louis region as ever.
Food
To help celebrate, the St. Louis Mosaic Project will be hosting a cooking demonstration on Friday, 8/28 at 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM. Bomi Park, Assistant Project Manager at World Trade Center St. Louis(WTC) and the St. Louis Mosaic Project, will be teaching participants how to cook the traditional Korean dish, Japchae. This dish is made with sweet potato starch noodles and a variety of vegetables and meat. Register for this free cooking demonstration here!
To see if your favorite ethnic restaurant is participating in some way this year, you can see the full list of Festival of Nations’ food vendors here. They are labeled “Festival Vendor”, and the rest are other recommended ethnic restaurants in St. Louis.
St. Louis Sister Cities
Sister Cities booth at the Festival of Nations
The World Trade Center St. Louis is the umbrella organization for St. Louis’ Sister Cities, of which there are 16 in total, spanning the globe, with cities from Africa, Asia, Europe, North and South America. For over 10 years, the WTC has coordinated our sister cities participation in the Festival of Nations. In partnership with the International Institute and our dedicated sister cities committee volunteers, we have staffed a booth in the Global Corner, taking children and their families on a virtual tour of our sister cities via a passport activity.
“This year it truly will be a virtual tour. We are excited to be part, once again, of this important festival for the region, bringing together people from all walks of life, longtime residents and new arrivals alike in a spirit of fun and friendship,” said Stella Sheehan, Deputy Director, World Trade Center St. Louis.
Enjoy a virtual tour of St. Louis Sister Cities and submit your answers to quizzes to be considered for a raffle! This is a “self-guided” virtual tour you can do on your own time between 8/28-8/30.
Language
The St. Louis Mosaic Project in partnership with the International Institute will be holding Korean, Spanish, and Arabic language lessons on Saturday, 8/29 at 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM. If you’ve always wanted to learn a few simple sentences in different languages, this is your chance! Learn how to say hello, thank you, and maybe a few ‘ready-to-travel’ sentences in Korean, Spanish, and Arabic. Get culture tips on how to be friendly with the locals. Register for this free session here!
”Mosaic has planned these lessons to give a taste of different languages, as language is a big part of a culture,” said Park. “By learning a few more things about other cultures that are represented in the St. Louis community, we hope people would feel more connected with one another. Festival of Nations is such a big celebration of the diversity of our region, where people come with their friends and family to learn, eat, and connect. We are happy to be a part of it again this year.”
