World of Nations Celebration
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
World of Nations Celebration is North Florida’s largest multicultural festival, featuring Jacksonville, Florida’s diverse communities since 1993. The 4-day festival in Metropolitan Park is held annually in early May. The celebration hosts over 75,000 visitors, including 12,000 children on school field trips Thursday and Friday to experience the food, music, culture and traditions from a multitude of other countries that make up our world. On Saturday morning, there is a naturalization ceremony at 10am, where as many as 50 people become U.S. citizens. [1]
Each ”country” represented has their flag on display, at least one person speaking that country’s official language and serving food native to that nation. Many will play traditional music and demonstrate their style of dance or relate storys from their culture. Artwork and clothing/costumes representing the country are also exhibited.
The World of Kids Playland, which features arts and crafts, puppet shows, face-painting and much more for kids of all ages. [2]
Countries represented may vary each year. Prior Celebrations have included: [3]
Africa, Antigua, Argentina, Bahamas, Barbados, Benin, Bulgaria, Cambodia, China, Colombia, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Ethiopia, France, Greece, Haiti, India, Italy, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Kenya, Laos, Lebanon, Mexico, Nigeria, Norway, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Puerto Rico, Scotland, Senegal, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, St. Lucia, Syria, Taiwan, Turkey, United States, Venezuela and Vietnam.
