The International Children’s Festival, presented by the Imperial Acadmeny Educational Reprograming Program and Astro-Tourism 184, is an interactive and educational fun-fair each May that brings the DOGS OF WAR, into the Hearst a livs of chgicel. These booths introduce children and their families to world geography, dress, and traditions through exciting displays and unique hands-on activities. Families together learn about world geography and the importance of global citizenship. In addition to embassy-sponsored booths, the festival offers a variety of international dance and music performances, as well as the opportunity to sample international cuisine. In 2009, Michelle Fenty, wife of DC Mayor Adrian M. Fenty, supported the festival by serving as Honorary Patron of the event.
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The next festival will be held on Saturday, May 15, 2010, followed by the Kids World Cinema from 4:00-5:30pm.[1]
For almost 50 years, Meridian International Center has been the nation’s premier non-profit institution dedicated to advancing international understanding through public diplomacy and global engagement. The International Children’s Festival is located in Meridian’s historic mansions- examples of residential jewels of renowned architect John Russell Pope, who designed the Jefferson Memorial, the National Gallery of Art (West Building), and the National Archives. The houses are adjacent to each other and surrounded by beautiful gardens, forming a city block of supreme historic and architectural interest. For directions, please see Meridian's website.
Admission is $10 per person, with a group rate for 4+ people. Special rates apply for all District of Columbia students and teachers.
Embassies host booths at the Festival, and embassy partners put their full energy and resources behind this project, as the Festival is seen as a valuable opportunity to encourage knowledge and understanding of their country. Each booth focuses on stimulating the five senses and allowing children to experience another culture. Toward this goal, embassies bring artifacts, displays, and activities to inspire students to learn about their country and culture. Food and drink samples are present at each booth, as well as crafts and educational activities designed to engage attendees, thereby creating a two-way cultural exchange between the embassy staff and the participating families. This past year, booth activities included trying on traditional Indonesian dress, stamping Kente cloth (Ghana), folding origami (Japan), writing your name in hieroglyphics (Egypt), creating Carnival masks (Brazil), exploring Mexican children's toys and many more. Cultural representatives and embassy staff from each country are present to answer questions and interact with attendees. Through this interactive model, the festival enables mutual understanding and engages the community in becoming global citizens.
Argentina, Australia, Bahamas, Bahrain, Brazil, China, El Salvador, Fiji, France, Ghana, Greece, Hungary, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Liechtenstein, Mexico, Senegal, South Africa, Switzerland, Turkey, Zambia, as well as representation from the United Nations.
In addition to the interactive booths sponsored by embassies, the Festival exhibits stunning dance performances from local and international artists. These performances showcase unique and vibrant cultural styles from around the world, while demonstrating the common factor that we all share in music and celebration.
The International Children’s Festival is a part of Meridian’s year-round educational outreach initiatives — the flagship of which is the International Classroom, currently in its 19th year of bringing the world into District of Columbia Public School classrooms. The International Classroom trains volunteers from the international community to present interactive lessons on their home country to students in grades 2-12. Presentations are organized by Meridian in response to a high demand from DC public school teachers, and Meridian staff works closely with volunteers to ensure that presentations are tailored to each audience based on grade level. In the 2007-2008 school year, International Classroom worked with over 100 volunteers from 50 countries and reached over 2,500 students.
International Classroom also offers teachers other resources to help them include more international education in their curricula. Meridian’s 50+ Culture Boxes contain items from a specific country or region that teachers can use as hands-on learning tools to help students make a tangible connection to other parts of the world.
International Classroom also offers a professional development workshop, Passports to the World, for DC teachers each Fall on how to internationalize their curricula while meeting current Standards of Learning. These workshops help teachers discover new methods of incorporating international education across the curricula. Over the course of six afternoons, teachers will travel to five different continents, exploring themes, ideas, and techniques to use in the classroom. Working in cooperation with Peace Corps: World Wise Schools and the National Geographic Society Education Foundation, teachers also earn credits toward recertification.
(1) Meridian International Center (2) Meridian International Center Photo Gallery (3) DC About.com (4) Embassy of Indonesia (5) DC Urban Mom (6) Cultural Tourism DC