Guest Post: Review of the International Children’s Festival- Hampton

Another great review from Christina, otherwise known as Hampton Roads Mom, as our guest blogger with her great review of the International Children’s Festival-Hampton. Make sure to check out her website with lots of information for families on the Hampton Roads Peninsula at Hampton Roads Mom!

Review of the International Children’s Festival- Hampton

This past Saturday (April 21, 2012), we had the pleasure of a beautiful day filled with a wonderful experience. Each year for the last twelve years, the International Children’s Festival has occurred in downtown Hampton. An excerpt from their website states:

“The International Children’s Festival provides a unique opportunity for children and their families to experience the sights, sounds, and cuisine of distant places right in their own backyard. Over thirty countries and cultures will showcase their respective heritages through entertainment, food, and educational exhibits based on Virginia’s Standards of Learning (SOLs). Set in these exquisite backdrops, downtown Hampton’s Mill Point Park will come alive as guests ‘visit’ countries most would experience only in their dreams.” 

This year, there were thirty-eight countries (one “country” being Native Americans) represented. So that I knew we visited each of the booths, I purchased the Passport to Adventure for $1 so that we could collect stamps from each of the countries, much the same way you would if you were traveling with a real passport. The proceeds of the Passport purchase went to the Friends of the International Children’s Festival.

The event began with the Parade of Nations where each of the countries represented had at least 1-2 people in traditional dress introduce the nation they represented in both English and their native language. We watched a portion of it, as we’d arrived slightly late, and it was quite nice to view the clothing and hear the language in this atmosphere. Once we headed out to the booths, both elements were lost in the the din of chatter and excitement.

Three stages were set up around the festival for a full days’ worth of entertainment — dance, music, storytelling, fashion, etc. Above, we were listening to some drumming on the Main Stage around lunchtime. We also caught a short bit from the Tidewater Chinese School Diabolo Club on the Queen Street/Asian Stage as we were finishing up our last stretch of country booths. Between the stages and the roving performers, there was never a time where you could say that there was nothing to see or do.

Each country had their own booth and the countries were separated by continents/regions of the world around the festival grounds. The nations were in charge of sharing about themselves in these educational exhibits, many of which had take-home papers and pamphlets.

The booths shared information that we may have already known about them (i.e. Canada and maple syrup), but plenty that we hadn’t.

They shared their beautiful arts, as shown here in the Mexico exhibit, that we may not have seen before. Some booths had demonstrations and explanations about some of the arts, as was the case at the Ukraine exhibit where the art of Pysanky (Ukrainian egg art) was central to their showcase.

There were books, games, and alphabets. There was the telling of “The Three Billy Goats Gruff” in the Norway booth and a walk-through story in Brazil’s. At some exhibits (the Native American one and also the Israel one, if I recall correctly), there was the opportunity for sifting sand to find treasures. Many exhibits had some sort of craft for the children, too — making a mask, an Olympic torch (Greece), bracelets and coloring sheets, to name a few.

And, then, who can’t love walking away from an event with a bunch of great goodies. Among them, we had Little Man’s name written in Hieroglyphics, Filipino and Chinese, along with our “Adam story” from the Brazil exhibit, treasures from sand-sifting, and a completed Passport with thirty-eight country stamps!