Opening the door to the West library one might expect to see a few students reading books, doing homework, or printing assignments–typical library things. However, walking into the West Library this past extended lunch, one would think they were transported into one of the Spanish classrooms in the East where yet another fiesta was being held. Yet this was no ordinary fiesta; instead, it was a French fête, a Dutch feest, an Irish páirtí, a Japanese パーティー, a Danish parti– in other words, it was a party combining foods from all over the world in a single event: the Multicultural Food Festival.

The Food Festival this past Wednesday, marked the school’s history as the second annual Food Festival hosted by the Multicultural Club. The club, which was only introduced to the school two years ago, consists of a small number of students interested in promoting different cultures. It is this interest that has led senior Blanca Contreras to join the club, and even participate in bringing tamales, in honor of her Mexican heritage, for the Food Festival.

“It was a great experience eating new stuff from different cultures,” Contreras said. “Like that German salad and the Italian soup–it was really good. It’s good trying new things that I would never try before. I would recommend (people to attend); you can meet new people, new cultures. There’s other people that can join (the) Multicultural Club, as well.”

While the Food Festival primarily had dishes that were of one’s culture, it was not necessary to have that specific culture in a person’s background in order to bring food representing it, which is what senior Kaitlyn Hawley did. For Hawley, participating in the Food Festival gave her an opportunity to celebrate Sweden, the country she studied abroad in during her junior year.

“(I heard about it from) the flyers in the hallways, and I have friends in Multicultural Club,” Hawley said. “It was so good, (and) there was so much food. My favorite was the quiche. I would definitely recommend it. I thank everyone who made food for it.”

Club sponsor Aaron Faver, considers the event a success as he explained that the turnout was larger this year than the previous. Still, Faver said he hopes to expand even more next year.

“(I hope for) more food, more people, more drinks, (and) even more support,” Faver said. “That would be the goal–just growth. I had about 1/8th about what there was to have, (but) I enjoyed the noodle soup, the Matzo soup, and the homemade tamales were really good. You can’t beat that. It was so wonderful to see so many people come in here. We have to watch over our students the first portion of this, so I come in towards the middle and it was really neat to come in and see everyone already eating, conversing, having a good time, and trying new things. That’s what this is all about–trying new things and not being afraid to try (it).”