SWAMPSCOTT — A Heritage Festival, organized by students of color and showcasing various cultures, will take place on Friday at the high school.
“We want it to be a cultural experience as well as a community-building experience and just a celebration of the different identities and different cultures and heritages that make the community so rich,” said Latoya Ogunbona, the school district’s Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity (METCO) program director.
The event, which will be open to the public, was planned by the Students of Color Association (SOCA) from Swampscott High School with some support and mentoring from the Swampscott Unites, Respects, Embraces (S.U.R.E.) Diversity community group.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, students from the METCO program and SOCA would organize a cultural fair for other students in the high-school atrium, putting out flags and posters and bringing typical cultural dishes from home. This year, with growing intolerance in the world and in neighboring communities, the students wanted to come together again and make something bigger to recognize, celebrate and share their cultures with the community, Ogunbona said.
The festival will feature about 10 different countries, including Cape Verde, Greece, Haiti, Italy, Jamaica, Pakistan and Uruguay. There will be ethnic food to try and entertainment from an emcee and some performers.
Members of the community are also welcome to come up and share poetry or songs, said Ogunbona.
“We just want it to be a good time,” she said, adding that students and visitors might as well dance a little on campus.
The organizers opened participation in the festival to the whole school district, and representatives from the middle school and elementary schools will have tables at the event as well.
Sue Burgess, a member of S.U.R.E., said five student leaders have been working on the event for months, despite their busy school and athletic schedules. The students came up with the name of the event, put the word out to get both faculty and other students to participate, and did most of the planning.
“We just helped a little bit with giving them structure and feedback, and we are going to give them some financial support for the event,” Burgess said. “This event will at least be the first one of its kind for us. It should be a good start.”
The students have learned about the health regulations for such big events and working within a budget, said Burgess.
Taking on big tasks such as this can be stressful, said Dakiah, one of the organizers, but she has learned through this experience that when you have a supportive team it helps things run smoothly.
“Despite me loving networking, I do get a little nervous with public speaking, but that has only improved since the start of taking on planning for this event,” said Dakiah, whose last name was not provided.
She wanted to participate in the making of the Heritage Festival, because it was one of the ways to build a community.
“Heritage and culture are just a branch that everyone should explore. We don’t take time to actually learn where everyone comes from. So it’s good to explore these different elements of our community,” said Dakiah.
The Heritage Festival will take place at the high school on Friday, from 5 to 7 p.m.
