By Ashley M. Casey

Associate Editor

Imagine if there were no opportunities to try out other cultures’ delicacies, or to learn a new language, or to see a talented group of dancers celebrating their heritage.

The hora!

Fortunately, you’ll have the chance to witness the hora — a traditional Jewish-Israeli dance — as well as taste authentic cuisine and put those Duolingo hours to good use at the fourth annual Festival of Nations at Cicero-North Syracuse High School next Thursday.

James Corl III, now a junior at C-NS, has headed up the festival since he was an eighth-grader at North Syracuse Junior High School. He said the festival has doubled in size since its inception. More than two dozen countries will be represented at this year’s festival.

“I think one of the great things about this festival is we’ve added something new every year. The second year we added a lot more countries. The first year we had 12; the second year we had 15 or 16,” Corl said. “This year we’re bringing in outside groups to represent countries.”

One such outside guest is St. Mary and St. Mina Coptic Orthodox Church of North Syracuse. The church hosts its own Egyptian festival each year and welcomed its global leader, Pope Tawadros II, last September.

“I think it’s great that they’re coming in and sharing their culture with us,” Corl said.

Keyna Hora Klezmer will perform traditional Yiddish and Eastern European Jewish folk music and dances, and the Syracuse Scottish Pipe Band will blare its bagpipes. The Enzian Bavarian Band and Folk Dancers will perform polkas, waltzes and other traditional German dances.

“I’m really glad that we’re able to have such diversity in the dance groups,” Corl said. “I always try to bring in groups that aren’t necessarily represented.”

The festival is student-run. More than half of the booths will be operated by students representing their own cultures. Among those countries are Cuba, the Dominican Republic, South Sudan and Nigeria.

“All of these countries either these kids came from or their parents are from so they’re all first-generation or second-generation,” Corl said.

Other booths are run by students who simply took an interest in a particular country or culture and decided to research it.

“Students come out of the woodwork and they volunteer,” he said.

Typically, Corl said, each country is represented by a booth with a trifold display of facts about the nation, articles of traditional clothing or other artifacts, and, of course, a sample of a dish from the culture.

“Last year, from Palestine grape leaves were offered — those were delicious,” Corl said.

Corl said he hopes the Festival of Nations will teach people about the different cultures that make up their community and broaden their perspective.

“My favorite part is just seeing the community come together not only to acknowledge the cultures [but also] seeing them step outside their comfort zone,” he said. “I’ll never forget the first time I tried authentic Indian food at our first festival. It’s more than ‘the Taj Mahal is there’ and ‘cows are sacred.’ Each person has their own story.”

The Festival of Nations takes place from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 7, in the cafeteria at Cicero-North Syracuse High School, located at 6002 Route 31 in Cicero. It is free and open to the public.