With his shirt splattered with oil and jalapeno juice after cooking all day, senior Matt Kellogg made it 30 minutes late to the 7th Annual International Festival Feb. 23. Kellogg made a family recipe from Sicily Italy; shrimp pasta. In Italian one would call it “La Pasta Di Gamberetti.” 

“I love to cook and I was really happy to cook my culture’s food for the festival and have people enjoy it,” said Kellogg.

Food and dance were featured from Mexico, France, Spain, New Zealand. An international festival without salsa and chips would be unheard of, so soccer coach John Marshall’s class had it covered with variety of salsas. 

The international festival is a way to learn about different places around the world.

“My favorite part of the festival were the sopapillas,” said junior Ben Phillips. 

“I loved the Aztec Dancers because I thought it was very intriguing,” said Spanish teacher Robert Snyder.

Not only did it show the expanse of food but it highlighted different cultures’ dancing and fashion. The fashion club had a runway show to showcase the many fashion trends in different countries.

A lot of people went home stunned after watching the traditional Aztec dance. Fellow graduate student Luis Martinez came back to dance “La Danza” which is also dance for Virgin Mary as a part of Catholic tradition.

Senior Juan Martinez led the tribal dance during the festival. The crowd went wild when juniors Denys and Maritza Ledezma danced along with senior Nestor Orduna and Martinez.  They had competed at the Civic Center for the popular tribal music Dec. 31 and won $300 as a team for the first time. They also competed Feb. 14 and won $1,000.

“People asked us to do the dance, so I though why not,” said Martinez.

“I’m glad so many turned out to come. I feel like it was a wonderful experience for everyone,” said Mr. Snyder.