The aroma of pupusas and Indian spices fills the air as the beat from the Ethiopian percussion band echoes through the Wheaton Triangle.

The festival, which took place Oct. 21, allowed people to sample food, music and offerings from other cultures. It featured the four largest minority groups in Montgomery County: Chinese, Indian, El Salvadorian and Ethiopian.

Each nation had a tent to display aspects of its culture. At the Chinese tent, volunteers painted pandas or dragons on free t-shirts. The Ethiopian tent held traditional clothing on display and even featured a demonstration of spinning cotton into string. The Indian tent displayed traditional grains used for cooking and seasoning, and the El Salvadorian tent allowed children to make crafts while they learned about traditional dress and games.

KID museum assisted the county in planning the event and making it child-friendly. Children were even given “passports” that they could stamp at each of the international tents after participating in the tent’s activities. The Chinese tent featured the “Everyone cooks rice” station nearby, where children learned the history and use of rice in the world and made rice shakers with paper plates.

While the festival’s activities entertained the children, they also enhanced their understanding of other cultures. Promoting cultural awareness in children through easy and engaging activities provides is a good way to instill tolerance of other cultures early on.

Although many of the events targeted children, people of all ages filled the festival grounds, enjoying the multicultural music, clothing, food and shopping opportunities.

Aimed more toward adults, the film tent showed documentaries about the challenges immigrants face when assimilating into mainstream American culture. The festival raised awareness about the difficulties of some immigrants’ lives, but mostly focused on what they enjoyed, including their food, clothing and music. The films did a good job of explaining the hardships of immigrants and promoting the acceptance of each immigrants’ culture in an understandable way.

With the diverse, colorful clothing, food and people, this unforgettable festival was a great step in recognizing and understanding the different ethnicities of Montgomery County.