Have you ever eaten curried goat, pancit, oxtail stew, a mutton sandwich? Well, now is your chance.
Follow the Caribbean steel drum beat to this year's "International Festival . . . A Circle of Friends," at the New Windsor Service Center tomorrow from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
More than 3,000 people from all parts of Maryland, the District of Columbia, Pennsylvania, Virginia and nearby states are expected to crowd the grounds of the 26-acre facility.
More than 30 booths will be set up for the third annual event to offer ethnic food, crafts and cultural information.
A miniature "trip around the world," the festival will allow guests to taste foods from 17 countries, see crafts from 12 vendors and visit the eight global assistance program booths that are the heart of the Service Center.
Admission is free.
Headlining the entertainment for the third year will be the Trinidad and Tobago Baltimore Steel Orchestra, known for its Caribbean steel drum music, and John McCruden, who plays Scottish bagpipes.
Newcomers include the Indonesian Embassy Dancers, which include Indonesian musicians and dancers; the Volta Ensemble from Ghana, West African musicians and dancers; and Puro Peru, a group that performs Peruvian music and dances.
Bill Jenkins will head the children's activities with his "World of Music." Children can choose from instruments made and used in other countries to learn how to play, and then use that instrument in a children's orchestra.
An ethnic "clothes closet" will provide clothing from other countries to transform children. There will be goat-milking, cow-painting (on a wooden cow), hay wagon rides and festival button-making.
Taste-testing of goat milk cheese, goat milk fudge and sheep milk yogurt will take place in the barn.
At the computer center, another exhibit will enable participants to punch up a foreign country and learn its demographics.
For the geographical scavenger hunt, children will be given a questionnaire and must find the answer by using computers, maps and other items on the festival grounds. Every hour, a quiz will be pulled, and if a child has the answers correct, a prize will be awarded. Prizes were donated by businesses at the Service Center, local merchants and the National Geographic Society.
The festival was started "to talk about the diversity of people's cultures, and to celebrate the diversity of the multicultural community that we have contact with," said Terri Meushaw, the conference center director.
The global assistance booths sponsored by the New Windsor Service Center include the SERRV International Gift Shop, which sells crafts made in more than 40 countries; Heifer Project International, which provides animals, materials and assistance to farmers worldwide; the Refugee Resettlement Program; Interchurch Medical Assistance Inc.; Disaster Response Program; the Cooperative Disaster Child Care Program; Personnel/Volunteer Program; and Center Operations.
The New Windsor Service Center is owned and administered by the Church of the Brethren.
Events Schedule
Here is the schedule of events for the International Festival.
Entertainment
11:00 a.m.-11:15 a.m. -- John McCruden, Scottish bagpipe music
11:30 a.m.-12:15 p.m. -- Puro Peru, Peruvian music, dancers
12:30 p.m.-1:15 p.m. -- Indonesian Embassy Dancers
1:30 p.m.-2:15 p.m. -- Trinidad & Tobago Baltimore Steel Orchestra, Caribbean steel drum music
2:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m. -- Volta Ensemble, Ghana, West African musicians and dancers
3:45 pm.-4:45 p.m. -- Trinidad & Tobago Baltimore Steel Orchestra
Children's Activities
11:30 a.m-12:15 p.m. -- Bill Jenkins, "World of Music"
12:30 p.m.-1 p.m. Rachelle Hurwitz, storyteller
1:30 p.m.-2:15 p.m. -- Bill Jenkins, "World of Music"
2:45 p.m.-3:30 p.m. -- Festival button making
3:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m. -- Goat Milking
4 p.m.-5 p.m. -- Ethnic Clothes Closet
Continuing
Cow Painting
Hay Wagon Rides
Geographic Scavenger Hunt
Exhibits
Bees
Spinner
Taste testing of goat milk cheese, goat milk fudge, sheep milk, yogurt
Food Booths
Iran -- oxtail stew, pastries
Caribbean -- fresh fruit
Nicaragua -- banana milk shakes
Navajo Indian -- Navajo fry bread and mutton sandwiches
Denmark -- cookies, pastries
Jamaica -- curry goat and chicken, etc.
African-American -- kettle fries
Thailand -- spring rolls and other Thai foods
Israel -- potato knish
Caribbean/South America -- coffee and desserts
Germany -- knockwurst and sauerkraut
North American -- hot dogs, barbecue
China -- Chinese chicken salad, spring rolls
Jamaica -- chicken
Africa -- kettle chicken
Philippines -- pancit, empanadas, chicken wings
Mexico -- nachos and tacos
Craft Booths
Phil Bankard -- chair caning
Cherry Studios -- rustic furniture
Janie Dell -- toll painting on wood and tin
Five Daughters -- Chilean sweaters and Mexican masks
Robin Green-Cary -- African-style children's items
Marsha S. Herr -- weaving, spinning
Vasyl and Thaiz Linde -- Venezuelan papier mache masks, jewelry
4 Patricia McCarty -- Kashmir papier mache objects
Rene Horacio Quintanilla -- El Salvador wooden folk toys
Cynthia A. Swinhart -- pottery
Tawana Kane -- beaded jewelry and ceramics
Marcia Leiter -- watercolors
