As the cultural festival approaches, the question, “What is the purpose of the Cultural Festival?” has been brought up many times. Students are not sure if it is a day for people to show their talents or a day to embrace their culture at Oakton. According to Mr. Lee-the person behind the Cultural Festival-this festival was created for students to celebrate diversity by representing their heritage through different acts, such as doing a national dance and singing songs from their country.
In the past years, the Cultural Festival has been viewed as at talent show. However, as the years have progressed, Oakton has made an effort to highlight the cultural aspect of the show. The urge for this change was due to the numerous acts positioned around American culture and did not focus on the cultural aspect but instead the talent aspect. This year the main spotlight was encompassed around acts that teachers felt would give more of a cultural and enlightened vibe to the audience.
Still- why culture over talent? When asked this question, Mr. Lee replied with, “In my opinion, because the audience comes from various backgrounds and their culture represents pride, they are exposed to other’s routes and can appreciate the acts more.” Oakton is trying to figure out how to incorporate a talent show into the school year, so students who want to show their talents to Oakton have a chance to do so. As of now, teachers are thinking of incorporating the talent show during cougar time or after school.
“One year where I coordinated the festival, I felt like it was the Battle of the Bands,” said Mr.Lee. After that show, Mr.Lee had to step back and look at the big picture to see what the real purpose of the festival was- culture. The staff wanted to maintain the cultural reputation and have it remain the same throughout the years the festival took place. There wouldn’t be much of a point to incorporate talent and culture because embracing your heritage through an act is already talent from your heritage. “ A song sung by Justin Bieber or a song from Top 40 is wonderful but that is not a cultural act”, said Mr.Lee.
To make it more of a cultural show, acts that didn’t seem to fit the theme of culture were cut. Some acts were based on american performance songs, which didn’t give the audience a chance to see something new, students are already exposed to these performances outside of school. Acts were also cut due to time constraints, so it came down to performances that were not as well prepared as others.
However,this year the cultural festival is enriched with many performances, representing different heritages around the world, giving Oakton students a first hand experience into the rituals, and national dances of other countries.
