45th Ethnic Enrichment Festival hitting Kansas City this weekend

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Do you want to travel abroad but can’t? No problem! The next best thing is the Ethnic Enrichment Festival, which is going on in Kansas City this weekend.

Now in its 45 ^th year, the festival’s purpose is to bring people together through cultural exploration. If you visit Swope Park on Saturday and Sunday you’ll see a colorful parade of flags, booths, and food.

Some of the new countries added to this year’s line-up include India, Cameroon, and Eritrea.

“I just feel like it’s so important to know your culture, where you came from, and to know about your history,” said Leah Walker, who’s been attending for years.

Others are visiting for the first time and are already looking ahead to next year. Lucy Liu, not the actress, is working in the Taiwan booth.

“This year is my first time coming and I asked my teacher if she could bring me next year. I really like this!” she said.

Bret Thompson made the trip to Swope Park from DeSoto and was decked out in traditional lederhosen. He’s one of 40 performers taking the stage at the bandstand between Friday and Sunday.

After he gave us a sneak peek at his performance, which includes moves seen in “National Lampoon’s European Vacation,” he gave us his three best booths for food.

“Hawaii, Germany, and we’ll go with the Philippines,” he claimed.

This event is also kid-friendly. Kids are given passports which they can have stamped at each booth. The first 100 kids to get their booklets stamped each day will get a special prize from the festival.

“For me, I like to do the stamp thing,” added Lucy Liu.

“Because we don’t have the real stamp; it’s the handwriting. The handwriting I write in Chinese, Taiwan, and I draw a Blackbeard that’s from Taiwan.”

Admission is $5 but those 12 and younger get in for free.

The festival runs from Noon to 10 p.m. on Saturday and Noon to 6 p.m. Sunday.

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