A beautiful Friday morning greeted the opening of the annual World of Nations celebration in downtown Jacksonville.
The first wave of students and chaperones made their way through the nations, experiencing the cuisine, artistry and customs from booths and displays lined across the length of Metropolitan Park and its riverwalk.
Thousands of students and teachers from the across the First Coast are taking part in the 2018 World of Nations Field Trip Day, including Lake Shore Middle School seventh grader Shania Stockton, who was back for her third time.
She and a couple of classmates were letting their fresh henna tattoos dry in the midday sun. "I got my henna from India, and I was excited to get it because I’ve always liked them, ever since a few years ago, I’ve always liked the way they looked and stuff, so I was excited to get one this year," she said.
The event runs through Sunday, March 4, with one of the highlights being the Parade of Flags on Sunday.
Participants will be dressed in authentic traditional clothing with representatives from each participating country:
- Bahamas
- Cambodia
- China
- Colombia
- Cuba
- Dominican Republic
- Ecuador
- Ethiopia
- Ghana
- Haiti
- India
- Jamaica
- Japan
- Mexico
- Morocco
- Native America
- Nigeria
- Palestine
- Peru
- Philippines
- Poland
- Puerto Rico
- South Africa
- Spain
- St. Lucia
- Taiwan
- Trinidad & Tobago
- Turkey
- United States of America
- U.S. Virgin Islands
- Venezuela
- Vietnam
Admission is $5 per person. Children under three are admitted free. Friday's field trip registration has closed but tickets can be purchased online for Saturday and Sunday.
Additional information is available on the makeascenedowntown website.
Bill Bortzfield can be reached at bbortzfield@wjct.org, 904-358-6349 or on Twitter at @BortzInJax.
Contact Jessica Palombo at 904-358-6315, jpalombo@wjct.org or on Twitter at @JessicaPubRadio.
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