FM’s annual Culture Fest has put together yet another incredible display of the diversity here at the high school. For their 2026 exhibition, 22 outstanding booths were set up in the cafeteria to showcase cultures from all over the world. Held by a school club known as DICO (Diversity Coalition), the event allows the school community to come together and learn more about each other.
Every year, student volunteers create their own booths to educate event attendees on their respective cultures. When asked what went into consideration for their table, some students mentioned the impact their families have had on their cultural lifestyles. “I thought it would be really nice to represent my family and our culture,” said a student running the booth for Poland. “Our culture is not one of the mainly known cultures, so I thought it would be really nice for people to know more.” Another student who ran one of the two Italian booths said, “Our grandma always cooked for us, and we kind of wanted to recreate that.”
Many students also emphasized the importance of recognizing underrepresented regions, such as the booth for Mexico. The students in charge of the table focused on highlighting the northern region of the country. One student explained, “A lot of times, when people think of Mexico, they only think of Cancún and other places that aren’t really in the desert part where I’m from.” This was also a theme in the second booth for Italy. The students featured Sicilian prayer cards, demonstrating the distinction between the southern region of the country versus the overall culture.
With the multitude of cultures at FM also came the consideration of various lifestyles. Since some people may have dietary restrictions, students showed clever ways to adapt their foods so everyone could experience their cultural delicacies. “We had a non-pork option,” said a student representing China. “Since dumplings usually have pork in it, and we were thinking about all the religions and people that can’t eat meat or pork, we did an egg and chive version too.”
Along with informational posters, art, and food, Culture Fest implements a showcase of performances throughout the event. A variety of performers were included, such as the school’s Step Team, a Japanese martial arts routine, and different cultural dances. In relation to the cultural significance of their performance, a member of the K-pop dance team commented, “I think that K-pop was a big breakthrough for a lot of Asian cultures in the west. And I think just by sharing our culture with everyone here, it just makes a more diverse community.”
This weekend, DICO was able to successfully remind everyone that FM is a place where people of different walks of life and backgrounds are interwoven within the fabric of our school community. “Culture Fest is important because it’s a way of celebrating FM’s diverse community all at once. Through this event, we hope to celebrate this and give students an opportunity to share a part of themselves they feel is important and meaningful,” said Safina Ahmed, the vice president of DICO and an organizer of the event.
This year, Culture Fest saw participation from 7 cultures that had not joined the event before. The current officers of the club hope to see continual growth in booth hosts and attendees for next year, and they are eager to keep demonstrating just how multicultural the FM community is.
