28th Annual Festival Of Cultures Celebrates Skokie's Diversity

SKOKIE, IL — One of the premier cultural festivals in the state returns to Skokie this weekend, as the 28th annual Skokie Festival of Cultures kicks off with a Friday night film festival and continues on Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Oakton Park, 4701 W. Oakton St. at the corner of Skokie Boulevard. The free outdoor fest includes folk music, dance, international cuisine, arts and crafts, international kids games, more than 30 cultural booths and displays representing Skokie's diversity.

The two-day "Tour of the World" will include a mini train ride around the 19-acre park, a merchandise bazaar and the festival's ever-growing display of flags. (Cultures added in recent years include Azerbaijani, Cambodian, Iraqi and Lithuanian.) Opening ceremonies will take place at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

For the first time this year, the festival will include the South Asian tradition of tradition Holi: Festival of Colors, a playful display of powdered colors that signifies the arrival of spring. That takes place at the main stage from 5 to 7 p.m. Free t-shirts are available to the first 350 participants. Outside colors are not allowed and anyone inside the Holi-designated zone is fair game to get covered in powder.

The first Skokie Festival of Cultures was held in 1991 by a combination of the Village of Skokie, Skokie Park District, Skokie Human Relations Commission, Skokie Public Library and Rotary Club of Skokie. The event began with 14 cultures and 1,000 attendees. By 2017, more than 30,000 people attended.

Village officials invited attendees to stop by the community tent to participate in naming your Skokie neighborhood. Residents will also have the opportunity at the Village of Skokie booth to spin the "Wheel of Skokie" to win prizes and learn about village programs and services. The event will also include international beer tasting from noon to 7 p.m. Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday featuring $5 brews from various countries.

Check out the complete schedule of events.

This year's participating cultures:

• Armenian
• Assyrian
• Azerbaijani
• Bangladeshi
• Belizean
• Bulgarian
• Cambodian
• Camaroonian
• Chinese
• Croatian
• Cuban
• Estonian
• Filipino
• Finnish
• German
• Haitian
• Hellenic (Greek)
• Indian
• Indonesian
• Iraqi
• Irish
• Israeli
• Jamaican/West Indian
• Japanese
• Korean
• Laotian
• Lithuanian
• Luxembourgian
• Mexican
• Norwegian
• Pakistani
• Polish
• Russian
• Slovakian
• Swedish
• Thai
• Tibetan
• Turkish
• United States
• Uzbek

» via Skokie Festival of Cultures