Celebrate America’s Diversity at These 8 Festivals

America’s rich and varied ethic heritage is celebrated in annual festivals throughout the country. These family-friendly events are filled with colorful parades, traditional foods, music, games and activities, leaving visitors with an appreciation of a different culture and how immigrant populations have enriched America. Here’s a calendar of festivals to look for in your travels this summer and fall:

June
Bahamian rhythms fill the air in Coconut Grove, Florida, during early June’s Miami Goombay Festival. Colorful parades, live music, traditional dances, art and craft displays, and Bahamian foods convey the rich heritage of the Bahamas.

Also in early June, Hawai’i celebrates the heritage and history of the Pacific Islands during Hawaii Kuauli Pacific and Asia Cultural Festival. Visitors can enjoy traditional dancing, music and foods from the Pacific Islands and Asia, and engage with locals while learning how to make leis with fresh tropical flowers. A highlight is a showing of fashions and wearable art by island designers.

The Cape Cod community of Provincetown celebrates its Portuguese and fishing traditions in late June with the annual Portuguese Festival and the Blessing of the Fleet. This long-standing festival is full of activities: live music and street dancing, a Fado concert, Brazilian samba dancers and drummers, fishing demonstrations, crafts, and traditional Portuguese foods.

August
The city of Dublin, Ohio, has more than its name to connect it to “The Auld Sod,” with a large population of Irish descent. They celebrate this heritage, and especially its music, in eight entertainment stages during the Dublin Irish Festival in early August. Expect all things Irish, including Celtic music and dance, Gaelic literature, athletic demonstrations, foods, and hands-on programs.

September
The Cherokee National Holiday Festival, on Labor Day in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, commemorates the Cherokee Nation Constitution signing in 1839 and celebrates Cherokee culture. Activities and sports for all ages include Cherokee stickball and other traditional games, and kids enjoy storytelling and hands-on crafts. A favorite event is the Intertribal Powwow, where dancers compete for prizes.

The German population of Cincinnati, Ohio, is large enough to support multiple German-language newspapers, so it’s the logical place for America’s biggest Oktoberfest, Oktoberfest Zinzinnati. Along with traditional beerhalls and plenty of hearty wursts, visitor find oom-pah-pah bands and Bavarian dancers in dirndls and lederhosen.

The largest Scandinavian festival, Norsk Høstfest, celebrates the cultural heritage of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden with Nordic music and dance, traditional foods and crafts. Each of the five countries has its own exhibition hall, and the festival extends into Scandinavian Heritage Park, the world’s only park representing all five Nordic countries.

October
Expect lots of rollicking fiddle music and delicious Cajun and Creole foods at Festivals Acadiens et Creoles in Lafayette, Louisiana, in mid-October. More than two dozen food vendors dish up boudin, crawfish, grilled oysters, gumbo, jambalaya, po’boys, beignets and pecan pralines.