International Fest is an event that gets hosted at East every January. The Event consists of performances, food stands, and lots of stands about countries across the globe.

Esmeralda Foster, a Sponsor of Mosaic, has been sponsoring Mosaic for the last 10 years. Foster also assists with setting up events for Mosaic.

“We had the Filipino students association performing. We had one of the students from the honor Choir performing. We had the K-pop Club, where the group Hydrous was performing. We had a lot of members of the community wanting to come in and present their cultures, like through food and presentations and different clubs, wanting to do different activities that represent their cultures that they were bringing in. So there were plenty of things to do” Foster said.

International Fest got the community of East together for an event for everyone from different cultures.

Eric Gonzalez explains how International Fest took the entire first semester to plan due to weekly meetings and increased intensity in the last month and a half.

“It’s one of those instances where sort of an amalgamation of a lot of different clubs, what they are doing, seeing all the work everyone puts in, how well it’s received, and how many people come out to see it,” Gonzalez said.

During the first semester, many sponsors and students put a great amount of effort making sure the event would run as smoothly as it did.

Milo Perez, student part of East’s A Capella, performed the song “Que Te Pedi” from La Lupe who was a Cuban singer that passed away in the early 90s.

“I love this song, I would hear it a lot of the time at family reunions. I’ve been through a lot romantically, and I feel like, because it’s a song of unrequited love, which I’ve experienced this year, I kind of wanted to you know channel that energy into something I love dearly, which is singing” Perez said.

Perez had a strong connection with the song that she decided to perform it at the East International Fest which allowed her to express herself through singing.

The hard work of these individuals allowed International Fest to be successful and to run smoothly. When the community gets together for an event anything can be accomplished. Something believed to be a small event turned into a huge event at East.

Written by seniors Geovanni Jurado and Melynda Patton. Edited by staff writers for Oswego East’s online news magazine The Howl.