It was a special night of food, art, and dance at Newtown Middle School's (NMS) second annual Cultural Fair on Wednesday, March 25.

Over 150 attendees, including students, staff, and parents, came to celebrate countries from all over the world. Over 21 countries were represented by local families and restaurants this year, ranging from Ukraine, Italy, and Mexico to Sweden, Ghana, and Portugal.

Upon walking in, people could get a name tag and write their name and place of heritage on it. They could also get a mini passport book for their whole family and receive a sticker for every country they visited in the cafeteria.

Attendees could also put a white dot onto a map of the world and mark their country of origin.

The event was split into two parts: an "Around the World Tasting" in the cafeteria, followed by a cultural presentation and two performances in the auditorium.

Around the World Tasting saw middle school families and local restaurants serve food representing their respective countries. A long table lined three sides of the cafeteria, where students, parents or guardians, and restaurant owners excitedly served attendees.

People of all ages happily went from table to table as the smell of delicious food wafted in the air, including empanadas from Argentina; chicken korma, rice, and naan from India/Nepal; and falafel, hummus, baba ghanoush, and more from Palestine.

Every table had a sign that listed the ingredients and cultural significance for each dish. Attendees could get stickers that represented the country from each table and use them to fill up their passport book.

The henna tattoo and face painting table returned from last year, and was once again run by Newtown High School National Art Honor Society students.

Once the Around the World Tasting finished, everyone gathered into the auditorium for the second half of the event.

This portion of the event was run by NMS students Barbara Andersen and Beckett Loveless, who introduced each person or performer who went on stage.

The first to take the stage was Ruth Appiah, who gave a presentation on Ghana. Appiah started her presentation by telling the crowd they were fortunate to have a local Ghanian queen in Newtown, whose sons were once a part of the NMS community, to preside over her presentation.

She introduced everyone to the queen in question, Ohemea Ama Kwayisibea II (Akaboahemea). Kwayisibea II said she's lived in Newtown/Sandy Hook for over 11 years, and asked everyone a question: who are we without culture?

Speaking about her culture, she said their festivals are not just for dancing, but "they remind us of our history, our ancestors, and the sacrifices they made for us."

Kwayisibea II wore traditional Akan clothes, a group of people living primarily in Ghana and parts of the Ivory Coast in West Africa. A matrilineal society, the Akan clans are founded by women but have men as leaders, as noted in the presentation.

Kwayisibea II pointed to her clothes and said the painted cloth is not just cloth, but it speaks.

"Each one has meaning," Kwayisibea II continued. "It tells a story of wisdom, courage, and leadership. This is our Akan culture, thank you."

Appiah went on with the rest of the presentation, which focused on the culture's life stages: birth, welcoming people into the world; marriage, making independent decisions; and death, transitioning out of the world to rejoin their ancestors.

She covered various aspects of the culture, including traditional naming conventions, the marriage process, and how it is the job of not only parents, but the community, to raise and nurture children.

Afterwards came the performance section of the event. First was Sons of Portugal Folklore Dance Group, which performed a traditional folklore dance that originates from the rural regions of Portugal.

Founded in 1977 and now situated in Danbury, Sons of Portugal Folklore Dance Group represents Portugal north to south. The group's members span from young children to older individuals, including one who is 95.

Before each number, a member of the group explained what town each song represented. These included locations such as Nazaré, Portugal, a western coastline town that, historically, was known for its fishermen, who would spend their time trying to get the best catch of the day, and women would then try to sell what was caught.

The final group of performers was Sophie Cañas, Madelyn Cañas, Kimberly Bartolo, Maya Svanda, and Abigail Svanda, who performed a traditional dance from Colombia. They also wore traditional costumes that reflected Colombian heritage, with colors representing the country's yellow, blue, and red flag.

NMS PTA President Heymi Colon, who once again ran the event along with school administrators and her fellow PTA members, said she was happy to see so many people attend this year.

She noted that last year was the first time holding the event, and thought it was a great way to celebrate everyone's different cultural backgrounds.

"So of course we wanted to do it again for our incoming seventh graders so they could experience it, too," Colon said. "And I think that's the goal, to have it every year."

Colon said that she will try to be involved with the middle school's cultural fair for as long as she possibly can.

Since holding the cultural fair last year, Colon said other schools in the area have shown interest in running a similar event.

"Speaking for myself, it's just really nice seeing how different families dress up to celebrate their countries and heritage," Colon said. "We wanted to do more [compared to last year] and we did just that."

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Reporter Jenna Visca can be reached at jenna@thebee.com.