ABOUT.
ABOUT THE FESTIVAL
Thousands of people gather to sample ethnic food, dance and listen to music at the Festival of Nations at Deering Oaks in Portland.
The festival features family-oriented cultural activities to celebrate Maine’s ethnic diversity and traditions. The festival is co-hosted by the city of Portland, the Mugadi Foundation, Women In Need Industries and the Poland Spring bottled water company.
Countries represented at festivals previous have included Ireland, Cambodia, India, Sudan, Germany, Democratic Republic of the Congo, the United Kingdom, Thailand, Cameroon, Peru, Sweden, Benin, Ethiopia, Nigeria and the United States. Native Americans have also been represented.
ABOUT THE FOUNDER
Shalom Odokara is the Founder and CEO of the Festival of Nations. Shalom has over 25 years of experience in designing, implementing, evaluating, and speaking on cultural competence and women issues such as social justice, and domestic violence. In addition to founding the Festival of Nations, Shalom, in her years in the World Bank group, was responsible for the Bank's special housing and (loans to nations) community investment programs.