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Photo by Jon Anderson
People visit the Bangladesh table put together by Ragib Hasan, his wife, Jaria Chowdhury, and family at the I Am Vestavia Festival at the Vestavia Hills Civic Center in Vestavia Hills, Alabama, on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Students Steven Liu, Layna Pham, Eric Wang and Audrey Guo do a traditional Chinese line dance at the I Am Vestavia Festival at the Vestavia Hills Civic Center in Vestavia Hills, Alabama, on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Reiko Otomo performs a traditional Japanese dance at the I Am Vestavia Festival at the Vestavia Hills Civic Center in Vestavia Hills, Alabama, on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Students take part in a parade of flags at the I Am Vestavia Festival at the Vestavia Hills Civic Center in Vestavia Hills, Alabama, on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Students participate in a fashion show parade at the I Am Vestavia Festival at the Vestavia Hills Civic Center in Vestavia Hills, Alabama, on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Students representing different countries perform a dance at the I Am Vestavia Festival at the Vestavia Hills Civic Center in Vestavia Hills, Alabama, on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Students take part in a parade of flags at the I Am Vestavia Festival at the Vestavia Hills Civic Center in Vestavia Hills, Alabama, on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
The choir from Vestavia HIlls Elementary West performs at the I Am Vestavia Festival at the Vestavia Hills Civic Center in Vestavia Hills, Alabama, on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
A group of students wearing traditional attire from various countries watch performances during the I Am Vestavia Festival at the Vestavia Hills Civic Center in Vestavia Hills, Alabama, on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Students representing Ukraine participate in a fashion show parade at the I Am Vestavia Festival at the Vestavia Hills Civic Center in Vestavia Hills, Alabama, on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Students take part in a parade of flags at the I Am Vestavia Festival at the Vestavia Hills Civic Center in Vestavia Hills, Alabama, on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Students take part in a parade of flags at the I Am Vestavia Festival at the Vestavia Hills Civic Center in Vestavia Hills, Alabama, on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Sandy Ritchey, executive director of continuous improvement for Vestavia HIlls City Schools, tells her story of growing up in an immigrant family during the I Am Vestavia Festival at the Vestavia Hills Civic Center in Vestavia Hills, Alabama, on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Students take part in a parade of flags at the I Am Vestavia Festival at the Vestavia Hills Civic Center in Vestavia Hills, Alabama, on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Students check out the craft and activity table at the I Am Vestavia Festival at the Vestavia Hills Civic Center in Vestavia Hills, Alabama, on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Arshika Tiwari from Vestavia Hills Elementary Cahaba Heights sings a traditional Indian folk song at the I Am Vestavia Festival at the Vestavia Hills Civic Center in Vestavia Hills, Alabama, on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Ekta Tiwary and her daughter, Avishka Tiwari perform a traditional Indian dance at the I Am Vestavia Festival at the Vestavia Hills Civic Center in Vestavia Hills, Alabama, on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Maria Hueramo and Lorena Roldan of the Heartbeat Dance Co. perform a dance from the Dominican Republic at the I Am Vestavia Festival at the Vestavia Hills Civic Center in Vestavia Hills, Alabama, on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
The United States of America table at the I Am Vestavia Festival illustrates the cultural diversity of the USA at the Vestavia Hills Civic Center in Vestavia Hills, Alabama, on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026.
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Women man the Palestinian table at the I Am Vestavia Festival at the Vestavia Hills Civic Center in Vestavia Hills, Alabama, on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026.
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Two children listen to the Chervona Ruta Choir sing a traditional Ukranian song at the I Am Vestavia Festival at the Vestavia Hills Civic Center in Vestavia Hills, Alabama, on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026.
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Remi Bukelis stamps passports at the Lithuania table at the I Am Vestavia Festival at the Vestavia Hills Civic Center in Vestavia Hills, Alabama, on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Students Steven Liu, Layna Pham, Eric Wang and Audrey Guo uncover themselves after doing a traditional Chinese line dance at the I Am Vestavia Festival at the Vestavia Hills Civic Center in Vestavia Hills, Alabama, on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Members of the Chervona Ruta Choir sing a traditional Ukranian song at the I Am Vestavia Festival at the Vestavia Hills Civic Center in Vestavia Hills, Alabama, on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Mohamad Morsy mans the Egyptian table at the I Am Vestavia Festival at the Vestavia Hills Civic Center in Vestavia Hills, Alabama, on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026.
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Children check out the Egyptian table at the I Am Vestavia Festival at the Vestavia Hills Civic Center in Vestavia Hills, Alabama, on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026.
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Mohamad Morsy and his family put together these examples of Egyptian culture at the I Am Vestavia Festival at the Vestavia Hills Civic Center in Vestavia Hills, Alabama, on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Children visit the Fiesta! table at the I Am Vestavia Festival at the Vestavia Hills Civic Center in Vestavia Hills, Alabama, on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Maria Azrad mans the Israel table at the I Am Vestavia Festival at the Vestavia Hills Civic Center in Vestavia Hills, Alabama, on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Children check out the Spanish table at the I Am Vestavia Festival at the Vestavia Hills Civic Center in Vestavia Hills, Alabama, on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Honor Qiu, 5, and Russell Qiu, 8, stamp a visitor's passport at the I Am Vestavia Festival at the Vestavia Hills Civic Center in Vestavia Hills, Alabama, on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. They and their parents served traditional Chinese milk tea, Chinese dumplings and Chinese candies at the festival.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
A family enters one of the festival villages at the I Am Vestavia Festival at the Vestavia Hills Civic Center in Vestavia Hills, Alabama, on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026.
Hundreds of people turned out for this year’s I Am Vestavia festival at the Vestavia Hills Civic Center on Tuesday night.
The festival, organized by the Vestavia Hills school district, was designed to celebrate the cultural diversity of the city.
Faith Lenhart, the director of arts education for the district, said families involved in Vestavia Hills schools come from more than 60 countries.
People who attended Tuesday night’s festival were able to see demonstrations of traditional dances and songs from various countries, as well as sample traditional foods from around the world prepared by Vestavia Hills families and be exposed to other facets of each country’s culture.
At least 20 booths were set up for people to visit, giving guests a taste of life in places such as China, Spain, Bangladesh, Lithuania, Israel, Palestine, Egypt, Iraq, Canada, Germany, Ukraine, Japan and India. Each was set up and manned by Vestavia Hills families, and guests who attended were given passports to have stamped at each table they visited.
There also was a table set up for the United States, designed to illustrate the multicultural aspect of this country.
Joey and Jane Qiu and their two children from Vestavia Hills Elementary West shared traditional Chinese milk tea, Chinese dumplings and Chinese candies that frequently are part of the Chinese New Year.
The Qius immigrated to the United States from China 10 years ago. They were brought to the Birmingham area because of Joey Qui’s job as a public health doctor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and settled in Vestavia Hills.
Ragib Hasan, a UAB computer science professor, and his wife, Jaria Chowdhury, a psychiatrist, from Bangladesh shared lentil pahoran, puffed rice, a Bengali snack mix called chanachur and a traditional Bengali dessert called pitha. They also had miniature Bengali rickshaws and taxis, Bengali costumes and videos of Bengali dancing.
They have been in the United States for 23 years and in Alabama for 15 years and have children at Vestavia Hills Elementary West and the Vestavia Hills High School freshman campus.
Mohamad Morsy shared samples of traditional Egyptian tea and Egyptian falafels, and had small Egyptian pyramids and jewelry boxes and papyrus.
In the performance area, several Vestavia Hills students performed a traditional Chinese line dance with costumes and props made to look like dragons, and the Chervona Rura Choir shared three Ukrainian songs.
Two dancers from the Heartbeat Dance Co. shared a dance from the Dominican Republic, while others shared songs and dances from Japan and India.
At 7 p.m. everyone was invited into the main auditorium for a 30-minute program that included more dancing, songs from the Vestavia Hills Elementary West choir, a video with interviews of students whose families came from other countries, and a parade of flags from all the countries represented in the school system.
Sandy Ritchey, the school district’s executive director of continuous improvement, shared the story of how she grew up in the home of immigrants and was able to overcome the challenges that many immigrants face due to hard-working parents and the care and concern of teachers and others in her school community.
The I Am Vestavia Week cultural celebration continues in schools this week as students have other hands-on opportunities to learn about different cultures and traditions.
See videos of interviews with Vestavia Hills students whose families come from other countries at vhcs.us/iamvestavia.
