Skokie’s Festival of Cultures will come alive May 16-17

From the first performance Saturday, May 16 at 11 a.m. to the “Festival of Colors” finale the next day at 5:45 p.m., Oakton Park in Skokie will feature a whirlwind of entertainment and learning about 51 of Skokie’s diverse cultures as the annual Skokie Festival of Cultures takes place.

The cultures represented this year at the festival will range from Pakistani to Japanese, German to Indian, Russian to Mexican, Scandinavian to Korean and Assyrian to Eritrean.

Performance groups will take the stage, and many of the cultural groups will offer booths where participants can do interactive things such as, in past years, learning to write their name in Chinese characters or getting an Indian henna tattoo on their hands.

For the full entertainment schedule, see www.skokieparks.org/sfoc-entertainment

The Festival of Cultures will also offer something for the younger set, with a $5 children’s area featuring play and activities.