By David F. Rooney This year’s Carousel of Nations, organized by the Revelstoke Multicultural Society, was an extravaganza of great food, fascinating musical and dance performances and absorbing activities for kids. Over a thousand people attended the free family event at the Community Centre on Saturday, January 31. Just about all of them made it a dining-out experience by sampling the $3 plates of Chinese, Korean, Aboriginal, Indian, Jamaican, Eastern Europeam and French Canadian foods on offer. The Multicultural Society should be congratulated for their work putting this very affordable event together. It is quickly becoming Revelstoke’s key signature winter event and is enjoyed by people of all ages. Here are some photos — and three short videos — of the afternoon (professional photographer Ker Knapp also has a series of great photos on her website, which you can access by clicking here): Here’s an overview of the Carousel of Nations about 10 minutes after it began at 4 pm on Saturday afternoon. By 5 pm the crowd had doubled. David F. Rooney The skirling of the Revelstoke Highlanders’ bagpipes kicked off the 2015 Carousel of Nations at the Community Centre on Saturday, January 31. David F. Rooney photo Nicola Johnson served up a plate of terrific curried goat at the stall she and her friends, collectively calling themselves The Jerk Jamaican Girls, prepared. David F. Rooney photo If you were looking for Indian food, Pam Sanghera had just what you wanted. David F. Rooney photo Susan Dosot brings a fresh pan of cabbage rolls to the Eastern European table run by the ladies of the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 46. David F. Rooney photo Lucy Si served up noodles and pork dumplings. She and her husband Kevin are opening a small restaurant at 302 First Street West. David F. Rooney Yan Liu offered up a variety of Chinese teas available at her shop, the Jasmine Garden, located at 205 Connaught Avenue. David F. Rooney photo The members of Hula Halau Ke Aloha — Pat Springborn, Claudia Flett and Cynthia Shaw — pose for a photo before their dance performance. You can see their dance in one of the videos below. David F. Rooney Sandra Flood (left) considers some of the pottery for sale by members of the Pottery Guild. Sandra is a potter, too, and had some interesting pieces in the sale, as did Tanis Rebetoy and Melissa Klages (right). David F. Rooney photo Santa Lucia LFR hit the right notes to kickstart the entertainment portion of the Carousel of Nations. David F. Rooney photo Can you smell the difference? Darrel Nitsche asks Micah Heath to smell the coffee to see if he can tell the difference between different grades of coffee beans at his table in the Children’s Activity Room. David F. Rooney photo Marek Glowacki (right) is a World Masters’ Olympic Champion, so who better to teach kids how to throw the shot put, in this case a simulated one, the discus and javelin? David F. Rooney photo The performers of the Golden-based Li Jigeurs Mechif troupe are always a hit. Here they perform the Red River Jig. David F. Rooney photo The ladies of Hula Halau Ke Aloha put on a great show when they performed traditional Polynesian dances. You can elive their performance through one of the videos below. David F. Rooney photo This guy, Teddy Anderson, performed a First Nations’ hoop dance that had to be seen to be believed. David F. Rooney photo Dancing non-stop he used his feet to capture rings on the ground and then somehow managed to get them up his body. David F. Rooney photo Eventually he had all of them without missing a beat. David F. Rooney photo And, at the end of his jaw-dropping performance, worked them all into geometric shapes. You can see his terrific performance in one of the videos below. The audience loved Teddy’s show. David F. Rooney photo Here are three short videos of the Li Jigeurs Mechif, the Hula Halau Ke Aloha Polynesian Dancers and Teddy Anderson’s hoop dance:
