Heritage Night Returns to Falls Church

Ariel Lebow, Culture Editor|June 16, 2023

Heritage Night was recently celebrated at Falls Church after a five-year hiatus. After being canceled for Covid-19, the long-standing tradition is back. 

FCHS Heritage Night is an event dedicated to celebrating the different cultures and traditions of the diverse student body at FCHS.

The first part of the event was an array of food from different cultural groups in the school, from spring rolls to spaetzle and many others.  Following the food, student groups performed cultural dances and songs. The event ended with a fashion show, with students modelling clothing showing their cultural backgrounds. 

Asian Students Association (Ariel Lebow)
Vietnam- Newton Ma (12), Destin Tran (11), Minh Nguyen (12)- “When I was walking up-stage, I could feel the nervousness in my body. All the nervousness dropped when I see my friends chanting my name, definitely one of the best experiences I’ve had at school.”- Destin Tran (Ariel Lebow)
India- Ananya Murugan (10) and Riya Patil (11) and Benita Xavier (10) (Ariel Lebow)
India- Aisha Telhan (10) and Shri Bala (10) – “I help design both of those dresses. They are called a lehenga and use a variety of patterns and styles of embroidery to decorate an ankle-length skirt and top, Aisha (who is North Indian) wears a more Northern-style party dress and I (who am South Indian) wear a South-Indian dress that is more geared toward a formal occasion like a marriage instead of a party.” – Shri Bala (Ariel Lebow)
South Korea- Cathy Le (12) – “ I decided to do a solo dance for my performance for Heritage Night because since it was my first time performing for Heritage Night due to the cancellations during the previous 3 years, I wanted to make it memorable for myself which is why I did a solo. Pop is performed by Twice’s Nayeon and it’s a bubbly and fun performance that makes everyone energetic and want to dance.” (Ariel Lebow)
China- Nana Lin (10)- “I decided to participate in heritage night because I wanted to share my culture, traditional clothing, and perform a chinese song.” (Ariel Lebow)
Sudan- Widad Khalid (10) and Adeela Badri (10) – “We are representing Sudan! I participated in Heritage Night because I wanted to share my culture with my community. Although Sudan is one of Africa’s largest countries it seems to be unknown, so I wanted to represent it. In the picture we are wearing a “thobe” “thawb” “toub”. “- Widad Khalid (Ariel Lebow)
Vietnamese Student Association- Deena Nguyen (11), Jodi Tay (12), Ryan Pham (12), Tiffany Tran (12), Vivian Hoang (12), Isla O’Neill (9), Kat Nguyen (10), Joshua Adviento (12), Vivian Tran (12), Tina Pham (12), Ris Dao (12), Madison Do (11). (Ariel Lebow)
Institute for East Africans- Heaven Haile (9), Meron Taye (11), Bithiah Margen (9), Blaine Haile (11), Naomi Taye (10), Nurame Akiso (11), Solyana Mehari (10), Hlena Hailemariam (11), Liya Eyakem(9), Yohana Margen (11), Mari Worede (11), Yisak Thomas (11) (Ariel Lebow)
K-Club- Yen Tran (12), Rashelle Guzman (11), Genesis Saravia Amaya (10), Amanda Chiem (12), Leslie Romero Villacorta (11) (Ariel Lebow)
Centro Cultural Bolivia (Ariel Lebow)
Bolivia- Lucia Patino Iporre (12), Araceli Soto Contancio (12) and Alyson Ortiz (12)- “We knew that many students were part of the Bolivian community and we wanted to give a sense of familiarity. Bolivia has over 20 traditional dances and here in NOVA, there are multiple dance fraternities that represent Bolivia, ” – Araceli Soto Constancio (Ariel Lebow)
Maryjan Vicente-Mendez (12) (Ariel Lebow)