Festival of Nations – 7th September 2019

The skies may have been quite grey but P30 was lit up by the FoN stands at our annual celebration. Once again, the Stand Captains and their teams displayed their creativity, resourcefulness and great humour. Not only was it a wonderful demonstration of our diversity, but the festival raised over €21,500 on the day! Incredible! There was a party atmosphere and a real sense that this was a coming-together of our whole community. We can all be very proud of what was achieved.

A few snaps of the day. 

A multitude of thank yous…

To all the Stand Captains and their teams for their amazing stands and beautiful gift baskets. To all who helped their class stands on the day, plus all those who contributed beforehand. To management, teachers, library staff and others who provided support throughout the whole planning process. To the ever-patient Buzz team for handling all our messages. To Year 7 for their grace and good humour in the face of washing thousands of cups. To the Book Stand Team for their superb management of an astounding quantity of books. To all who dug around at home and found all those books to donate. To Nat Scheer and the whole judging team for their time and energy. To Konrad and Sinead for being Sara’s banking sidekicks. To Rob Gutowski for his traditional welcome. To all the stage performers who made it a party to remember. To DJ Sammy for his awesome tunes. To Larsito for another flawless display of MCing. To Nathalie Bartnik and Jürgen Cremer for being our doctors-on-call. To the dear IB and Abitur students who motivated the masses (you know who you are!) and all the IB and Abi students who volunteered their time for oh-so-vital tasks. To our Silent Auction team, Carmen and Rafidah. To all the Silent Auction donors for their generous contributions. To the Friends for their ongoing commitment to the Festival. To everyone else who dedicated their time, effort, support, advice and assistance. And to Rudi, ‘World’s Best Hausmeister’, for going above and beyond the call of duty every time (and who also provided a lovely stage performance!).

If there is anyone we have forgotten to thank in name, please know that you have our gratitude. This festival doesn’t happen by happy accident, it really takes an entire community of dedicated volunteers.

Liberian peace activist, Laymah Gbowee, defined Ubuntuism as, “I am what I am because of who we all are”. Our school is what it is because of who we all are. From the people who repeatedly put their hands up to be involved year after year, to those who took part for the first time (and who were maybe even a bit nervous about what it all entailed), every single person was a part of something so much bigger. A true celebration of what we as the NMS Family represent.

Your 2019 Festival of Nations Planning Committee,

Chevannes, Ivos, Lisa, Maja, Rhian, Sara and Winnie