Integrated Community’s World Fiesta event returned Thursday, again in a virtual format. The event, now in its ninth year, brings the community together to learn about different cultures and traditions from across the globe.

From Thursday to Saturday, videos will be posted to Integrated Community’s Facebook page three times per day at 9 a.m., noon and 5 p.m. The videos will be in both English and Spanish.

Day one will see the virtual event kick off with an introduction to Integrated Community’s team and the programs they offer to their clients. This will be followed by a midday trivia game, and the last video will feature Integrated Community’s immigration services specialist Renzo Walton, who will share a recipe for the popular Peruvian drink, the pisco sour.

Day two will focus on culture as community members share fun facts, traditions and favorite recipes from their home countries, which include Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Bulgaria, Germany and more. For example, board member Robin Schepper will share a traditional recipe for wiener schnitzel, the Viennese dish that she grew up eating with her family in Germany and Austria.

“We want to highlight how diverse we are within our small community and how we can all learn something from our neighbors,” said Nelly Navarro, executive director of Integrated Community. “We are all here for the same reasons, and recognizing that is an important part of integration.”

The last day of the event will feature a dance contest, a video segment of children’s reactions to dances from around the world — hint: They’re very honest — and lastly, closing remarks from Integrated Community focusing on the nonprofit’s mission statement.

Navarro noted that this year’s event will be more interactive and will encourage participation through a trivia game and dance contest voting. It will also be condensed into three days — last year, it took place over the course of five — and one of those days will take place on a weekend so that people who are working during the week can still participate live for one day while also catching up on videos they missed.

And while Navarro hopes the event can be held in person next year, she said the decision to do it virtually this year was one the organization felt strongly about.

“We know that this is a family-oriented event, and right now, vaccines aren’t available to all children,” she said. “We never want to compromise the community, and doing World Fiesta virtually allows us to still celebrate and share different cultures safely.”

Laura Najera, Integrated Community’s program support specialist, said the most important thing is to come together.

“We want to show that in our community. There are so many diverse cultures, backgrounds and different languages that we speak,” she said. “This is an opportunity to get to interact with all these different cultures and learn about them.”

Sophie Dingle is a contributing writer for the Steamboat Pilot & Today. She can be reached through the editor.