About NICE

The Norwalk International Cultural Exchange (NICE) is a 501(c3) nonprofit organization.

The NICE Festival was established to celebrate the rich global heritage and culture so evident in the music, food, art and diverse population of which we in Norwalk, Connecticut are so proud. In previous years, Norwalk was home to a number of smaller cultural festivals such as The Scottish Games, a Colombian festival, a Haitian festival, a Jazz festival and others that have disappeared over the years. In 2014, Janet Evelyn, Norwalk resident and founder of the Norwalk International Cultural Exchange with a desire to see more cultural events in town, approached the City with the idea of doing a series of summer festivals that celebrated different world cultures including that of which is born in the USA, that would be international in scope, and that would replace the smaller festivals which were largely siloed and resided in specific groups.   In November 2015, after a whole year of discussions Janet finally got approval from Recreation and Park director Mike Moccaie to move ahead with the planning and staging of the NICE Festival Series.  It would take another whole year to plan and stage the first NICE Festival Series. By this time, in 2016, the tremor of divisiveness in the country had reached a pitch such that we realized we had a unique opportunity in the acronym of NICE to bring about a day of unity and community building in a festival that celebrated sharing all our traditions and customs, at the same time and in the same space. Thus, the NICE Festival was born. 

The NICE Festival host dancers, musicians, food and craft vendors from multiple traditions and customs. The day-long event is filled with an abundance of artistic expressions across sight, sound, and taste, and are presented through the visual arts, the performing arts, and culinary arts. Attendees experience a wide array of international cultural performances from multiple traditions including live dancers with origins in Latin, Asian, African; live music to include Rock, Reggae, Rhythm & Blues, Jazz, Folk and music across all genres; foods and arts and crafts from around the world along with education, health, and environmental exhibits. 

NICE produces programs that invites collaboration and participation from multiple ethnic groups at the same time and within the same space so each group can share their cultural traditions while at the same time experiencing and learning about the other groups that are also participating. The experiences are across sight, sound, and taste, and are presented through the visual arts, the performing arts, and culinary arts. NICE is intentional in its partnership to ensure as many groups as possible do participate. NICE partners with groups to include the Organization of Chinese Americans, The Sikhs of CT, The Pontian Society, the United Haitian-American Society, The Norwalk Historical Society, The Norwalk Housing Authority and numerous others. The program is open and free to the public so everyone, regardless of economic status can attend at no costs. The program has quickly developed as a hallmark of bringing our families and community together.