A girl from the Angel Chinese dance troupe of Boston performs a Mongolian folk dance at last year’s festival. (Photo by Lisa Aciukewicz)

The Harvard Parent-Teacher Organization’s second annual Festival of Cultures at Harvard Elementary School is two weeks away, and this year promises some new features and more opportunities for fun, according to PTO member Belinda Friedrich. The free event, which will take place at the school March 27 from 6 to 8:30 p.m., is designed to acquaint schoolchildren with Harvard’s cultural diversity.

The festival program is organized in two parts: the first part will take place in the school’s gym; the second will be in the cafetorium. During the first part of the program visitors can visit 18 different “countries,” represented by ambassadors at tables throughout the gym. The ambassadors, all volunteers, are Harvard residents who have authentic, firsthand knowledge of the countries they represent. Friedrich said that “authenticity” is a primary part of the mission for the event, as is focusing on the Harvard community.

She explained that children attending the festival will each be given a “passport,” which will be stamped by the ambassador at every country visited. This year, she added, the ambassadors will greet visitors in the native language of the countries they represent and will ask visitors to repeat that greeting so that children and parents will have an opportunity to learn to say “hello” as it is said in Algeria, Bolivia, Brazil, Columbia, the Czech Republic, China, Chile, Finland, France, Great Britain, Greece, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mali, Morocco, and Turkey.

New this year will be a silent auction, which takes place during the first part of the evening. The auction, a fundraiser designed to help pay the cost of putting on the festival ($200 to $300, according to Friedrich), will feature items from many of the countries represented at the event, including a one-hour henna party (an Indian tradition), an Indian meal for six at the winner’s home, butter-almond cookies from the Czech Republic, and rice balls from Japan. Friedrich noted that although the PTO is not allowed to sell food at the festival, it can auction food items for later delivery to the winners.

The second part of the festival program will present performances from around the world, including Indian dance; Irish step-dancing; African dance and drumming; songs from France, Japan, and India; Chinese yo-yo; and Japanese karate.

Friedrich said that last year’s festival was “a huge hit” and estimated that there may have been close to 200 people in attendance. She said Harvard’s festival last year was bigger than Acton’s, a town more than three times the size of Harvard.

“You don’t think of Harvard as being a diverse town,” said Friedrich, “but when you dig in you find there’s a great deal of diversity here.”

Penelope Schnier performs an Indian dance at last year’s Festival of Cultures. (Photo by Lisa Aciukewicz)