Plants are life, as they produce almost all of the oxygen we breathe, plus make up 80 percent of the food we eat. Even the meat, fish, or dairy products we eat come from animals that depend on plants to grow. They all start with a seed.

The 2020 International Year of Plant Health increases awareness of the importance of healthy plants and the necessity to protect them. Plants are all around us and their relationship with humans is a long one. It is not surprising that people have always admired plants and have had a special connection with them. This relationship is sometimes so strong that people turn to plants to honor some of the most important moments in life: birth, marriage, or death.

Plants are also used in many cultural ways, such as in medicine, as religious objects, as subjects in mythology, as food and shelter, and in many festivals, celebrations, and traditions. Herbs and spices are used primarily for adding flavor and aroma to food and some are used as a preservative. Herbs are obtained from the leaves of plants and spices are obtained from roots, flowers, fruits, seeds, or bark.

One of the most fundamental human experiences is that of agriculture; we plant healthy seeds and strengthen them by providing nutrients, combining them with water and sunlight to help them grow. The plants we grow provide our basic needs in shelter, food, medicines, and clothing. As with our cultural heritage, we need to cultivate and care for it and safeguard it; we need to create a thirst in the next generations to learn about it and value it and enjoy it. This is necessary to transmit our cultural heritage on to the next generations.

The origin and history of plants play a vital role in defining a region’s culture. Plants contribute a key element to our food, clothing, work, and life. The connections between local customs and traditions and plant products is linked to that specific geographical area – the development of the cuisine and the telling of the stories of the cultivated plants – preserving the living heritage of each plant in its unique cultural context.

The largest plants on earth are trees. They provide fruit, nuts, spices, wood, and materials for products such as paper, maple syrup, chewing gum, rubber, crayons, paint, soap, dyes, medicines, and cosmetics. They help reduce pollution, release oxygen into the atmosphere, and absorb carbon dioxide, slowing down the rate of global warming. Trees reduce wind speed and cool the air as they lose moisture and reflect heat upwards from their leaves, plus help prevent flooding and soil erosion. Not only are trees essential for life, but as the longest living species on earth, they give us a link between the past, present, and future.

The Holiday Folk Fair International continues to be a community of communities. For 77 years, it has been a keeper of our rich and diverse living heritage, safeguarding the past, honoring the present, and embracing the future. It provides an opportunity for cultures brought from all over the world to showcase their traditions and heritage, allowing them to be kept alive and relevant by regularly practicing and sharing it among its members and among generations.

This festival celebrates people from the four corners of the earth who have come to make Wisconsin their home. With them, they bring their use of plants that are unique and meaningful to them, that bring them together as they celebrate their traditions, their stories, their music, and songs and dances. 

Festivals pass on tradition and pride from one generation to the next. From the opening of the first event, the major purpose remains education throughout the community and state showcasing Wisconsin’s ethnic groups through dance, music, food, traditional outfits, and exhibits. The Holiday Folk Fair International continues its dedication to building racial, cultural, and ethnic understanding, bringing together more than 50 culturally diverse ethnic groups – each with its own unique history and heritage. These groups work together to present the largest and oldest indoor multicultural festival in the United States. This special time each year allows people to share their heritage in an accepting environment that honors their culture and encourages pride in their own culture. 

The 2020 Holiday Folk Fair International shows how plants are a precious link to the past and to the future – to traditions and celebrations of everyday life.