The Harvard-Westlake Heritage Festival took place on the Ted Slavin Field at the Upper School on May 4, 2025. The event featured food trucks representing various cultures, parent and student affinity groups, community art murals, cultural arts and crafts booths, an interactive cultural museum, and live performances from the Harvard-Westlake choir, dancers, and bands.
“My heart is so full seeing the Heritage Festival grow and evolve,” Heritage Festival Chair and Harvard-Westlake Parent DEI Vice President Anna Dashiell-Sparks said. “It’s an opportunity for families and the Harvard-Westlake community to share pieces of their family history and cultural heritage through objects, artifacts and meaningful items and to build community through it.”
Usha Sarvaiya ’30, Sahana Narang ’28, Risha Sampath ’28, and Sahana Gupta ’26 prepared and performed Indian traditional Indian dance for the Heritage Festival.
“All four of us have been learning this style of dance since we were very young,” Sarvaiya said. “When one of us was presented with this opportunity, we all decided that it would be a wonderful way to practice and to showcase our dance form.”
The Heritage Festival gives students a chance to share their cultures and traditions, while also helping everyone feel more connected as a community. Through performances, displays, and activities, the event brings people together in a shared space of learning and appreciation.
“I hope people take away from this year’s festival the sense that we all belong to a community that deeply cares about one another and believes in inclusive excellence and the synergy of connection through building communion,” Dashiell-Sparks said.
