ICON interviews  Janet Evelyn, the founder and creator of The Norwalk International Cultural Exchange (NICE). This 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. 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.