ST. LOUIS • The Paces woke up Saturday morning, ate a spare breakfast and declared it was the perfect day to try new things — lots of them.

So, under a cloudless sky, the Kirkwood family headed to the annual Festival of Nations in Tower Grove Park, where they joined legions of others also eager to put some new spice in their life — or at least their tummies.

The festival, in its 12th year and expected to host 140,000 visitors, has long been the epicenter of dance and music from cultures around the world. This year the organizers — the International Institute of St. Louis — will host nearly 100 music, dance and other performances as well as numerous international vendors.

Festival headliners include the New York-based COBU, an all-female troupe that fuses Japanese traditional Taiko drumming with tap dance.

Visitors like the Paces love the performances. But they admit the festival's abundant ethnic food is a real draw.

"We try to get things we can't normally get," said Wendy Pace above the rhythm of drums from one of the main stages. "We go to a lot of different restaurants, but you can't get a lot of the things you can get here. We look at the signs to see what we haven't had before."

On Saturday there were 40 different nationalities grilling, stewing and stirring ethnic treasures in booths that lined a promenade through the eastern end of the park. The choices ranged from bratwurst to Turkish borek, a pillowy pastry stuffed with spinach and feta.

The Paces had already sampled several sweet Malaysian drinks including rose milk; tried a thick slice of himbasha bread; indulged in Bosnian food; and had heard buzz about Eritrean food, piled high on thin, spongy rounds of injera bread.

Under a shady tree, Kyle and Jean Schenkewitz of St. Louis must have heard the buzz. They were already sampling several Eritrean delicacies, including stewed spinach, spiced lentils and a hearty tomato beef stew. The couple were aware that St. Louis has had an influx of immigrants resettling from Eritrea, a country in the horn of Africa. Both said they are fascinated by how other cultures get their protein from beans, noting that America is one of the few countries that primarily depends on meat.

A bite of the spiced lentils, and they were hooked.

"I really have no idea of the spices I'm eating," said Jean, delighted.

That question was sort of answered by Eritrea Russom. She was stirring a generous pot of stewed spinach with a long wooden paddle in the nearby food booth. Russom said she emigrated from Eritrea to the U.S. 20 years ago, and is proud to live here and share her culture with others. The spices, she said, were simple: a little curry, a little garlic, some onion, a dash of poppy — and a little of this, a little of that.

Over at the Romanian booth, Raluca Mateas of Washington, Mo., said she loved going to the festival every year and teaching visitors about her culture. Her challenge Saturday was to explain that the chocolatey delicacy Salam de Biscuiti has no salami in it, even though it sounds like salami and has the mottled look of the Italian meat.

It wasn't getting many takers.

No worries. Others were diving heartily into the nearby Romanian stuffed cabbage. Pastor Simion Stirbu of the Holy Trinity Romanian Church of God in St. Louis explained that the dish had a super-special secret ingredient. They lined the bottom of the pot with Canadian bacon and let the flavors stew up through the cabbage — their own miniature melting pot of two cultures.

The pastor offered up a bite. And, indeed, Romania and Canada united in a rush of smoky goodness.

The festival continues from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. For more information and a schedule of events, go to www.festivalofnationsstl.org.