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Ten Thousand Villages, a nonprofit retailer selling fair trade artisan products made around the world, will introduce children to the plight of refugees this weekend at its 23rd annual International Children’s Festival in Lancaster County.

The festival will feature live music from the Andes mountains as well as a variety of food, crafts, games and other activities. It will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at Ten Thousand Villages, 240 N. Reading Road, Ephrata. Admission is free, although food and some activities have a cost associated with them.

Rachel Hink, one of the festival’s organizers, expects hundreds of children to attend, and added that those who attended the first Children’s Festivals have now started bringing their own children.

Children 8 or older can participate in the Refugee Experience, a simulation of how refugees displaced by war or natural disaster live. Participants will fill a pillowcase with items to carry with them before beginning a simulated journey.

“It’s kind of an opportunity for children to step into somebody else’s shoes for a little bit,” Hink said.

After the Refugee Experience, festival attendees can pack Relief Kit Buckets with personal care items, which will be sent by the Mennonite Central Committee to refugee families worldwide.

Most of the festival’s activities are in keeping with Ten Thousand Villages’ interest in promoting fair global trade. Since 1946, the nonprofit has used fair trade practices to generate $140 million in income for artisans, and children will be able to replicate some of the work of these artisans by making peace prayer flags or necklaces personalized in Urdu.