Living Traditions Festival Shows Utah's Many Faces
By Judy
Magid
The
Living Traditions Festival fulfilled its promise to celebrate folk and ethnic
arts over the weekend with graceful gestures of elegant dancers, crafts passed
from generation to generation and the rich aromas of food from more than a
dozen countries wafting over the City-County Building grounds in Salt Lake
City.
For a moment, everyone was
a little bit Chinese, a little bit Greek, Lebanese, Japanese, Mexican,
Peruvian, Hawaiian, Italian, Vietnamese, Armenian, Thai, Swiss, Irish,
Salvadoran, American Indian, Scottish and Basque.
Where else could you see a
small girl performing an Ojibway jingle dance with audience members in kilts
while the KlezBros band has folks dancing to Jewish Klezmer music and dancing
the hora? And a lot
of people were there to see it all. Festival director Casey Jarman
acknowledged it is difficult to keep count of people attending a free event,
but this year's attendance was estimated to be the event's largest. "We
are really pleased," Jarman said, adding that the weather helped.
Then, too, there seems to
be a national trend for people to want to be out and about. A recent Wall
Street Journal story noted that though " . . . many expected 9-11 to send
people even deeper into nesting mode [staying home], sociologists say it
actually got people out looking for companionship."
Having a good time
together could be a trend.
Almost every food
booth also reported larger crowds than last year.
"Business has been wonderful, better this year
than last. People are used to Mexican food," Lucy Valerio said Sunday at the
Central Civico Mexicano booth.
Photo
Above: Khemera dancer Jenny Lorn, 14, performs
"We
added a couple of new things, like sweet sesame bread and banana fritters, but
the chicken kabobs are the favorites."
The Scots were serving
sausage rolls, the Swiss had wurst and the Irish offered meat-filled "pastees"
and Guinness Bread, but the Basque booth did not have the famous and potent
"Pecan Punch" available at Elko's Star Cafe.
At the arts and crafts
booths, Glen Thompson worked on hand-tooled saddles while Colleen Shino
demonstrated art made with "washi," or traditional Japanese paper; Elizabeth
Peterson made bobbin lace and Amronrat Antczak demonstrated fruit and soap
carvings. For Lucille Jones and grandsons Cody and Kyle Jones, the festival is
a glimpse into a wider world.
"I
grew up in a small town in Sevier County. I moved to Salt Lake City a few
years ago and it made my world bigger. I try to bring the boys every year and
we eat different every year, too," she said.
Crested Butte Music Festival
Crested Butte CO USA. Info Phone: 970-349-0619
The Crested Butte Music Festival, truly one of the most vibrant and unique festivals of its kind, makes its home in the historic mining town of Crested Butte, Colorado, set high in the beautiful Rocky Mountains. Primarily a classical music festival, CBMF boasts an international symphony, performances by the Kansas City Ballet, opera with a twist that will have even the most inexperienced opera-goers begging for more, which also features vocalists from the Metropolitan Opera, world-class chamber music, jazz, pops, poetry, and special events including free community and children's concerts throughout the festival! The Crested Butte Music Festival is also committed to music education for all ages, and offers free pre-concert lectures, audience-invited receptions with the artists in premiere homes and restaurants in this charming Victorian ski town, and so much more! The festival's sense of community is paramount to its existence and it supports music education programs with master classes, subsidized lessons to local students, guest artist outreach, and workshops. CBMF also maintains a strong commitment to commissioning new works and has presented world premieres from both the operatic, instrumental and poetic worlds. It's no surprise that a host of world-class artists vie to join the CBMF roster of artist alumni summer after breathtaking summer. Find yourself knee-deep in Indian paintbrush and royal purple lupine here in the wildflower capital of Colorado. Visitors call it paradise.
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