Sunday, September 30, 2012

International Festival



I have been looking forward to this event for a few weeks.  It is an annual event celebrating cultural diversity. As the website says. "The festival is a traditional celebration that honors the heritage and diversity among our residents through music, dance, demonstrations, authentic foreign foods, edu-tainment activities, cultural displays and an international bazaar". It draws in people from surrounding counties as well as here in Bowling Green.  

They put together a Passport Booklet with information from the 35 countries represented at the festival. As you visit each booth you are given a flag sticker from that country to go in your Passport Booklet. Several of the area schools give students extra credit for bringing their Passport Booklets to school with many or all of the different flag stickers. Even one of my daughter's college classes is giving extra credit for an upcoming quiz if they bring their booklet to class with at least 10 flags in it. We got 22 of the 35. 

These are the shirts that I picked up today.





I love sampling some of the foods from the different booths.  Today I tried African Donuts, Japanese Pancakes and Vietnamese Glutinous Rice Balls.  Each one was very tasty. I even brought some of the donuts home. 

While the food is a great part of the festival, the entertainers are my favorite part. There are three separate stages with performances going at all times throughout the day. 



These ladies are from a local Greek restaurant and perform their traditional Greek dance at the restaurant on certain nights.








They sling their heads a lot in their dance, hence the odd hair in this shot.


Their Belly Dance is one of the crowd favorites, especially with the guys. They are quite good and can move their stomachs in ways no one should be able to. 









I don't know how she dances, especially with all the hip shaking that she does, with the knife on her head. 














It was so sweet when the lady's daughter came up on stage to dance, and she could do the dance pretty darn good too.










 
The West African Drums and Dance was one of the best. The 
drumming beat of the music along with the expressive dance was fun and entertaining. The group's name is Sabari Bengoma and the dancers are the TWAA Dance Company.  


Usually I bounce back and forth between 

the stages. But, I stayed for their full show.








Each drum had its own sound and each drummer had a solo at one point or another.











Mr. Maurice Moro played the African Thumb Piano and explained how to hold your hands properly to do so.

He also played the 
Likembe. 





The Likembe close up.

There was Traditional Burmese Dance.  They asked the Burmese Community to dance along with them. The gentleman on the end, and the lady with the yellow scarf, had such fun dancing along. 




I couldn't resist snapping a shot of the Bosnian Children waiting to perform.



From where I was standing, I was only able to get a shot of the beginning of their performance. As they began dancing several people got in front of me. grrrrr

There was Celtic music from the group, Feckless Fear Deuig. (say that three time fast) 



I thought it was cute that the smallest one in this group was the one doing the hair for her fellow Traditional Chinese Dance performers.







Another of the Traditional Chinese Dance performers.









HuDost- 
Eastern Country
Fusion with yet another dancer with a knife across her head.





The Japanese Bon Dance was interesting. The leader of the dance group asked for volunteers from the crowd to dance with them. He gave them a jacket/shirt like the dancers were wearing and told them what to do as they went along.









There were three circles of dancers, one around the other.  Several times in their dance they would all come together in the middle as they danced. It was a fun performance.










This little cutie was one of the Japanese dancers.  She did her best to keep up but had to have a little help every now and then.


I wanted to see the performance of La Luz Del Mundo Dancers but missed it. I got back to this stage just as they were finishing their last dance. But they were happy to pose for a picture for me. 












This gentleman was attempting to teach people basic Chinese.
















And, I had to capture the drums sitting near one of the stages when I saw the shadows they were casting.


It was a great day for a festival, with perfect weather and tons of things to see and do. I already look forward to next year!


Linked to:

23 comments:

  1. WOW! What an amazingly colorful and happy festival. Each set of dancers & musicians brought something special. (Those women dancing with knives on their heads must be physically well-balanced but not quite right in their heads!)

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a fun festival. To see so many dancers. The children are my favorite, they look so cute.

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a wonderful day. I can understand why you look forward to it. Fabulous photos, all!

    ReplyDelete
  4. What a great event!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hello. Good to meet you 'Lighthousegal'!
    This is really an incredible international cultural festival! I loved the photos of the 'hair' of the Greek women! Great shots!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hello. Good to meet you 'Lighthousegal'!
    This is really an incredible international cultural festival! I loved the photos of the 'hair' of the Greek women! Great shots!

    ReplyDelete
  7. How colourful and I expect quiote noisy too - sounds like everyone had a wonderful time.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Wonderful and colorful shots from the event. They are really having fun.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I'll bet that was an exciting place to be and experience. Dance when you get the chance is my motto. It is good to find your blog. xo Jenny

    ReplyDelete
  10. Great festival with all sorts of fun.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Wow, a lot of movement going on there !

    ReplyDelete
  12. Great pictures. Our son has one of those beautiful African drums, and now that's he's moved out of our spare bedroom and into his own place I think it would be great if he learned how to play it.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Awesome....I could spend hours here, and not see everything, I'm sure. But with the help of your share today, I saw so many good things come together to make the outing a lot of fun. I especially liked the 'action' shot of the lady with the 'flying hair' as she does her thing!!! Truly, one great post today.

    ReplyDelete
  14. What fun! The costumes are really so wonderful -- I'm especially a fan of Japanese costuming and clothing. Beautiful captures. :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. A fantastic celebration and how wonderful to be able to attend!! I love your captures! The very next best thing to being there myself -- and I would love to do just that! Beautiful costumes and beautiful people! Terrific post! Thanks so much for sharing!! Have a great week!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Fun and festive!

    Shadows in the Village
    Your comment is always appreciated!

    Rose

    ReplyDelete
  17. what a cool festival...so much happening...

    ReplyDelete
  18. Interesting mix of cultures and countries. So colorful and festive. Looks like a marvelous way to enjoy and afternoon. :)

    ReplyDelete
  19. It does look like a great festival! I'm not sure about the big knives/swords on their heads. That looks way too dangerous.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Wonderful festival photos! I too would be fascinated with the drumming! And love that last photo of shadows cast by the drums! As if waiting to play their sound!

    ReplyDelete
  21. wow, I would really want to be there. It seems to be so much fun with great artists to enjoy. Thanks for sharing your day. :)

    ReplyDelete
  22. Beautiful photos. Love the shadows of the drums.

    ReplyDelete
  23. i am so glad I stopped by. I certainly loved the festival and except for not eating I had a great time.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you take a moment to leave a message or two. I love hearing what you think of my posts!