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June 02, 2006
Folk Festival
Phew, it's been too hot to sit in our computer room and blog for the past couple of days. Pittsburgh's felt like 'way down south in Dixie land. However, blazing heat doesn't make me overly nostalgic for my lovely birthplace (though there are many other fine things about it).
Anyway, last weekend was packed full of fun. On Friday night, we went to the annual Pittsburgh Folk Festival, a highlight of our summer. Pittsburgh is amazingly diverse! This was the fiftieth anniversary of the folk festival. It began in the 1950s. Ooooo! Dissertation connect to real-life: the outburst of interest in folk music/cultures that I've researched in connection with my topic is the same outburst that initiated this gorgeous festival. History that I can touch and taste and hear. Here are a few favorite pictures from last year, and then I'll let Tim tell this year's story in his own words. Actually, I feel the need to add my own comments as well.
Indian hip-hoppin' kids--too cute! The girl in the very front had such a cute attitude, not shy at all.
I don't remember which Eastern European country this was--there were tons of them, with lots of fun dancing.
China was terrific, with a huge variety of props--dragons, ribbons, fancy costumes.
I think this is still China. So pretty and symmetrical!
Onto this year...
Tim and Joanna: Tonight we went to the Folk Fest with Rachel. Lots of great music, food and crafts. We started our culinary tour with Hawaii (Lau-lau: chicken cooked in banana leaves), Greece (Pastitsio: like a Greek shepherd’s pie), and Scotland (Finnan Haddock, a smoked fish dish). We washed it all down with a Mango Iced Tea. Joanna valiantly attempted to stir up some Slovakian nostalgia in me but, alas, I didn’t eat any cabbage-based food, nor did I dance the polka. I did have some of the chicken paprikas and mushroom soup that Joanna got from the Slovak booth; both were excellent. (See!!)
Rachel found some Irish crème fudge from the Ireland booth and it was sublime. The Kona coffee from the Hawaiian booth was also amazing.
Now for the music. We heard a men’s choir of Ukrainian descent that had us transfixed. Between numbers, the leader gave us some of the history of the Ukraine – fighting to retain the customs and heritage under the oppression of the Czars and the Soviets. They also had several men playing banduras, lute type instruments that go back to medieval times. Ukrainian minstrels would play them and bring the latest news to the villages they would visit.
Several of the other musical groups had kids singing and dancing, like the Italians, the Germans and the Serbians. They were really talented. The Lithuanians played pan pipes that had a really sweet timbre. As the sweet sounds and rhythms poured out, Pittsburghers impulsively began dancing.
The costumes of all the groups were so colorful and vibrant. A feast for the eyes. We talked for a while to a lady born and raised in Iran. She told how the media greatly misrepresents the people of Iran and focuses only on the negative. She also went into raptures about the beautiful architecture in her country. She said that she had never truly appreciated it until she went away from it, studying in Paris (mutual drooling from the co-chroniclers) and London (more drool). Now we want to visit Iran (and Paris and London)!!
That's the only problem with the folk festival. It makes you want to throw all budgets to the wind and travel the world.
Our souvenir of the evening was a cookbook featuring foods and histories of the many ethnicities that have settled over the years. Mmm! Wanna know what to eat as a Pittsburgher during WWII food rationing? How to pack a lunch pail for your steel mill bound husband? How to make your own Piroshki? It's all here! Joanna's professor we ran into gave us a copy of a tour guide to Pittsburgh and its surrounding area, Routes to Roots. We're already planning out new places to explore and summer festivals to visit. Woohoo!
Pittsburgh | By Tim and Jo | 08:51 AM
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Comments
Sounds like fun! The only folk festivals I've been to have tended to focus on Celtic, not on other cultures. BTW, if you liked the Ukrainian music, you might find "The Ukrainians" (soundclips on Amazon) interesting--they incorporate Ukrainian folk tunes and give it an electric/punk edge. One album includes the song "Anarchy in the UK" sung in Ukrainian!
Posted by: Leopoldtulip at June 3, 2006 01:39 PM