'Lotus' granted $15,000

Bloomington Mayor Mark Kruzan announced Thursday morning at City Hall that the city will give $15,000 to the second annual Lotus in the Park. The family-friendly event which will be part of the 2006 Lotus World Music and Arts Festival, an annual event in Bloomington since 1993.\n"It was hugely successful last year," Lee Williams, Lotus executive and artistic director, said of last year's estimated 1,200 attendees in the day program alone. "We anticipate even more (this year)," he said. \nThe city is giving the same amount of funding it gave last year toward the free event, which will be open to the public from noon to 5:15 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 7 at Third Street Park.\nKruzan said Lotus in the Park helps attract more people to Lotus Fest, which will take place Oct. 5-8, according to its Web site.\n"(Lotus Fest) brings us international acclaim and makes the world a bit smaller at a time when the international divide (seems so big)," Kruzan said. "We can continue to make our city a destination point for tourism ... for the arts, for culture in general."\nWilliams said the funding is key in this celebration for the community because it allows families to experience quality music and activities during kid-friendly hours.\nLotus in the Park will feature musicians Grey Larsen and Mark Fedderson, face painting and the building of a Mongolian yurt, a transportable dwelling Mongolian nomads use, along with a musical performance of traditional Tibetan music, according to a press release. Food and drinks will be provided by Bloomingfoods.\nWilliams said some firsts will happen at this year's event, including a collaborative event with IU's Union Board to offer a family-friendly DJ show from 7 p.m. to midnight Friday, Oct. 6, giving kids the chance to experience a nighttime event.\nLotus Fest as a whole is made possible by more than 300 volunteers as well as $85,000 raised by the board, Williams said.\n"It truly is an international festival," he said of Lotus Fest, which has attracted more than 9,000 people in the past, according to the press release. "I know one person who said the Lotus Festival was one of the top reasons he decided to move to Bloomington."\nWilliams said the Lotus Festival really connects people to Bloomington.\n"I've been to many festivals big and small," Williams said, "and there are just not many places that would be able to support a grassroots, community-centered world music festival"