International Harmony

This weekend, if you go downtown, stand in the right place, close your eyes and listen, you could be transported to the Ivory Coast, the rainforests of Colombia, the Australian outback or the Mongolian steppes.

Starting today, 26 musical acts from all six inhabited continents will converge in Bloomington for the 15th annual Lotus World Music and Arts Festival. Since 1994, the festival has grown from a one-day gathering of 900 people to an event that stretches over four days, generates a half-million dollars for the local economy and last year brought in more than 11,000 people.

Executive director of the nonprofit Lotus Education and Arts Foundation Lee Williams said that, thanks to word of mouth, the festival had become popular beyond its founders’ wildest imaginations, producing the most diverse crowd of any Bloomington public gathering.

“There’s a connection that can be made to other cultures very easily through music,” he said. “Something that bonds and unites us.”

Today through Sunday, the Lotus Festival will be at nine different venues downtown, some of which are free and some of which require tickets.

Lotus Festival 2008 schedule

Thursday
7 p.m. – kick-off with the Northern Realms concert, centered on music from Northern Europe, at the Buskirk-Chumley
•Frigg, a Finnish string ensemble
•Julie Fowlis, a Scots Gaelic singer
•Waltz with Me, a string group led by Norwegian fiddler Annbørg Lien
Cost: $20

Friday
6 p.m. – Lotus Arts Village, located between Sixth and Washington streets, opens its metaphorical gates, inviting visitors to wander its labyrinth and check out its parade banners, inflated sculptures and decorated bicycles

7 p.m. to midnight – Friday night showcases get underway at:

Bluebird Nightclub – 216 N. Walnut St.
•10 p.m. Reelroad

Buskirk-Chumley Theater
•7:15 p.m. Julie Fowlis
•9:00 p.m. Waltz with Me
•10:30 Sogbety Diomande

Bloomington Convention Center – Third Street and College Avenue
•7 p.m. Marta Gomez
•8:30 p.m. La Musgana
•10 p.m. Jayme Stone and Mansa Sissoko

First Christian Church – Kirkwood Avenue and Washington Street
•7:15 p.m. James Hill and Anne Davison
•9:15 p.m. Etugen Ensemble
•10:30 p.m. Etugen Ensemble

Carey Worldwide Chauffeured
 Services Tent – Fourth and Grant streets
•7:45 p.m. Reelroad
•9 p.m. Little Crow
•10:30 Funkadesi

First Presbyterian Church – 221 E. Sixth St.
•7:45 p.m. Son de Madera
•9 p.m. Bill Harney and Paul Taylor
•10:30 p.m. Son de Madera

Monroe Bank/Ivy Tech Community College Tent – Sixth Street, between Walnut Street and College Avenue
•7:15 p.m. Etran Finatawa
•9 p.m. Vieux Farka Toure
•10:30 p.m. Mucca Pazza

Mallor Clendening Grodner and Bohrer Tent – Fourth Street,  between Walnut Street and College Avenue
•7:30 Rev. Peyton’s Big Damn Band
•9 p.m. Pistolera
•10:30 p.m. The Wilders

8:30 p.m. – Chicago’s Mucca Pazza, a 30-piece group describing itself as a “punk circus marching band,” will lead a procession down Kirkwood Avenue

Saturday
11:30 a.m. – The film “The Singing Revolution” will be shown at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater
Cost: Free with the purchase of a $5 Lotus Pin

Noon to 5:30 p.m. – Lotus in the Park (331 S. Washington St.) will present live music and workshops for all ages.

Lotus in the Park will feature performances from:
•Reelraod
•Son de Madera
•James Hill and Anne Davison
•La Musgana

And will also include a Nigerian musical customs workshop with Etran Finatawa, a didgeridoo demonstration with Yidumduma Bill Harney, and a West African dance demonstration with Sogbety Diomande

7 p.m. – Saturday evening showcases commence

Bluebird Nightclub – 216 N. Walnut St.
•9 p.m. Rev. Peyton’s Big Damn Band
•10:30 Pistoleria

Buskirk-Chumley Theater
•7 p.m. Gaida Hinnawai
•9 p.m. Solas
•10:30 p.m. Lo Cor de la Plana
 
Bloomington Convention Center – Third Street and College Avenue
•7 p.m. Jayme Stone and Mansa Sissoko
•8:30 p.m. Marta Gomez
•10 p.m. The New York Gypsy All-Stars

First Christian Church – Kirkwood Avenue and Washington Street
•7:45 p.m. Etugen Ensemble
•9:15 p.m. Son de Madera
•10:30 p.m. Etugen Ensemble

Carey Worldwide Chauffeured Services Tent – Fourth and Grant streets
•7:45 p.m. The Wilders
•9 p.m. Little Crow
•10:30 Funkadesi

First Presbyterian Church – 221 E. Sixth St.
•7 p.m. Ray Bonneville
•8 p.m. La Musgana
•9 p.m. James Hill and Anne Davison
•10:30 Ray Bonneville

Monroe Bank/Ivy Tech Community College Tent – Sixth Street, between Walnut Street and College Avenue
•7:15 p.m. Sogbety Diomande
•9 p.m. Etran Finatawa
•10:30 p.m. March Fourth Marching Band

Mallor Clendening Grodner and Bohrer Tent – Fourth Street,  between Walnut Street and College Avenue
•7:45 p.m. Pistolera
•9 p.m. Reelroad
•10:30 p.m. The Wilders

Sunday
2 to 5 p.m. – The Lotus Festival will conclude with the multicultural World Spirit Concert at the Buskirk-Chumley
•Etugen Ensemble
•Gaida Hinnawi
•Lo Cor de la Plana

Despite the packed schedule of activities, Lotus executive director Williams said that visitors should simply relax and take in the festival atmosphere that produces impromptu events, such as street jams between artists brought together from far corners of the world and local artists.

“We call it the Lotus adventure,” Williams said of the festival experience. “Ever changing, ever challenging, ever amazing.”

Ticket info for students

One-day passes $33 ($28 in advance)
Two-day passes $60 ($50 in advance)
Where
Sunrise Box Office, 114 E. Kirkwood Ave.
Bloomingfoods – 3220 E. Third St., 419 E. Kirkwood Ave., 316 W. Sixth St.

www.bloomingtonarts.info

To become a volunteer at next year’s festival apply on the Lotus Web site, call 812-337-0417 or e-mail volunteer@lotusfest.org. The application deadline is in late August. Check www.lotusfest.org/LotusFestVol1.html for more details.