Saturday was a full day of festivals and the difference between them was radical!
Taylor marched in the Persimmon Festival parade. The Persimmon Festival lasts all week in Mitchell, Indiana, and is quite the event for the small town of 4,500. This was the last day of the event, which includes midway rides, arcade games, and lots of "fair food". Persimmon pudding and ice cream - and anything else you can think of that you can create with this fruit - is everywhere. The competition is fierce for the best pudding.
The first year I experienced the parade was right after we had lived in California and we had just gone to the Rose Parade in Pasadena. As I stood on the streets of this small town, watching the firetrucks and tractors drive by, sirens and horns a-honking, I had to laugh to myself. But I have since appreciated the charm and the small-town atmosphere. Here are some shots of Mitchell friends on the street, as well as some shots of the parade. Taylor is the clarinet-player.
Later that night, we headed into Bloomington for the Lotus Festival. This is a VERY different event. Going into its thirteenth year, the Lotus Festival brings the world to Bloomington by booking musicians - bands, vocalists, unusual instruments - from countries everywhere. The diversity of the musicians and the diversity of the crowd add to the energy of this event. We saw just about every group (albeit sometime for only one or two songs). My favorite was the a capella group Chic Gamine and the improvisational oud and vocals of Dhafer Youssef. The Tuvan throat singing of Chirgikhin was also pretty cool.
A perfect day for a festival!
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