22 February, 2009

The International Festival Goes Local

The weather outside yesterday was frightful and even the gargoyles guarding my front door looked highly unamused.





As was the case last year, the day of the International Festival was beset by snow. Last year the festival was cancelled due to weather. However, the six inches of snow we got this year was deemed traversable with organizers pleading on the website, "Yes! The Festival is happening! We won't let a little snow stop the fun, so come on down and join us." Indeed, many – probably thousands – didn't let the weather prevent them from heading down to the Overture Center to enjoy the fun.





The Polish Heritage Club craft tables.



While the Overture Center may be too large for a town our size, the extra space comes in handy at the International Festival.

The Dulcinea was in New York City recently visiting a friend who was originally from Madison. Her friend said that she could never move back to Madison because it wasn't cosmopolitan enough. To be sure, Madison is not even close to NYC when it comes to racial and cultural diversity, but the International Festival highlights that the city has changed quite a bit since I moved here 19 years ago.

The theme this year was "Local Goes Global" and all the performers at the festival were Madisonians. In addition to the standard German, Northern European, and UK cultures that represent the majority of Madison's population, India, Greece, China, West Africa, Brazil, and on and on were also present at the festival. The overall skin tone of Madison is much more brown than it was in 1990.

Tomorrow I'll post more from the festival.

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