The World Beat festival is always one of my favorite events in Salem. This year it didn't disappoint. I went this afternoon, Saturday. There's another day to the festival, so go on Sunday if you can.
It's a marvelous celebration of diversity.
I love how the booths -- and the people attending to them -- run the gamut of the world. Asia Pacific, European, Africa and Middle East, Americas. There's food, crafts, clothing, and performances representing each of these festival areas.
The Main Stage Amphitheater is where the biggest performances are. I happened by when an Aztec Dance group, Ameyalmatzatl Citlatonal, was just entering the stage. Here's a video I made of the colorful smoke-filled ceremony that preceded their true dancing.
I also took some photos with my iPhone 14 which turned out pretty well, given that I wasn't super close to the stage.
I also enjoyed watching the Miz La Fontaine Bollywood dancers. I love the music, energy, and style of Bollywood. This routine that I made a video of has a bit of disco feel mixed in at one point. I can't embed it in this post for some reason, maybe because the music was copyrighted. You can watch it on You Tube.
This booth caught my eye. Some kids were enjoying it also.
lt seemed like there were more people at the World Beat festival this year. But I recall that last year it was hotter, while today it was very pleasant, around 80.
I rarely eat crepes, but near the end of my World Beat visit I couldn't resist trying the Red Berry from this Eugene-based food truck. What I learned is that when a just-made crepe is handed to you all folded up in a cardboard cone, it's damn hot. Also, that eating a rolled up crepe can be messier than consuming one on a plate. Fortunately, the red berry stains on my lime-green t-shirt came out after some scrubbing when I got home .
l enjoy walking through this red structure that contrasts so nicely with the green trees. Reminds me of how my t-shirt looked after eating the crepe, now that I think about it.
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