Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Folk festival celebrates cultural traditions

A day of music, dance, storytelling, craft demonstrations and a variety of ethnic food is planned for the fourth annual Las Vegas Folklife Festival, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. April 27 at Sammy Davis Jr. Festival Plaza in Lorenzi Park.

The free festival is sponsored by the city of Las Vegas Department of Parks and Leisure, Clark County Parks and Recreation, the Nevada State Museum and Historical Society and the Nevada State Council on the Arts, with additional support from the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District, Clark County School District and KUNV 91.5-FM.

Two preview days will be offered exclusively for elementary schoolchildren on April 25-26. Children will participate in a hands-on craft activity, as well as viewing performances and observing craft demonstrations.

The family-oriented festival is intended to educate as well as entertain. Practitioners of traditional ethnic or occupational crafts who have learned their skills from family or friends will be demonstrating such crafts as Navajo silversmithing, Polish paper-cutting, Japanese Taiko drum-making, Mexican cascarones, Ukrainian embroidery and Ukrainian decorated eggs. A special Western section has been added this year, with traditional hat-making, saddle-making, silver engraving and blacksmithing.

This year there are 16 performing groups, including several that are new to the festival. Beginning at 11 a.m., they include the American Indian Red Tail Singers and Dancers, with hoop-dance artist Chris Anderson; Icela Gutierrez and Vivo Mexico, a Mexican dance troupe; Amauta, traditional South American music and song; the Gracious Ladies Hawaiian Dancers; and the Philippine National Dance Company of Nevada. Others are the Kaminari Taiko Drummers and Ondo Dancers and the Thai Cultural Arts Association Dancers.

The festival continues with Divya John George and Rita Vaswani, dancers from continental India; Egyptian dancer Nora Hanratty; and the Ethiopian Mutual Association Dancers. Black culture will be represented by the Highsteppers Drill Team and the Vision of Praise Gospel Singers.

The festival concludes with the Warburton Family Bluegrass Singers; cowboy poet Mike Prince with singer Cory Hayden; Irish singers Seamus and Seamus; and the Las Vegas Highland Pipe Band.

Food from a variety of ethnic communities will be available for purchase. Vendors include American Indian, Hawaiian, Filipino, Ethiopian, Japanese, Thai, Scots, Mexican, African and German. Proceeds from the sales of food vendors will benefit their community organizations.

For more information, call the city of Las Vegas Artreach Division, 229-2496.

Mike Prince

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