Around the world
Wildwood Park for the Arts goes global with Lanterns! fundraiser
Lanterns! festivalgoers made a trek around the globe — figuratively speaking — with visits to entertainment and food stations representing several countries in the outdoor gardens and the Cabe Festival Theater at Wildwood Park for the Arts. The festival was Feb. 10-12.
Guests traveled between countries on paths lined with luminarias. In Canada, they might have encountered Sasquatch or a red-uniformed Mountie. In the Caribbean, guests were entertained by the Ouachita Baptist University Steel Drum Ensemble, noshed on beans and rice and washed it down with rum punch. In France, they listened to jazz pianist Louis Heard, and in the United Kingdom, there were performances by Irish dancers and the Lyon College Pipers. Guests there could also buy bangers (sausages) and mash and Irish coffee.
Red lanterns lighted the China pavilion, where festivalgoers could watch dragon dancers and buy hand-painted fans, sushi and Jasmine tea. Fare sold in The Wild West included turkey legs and corn on the cob. Patrons could go gold-digging and enjoy music in a saloon by pianist Allyson West.
Arkansas Circus Arts entertained in several of the areas with stilt walkers, jugglers and fire dancers.
Money raised over the three-day festival supports the park, which hosts programs such as a Junior Naturalist Camp and the Wildwood Academy of Music and the Arts.