San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Multicultural Texas celebrated
Folklife Festival showcases many ethnicities
Searing heat and oppressive humidity didn’t stop thousands from turning out Saturday for the 47th Texas Folklife Festival, a celebration of the state’s history and multicultural heritage.
This year’s three-day event spotlights more than 40 ethnic groups featuring some 9,000 individuals from 182 participating groups, according to Jo Ann Andera, the festival’s director since 1981. It’s held on the grounds of the UTSA Institute of Texan Cultures at Hemisfair.
“We work very hard to maintain tradition, while at the same time try not to have total repetition,” Andera said. “You can’t change cultural groups and their identity and their food.”
Attendees have a smorgasbord of choices to sate their appetite. Options range from Lebanese shish kebabs to Turkish bulgur wheat salad to Transylvania chimney cake. Saturday, the San Antonio Loafers passed out free samples of bread baked on-site.
The entertainment choices were just as myriad and included the Mazuraka Polish Dancers of San Antonio, Belgian folk dancers and Hawaiian dances performed by Hula Halau Ohana Elikapeka.
Jasvinder Signh Kwatra of
Austin was attending the festival for the first time.
“It’s too good,” he said. “I see the diversity of cultures. I love being along with the people … to learn their cultures and see people all together rather than scattered around the world hating each other.”
Kwatra was at the festival with Sikh Dharamsal of San Antonio, sharing information about the Sikh religion and giving festivalgoers the chance to try on a turban.
Nearby, two teenagers were working up a sweat by trying to saw a log with a more than century-old cross-cut saw.
“They’re doing a good job of making it look hard,” quipped Nick Wilson while overseeing the pair’s efforts. The saw was used to cut the limestone to build St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Devine. The church was founded in 1897, according to the Archdiocese of San Antonio’s website.
The saw is part of Arnold Griffin’s vast tool collection, handed down in his family for seven generations, according to his grandson Rick Smith. The tools, including hammers, axes and hatchets, were used on a working ranch in Devine and date back to the 1850s.
“If you had to have something, you had to build in yourself,” Smith said. “You couldn’t just go down to the hardware store and buy one. There’s a lot of knowledge and ingenuity wrapped up in these tools, along with the history, and I think it’s important to share that so that people can learn how things were done.”
Kristina Taylor of San Antonio liked the festival so much last year that she returned Saturday with friend Gail Drayton of Tifton, Georgia, and her family.
“We really enjoyed it (and) liked the performances, and the mix of cultures that we get to see that we wouldn’t normally see,” Taylor said.
“It’s great so far, “Drayton said. Asked what she liked most, she replied, “The food.”
The three-day festival concludes today, running from 12:30 to 7 p.m. As many as 35,000 people are expected to attend over the three days, Andera said.
Andera shot down talk that this will be the festival’s last year. The Institute of Texan Cultures is grappling with a dire funding situation that’s expected to affect the festival, the San Antonio Express-News reported last year.
“Everybody seems to think that this is our last one. It is not,” Andera said. “We are going to be here on June 7, 8 and 9, 2019. It will be the 48th annual.”
“We really enjoyed it (and) liked the performances, and the mix of cultures that we get to see that we wouldn’t normally see.”
KristinaTaylor, San Antonio