*international folk festival

Today we went to Fayetteville to partake in the 31st anniversary of the International Folk Festival put on by the Fayetteville Arts Council.  Fayetteville has a rich and long history of celebrating its multicultural population. Years ago, some of the  citizens got together to create the International Folk Festival as a celebration of the cities diversity. This celebration starts on a Friday and runs throughout the weekend.

Henry, myself, Jocelyn and Jaelyn (some of our dear friends) went to the folk festival together. We arrived, found great parking and walked to Hay Street, which is where the Parade of Nations started. Now this day really felt like fall and how did I choose to dress? Um.. a sleeveless shirt and shorts... go figure.   After the parade, which was simply awesome, we had lunch on Hay Street at Fresh Deli  and later went over to Festival Park for all the colorful festivities of the various nations represented.

Following are pictures of the parade.  Coolie hats. Wooden shoes. Mexican Fiesta dresses. Kilts. Pien-fu. Silk Sarees.  Sombrero. Mestiza dresses. The costumes or traditional dress for each country represented was truly enjoyable, especially to those who are all about textiles!  As you can see, many countries were represented by the citizens of Fayetteville NC.

(for larger image, click on individual picture)