And it's Folklife!

[elfs]

Kouryou-chan at Folklife

We arrived at Folklife a little after 1:00pm. I had dropped Omaha and Kouryou-chan off at the curb to go park, and I found them at the wading pool, whereupon we all set off to get something to eat. Kouryou-chan was showing signs of crankiness (the museum trip hadn't helped) and getting food into her seemed like a good idea. We got her a corn dog and some yogurt, then Omaha and I got pulled-pork sandwiches, which I'm afraid also underwhelmed me.

The crowd seemed a little thin this year. Omaha says that that was probably due to it being Monday. Folklife was blessed this year with four days of perfect weather, so I would have expected it to be packed, but not so. There may still be some lingering fear after last year's shooting, too. The drum corner was much quieter than in years past, the police presence much more pronounced, the smell of sweet rope burning missing.

We tried to get to a piano recital, but got there too late. We stopped to listen to some bagpipers instead, a group called Nae Regrets, passed by some great saxaphonists, and then went into a side theater for a show on Japanese culture. In years past I would have been gung-ho for this sort of thing, but today I wanted to do the bluegrass and jazz shows.

Daiko!

Still, the show was amazing. The Kabuki was interesting, as was the Okinawa dance style. The Daiko was really good, and got Kouryou-chan going again; the cranky kid had returned during the kabuki shows.

The crowd at Folklife!

We left and went up to Fisher Plaza to look down on the seething crowd, and to be huckstered by a local farm selling its jellies and jams. I ended up buying a chipotle raspberry mustard, which was way overpriced but damn if I'm not going to have the best roast beef sandwich on the planet tomorrow.

After a while, Kouryou-chan said she wanted to go home. She was cranky and upset, and it only got worse as we headed back to the car. When it was time to get into the car, she decided she didn't want to go after all. But we were ready to go, I'd already pulled out from the paid lot, and I'd already called Yamaraashi-chan's friend's parents to let them know when we'd be home so they could bring the other kid home. Things were set in motion.

Kouryou-chan cried all the way home. She was upset that we had never gotten cotton candy. Omaha pointed out that she'd had funnel cake and an evilly delicious dark chocolate truffle, more than enough sugar for one little girl.

When we got home we calmed her down and got both kids ready for bed. It was on okay day, but after Oloteas, D&D, the museum and finally folklife, this three-day weekend had been full from beginning to end with Stuff To Do, and I think Kouryou-chan (and maybe all of us) were a little burned out.

Photos from this year's Folklife, including breakdancers, bagpipers, and another panorama can be found In the Folklife 2009 Set.

Comments

[solarbird]

Friday was very busy; Saturday and Sunday were mobbed like I've never seen before. And it wasn't just me, performers were talking about it too. I guess by Monday everybody was burned out, like me.

[littleone66.livejournal.com]

Heh... we were there at the same time. :)