This past weekend, March 27-29, was the St. Petersburg International Folk Fair Society (SPIFFS) 34th annual International Folk Fair at the Vinoy Park on the waterfront. The weather was beautiful but very breezy, but that just made for great surf to watch when taking a break and feasting on some of the spectacular food. The theme of this year’s Folk Fair was the “Wonders of the World” with ethnic villages capturing the flavor of each country, costumed villagers demonstrating artisanship and the preparation of ethnic foods (which were also available to eat).
Throughout the weekend, there was folk dancing and music onstage. The program highlighted performances by Colin Grant-Adams, a Scottish Balladeer, the Russian Folk Group Barynya, and American country music and line dancing. Saturday’s offering also included Chinese dancers and acrobats. Some of the other groups onstage were the German Schuplattlers Dancers, the Italian Tarantella Dancers, the Polish Gorale Ensemble, the African Urban Ballet Dundu-dole, exotic Asian dancers and musicians, and dancers from the South Seas Islands. Sunday was Hispanic Day featuring Latin bands and performers such as Gumbi Ortiz, Tampa Tango Argentino, The Latin League, and Larry Duran. If you check out the Inkwatu post on last year’s Folk Fair, you’ll see photos of typical performers and villages from the different countries.
This year, I concentrated on taking pictures of the the Parade of Nations at 3:00 pm on Saturday, leading into the Grand Opening Ceremonies. It’s a particularly colorful display including dancers and musicians, all in ethnic costumes, culminating in a giant Chinese festival dragon at the end of the parade.
SPIFFS sponsors a number of different activities and events. One such event I especially enjoy is the Asian Fest (Inkwatu post on last year’s Asian Fest) which is held in the fall. As soon as the date of this year’s Asian Fest is announced, I’ll alert you so you can make plans to attend.
When you visit the SPIFFS website be sure to check out two of its pages in particular: a photo gallery of past fairs and an About Us page that has some very interesting information about its Speaker’s Bureau, its Language Bank, its performing groups, and its honors (SPIFFS is one of the Library of Congress “Living Legacies”).
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Hi,I lived in st pete in 1986/87 and purchased a spiffs international cook book which I use frequently.I was wondering if a new version is available,if so please let me knoe where and how to purchase it. I tried the telephone number in my book at 2201 first ave north,and that phone number is no longer in service. I would appriciate your help.Please email me . Gytag@aol.com with the cost thanks again F tartaglia
read above captioned comments,I am currently trying to buy an updated version of your great international cook book mine is from circa 1986/87. please memail me with the cost and can I order it over the internet.thanks. f tartaglia email gytag@aol.com