I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: June 16, 2018] 8th Annual Mercer County Cultural Festival & Food Truck Rally

One of the cool things about working near Princeton is that Mercer County ha an active an exciting Parks Cultural Scene.  There are almost always festivals going on in one of the many parks in the area.

I love going to multicultural festivals–doesn’t matter the culture.  And this one was delightfully generic sounding so that it could encompass all cultures.  Perfect!

Clark also had to attend some kind of multicultural event for a Merit Badge, so this seemed like a win-win for everyone.

We arrived a little late (everyone was hungry), so we got some delicious food.  There were about two dozen food trucks serving all manner of food from various countries.  I could have stayed all day.

While we were chowing down there was music going on.

The full schedule is listed below, but we arrived just as the Shen Yun, Chinese Lion Dancers finished up.  So we heard the music, but didn’t get to see any of the action.  Boo!

Up next, though was Broken Shillelaghs [the premiere Irish Band of Southern New Jersey] playing Irish traditional music.  As it turns out, in college I hung out with an Irish trad crowd, so off all the cultures to see, this was one I was probably least interested in. However, they were terrific and were it a dark pub or a dance hall and not a 99 degree day in the park, I’m sure everyone would have gotten up and danced.

Universal African Dance & Drum Ensemble was up next and that was pretty awesome.  There were drums and costumes. There were dancers and drummers of all ages.  We were still looking around at things during their show but we were able to get close enough by the end to really see everything that was going on and it was very cool.  It never seems that “only” drums can create such a great music, but they demonstrated that drums can do it all.

Next up was Polkadelphia.  This was a band I had actually heard of.  I’ve loved their name and was thrilled to get to hear them in person.

And they did not disappoint.  In addition to playing some proper polkas, they also played some hilarious polka covers like “The Animaniacs Theme Song,” “My Heart Will Go On” and yes, “Polka Eclipse of the Heart” (see below and hear more of their stuff here).

While we were watching, Tabby received a henna tattoo on her hand, which was quite impressive.

Later, Sarah, Tabby and I all visited the Sikh booth and received turbans (and free mango lassi!) and a cultural history of the Sikh religion, which I thought was quite inspiring.

Even though we’d only been there for a couple of hours, the day was brutally hot and the kids were wilting. We stayed for a couple of songs by Gypsy Funk Squad, (NJ’s “fun” belly dance party band).  And how great is this description, they play “a mix of classic belly dance songs from Turkey, Armenia, Egypt, The Balkans, Greece, Israel, Lebanon, and other points in the Middle east. In our repertoire is also revamped rock tunes and original psychedelic surprises…done belly style!”

They were really fun to watch and once again, if it wasn’t so hot (next year the organizers need to put more shade out for spectators!) we would certainly have stayed longer.

I hope we can get back there next year. There’s so many bands I would have loved to experience: Greek Terpsichorians, Sikh singers and more Gypsy Funk Squad!

 

Cultural Bands
11:30 a.m. — Nagara Group, Sikh
1:30 p.m. – Broken Shillelaghs, Irish
2:45 p.m. – Polkadelphia, Polish
4:30 p.m. – Swing Sabroso, Puerto Rican
6:15 p.m. – Kombo Latino, Latin

Dance Performances
12 p.m. – Shishya School, Indian dance
12:15 p.m. – Recordando Mi Tierra, Costa Rican
12:40 p.m. – Trenton Greek Terpsichorians
1:00 p.m. – Shen Yun, Chinese Lion Dancers
2:15 p.m. – Universal African Dance & Drum Ensemble
3:30 p.m. – Gypsy Funk Squad, Middle Eastern
4:00 p.m. – Gruppo Folklorico San Jose de Newark, Ecuadorian
5:15 p.m. – Janosik Polish Dance, Polish
5:30 p.m. – Nos Pes de Ouro, Brazilian & Capoeira

And here’s a write up about the Festival.