'Stars really aligned' for the Lotus Festival this year

It was lucky 13 for Lotus.

The 13^th-annual Lotus World Music & Arts Festival concluded Oct. 8 with record attendance figures, up 15 to 20 percent according to preliminary totals, amid conducive weather and compelling performances.

Lotus organizers could have waited another week and held the opening showcase night on Friday the 13^th, too, but weren’t willing to tempt fate quite that much. As anybody around Bloomington this past week could attest, temperatures can get pretty brisk by mid-October.

“We got that narrow window between the end of summer and the start of fall and it could hardly have been better,” Lotus assistant director LuAnne Holladay said. “It was gorgeous weather Saturday afternoon for Lotus in the Park. We had a beautiful harvest moon hanging over our evening showcases.

“The stars really aligned.”

Not quite everything went perfectly. The Fourth Street stage venue proved problematic, due partly to a reverberating hum from Fountain Square Mall’s heating/air conditioning unit. There were periodically long lines outside venues such as the Buskirk-Chumley Theater and the First United Methodist Church.

Not many complaints were heard about what transpired on stage, though, given audience reaction. Albums from artist such as Mamadou Diabate, Balkan Beat Box, Huun-Huur-Tu, Fiamma Fumana Vasen and Golem sold in mass quantities at the merchandise tent – and could have sold more.

“The Balkan Beat Box CDs sold out, and I was told they could have sold at least 100 more,” said Jenifer Shepherd of Bloomington-based RockPaperScissors management, which books the band.

Balkan Beat Box was band for the second straight year at Lotus, and its 10:30 p.m. Saturday performance at the Monroe Bank Tent especially drew raves.

The drummer, Tamir Muskat, broke three different drums with his pounding, with the band missing nary a beat.

“They had already replaced a snare drum and Tyler Wood, a Lotus volunteer, came running up with a bass drum and his dreadlocks flying after Tamir broke his,” Shepherd recalled. “Tamir grabs this drum and gets it set up, the band still going, the crowd oblivious ad dancing. The energy never faded.”

“When Tomer (Yosef, the lead singer) told the crowd to jump, it was like an organic being, jumping in unison.”

One of those jumping was Holladay, who acknowledged she came away with a bum knee and subject to “white girls can’t jump” admonitions. But she was still a happy camper.

Holladay was struck by the age-range of the crowd, from very young kids to senior citizens. She said the 84-year-old mother-in-law of one Lotus volunteer was particularly taken with Yosef, reportedly saying, “I like that one.”

The new, larger, taller stacked tents accommodated the bigger crowds well. The Monroe County Bank tent had space beyond the entrance for tables and chairs, which resulted in a lot of impromptu socialization. The Visual Arts Village, located on Sixth Street between the two biggest tents, was heavily visited.

“The participation with the visual arts was easily the highest we’ve ever had, probably 400 or 500 people,” said Lotus executive director Lee Williams.

Similar throngs attended workshops at Lotus in the Park. One of those, presented by Grey Larsen and Mark Federsen, celebrated the music of Lotus Dickey, the late Orange County old-time musician who helped lend the festival its name.

That workshop replaced the Lotus Dickey concert that had helped kick off the festival in its 12 years. Larsen had expressed some misgiving about that. Saturday night, however, he was all smiles.

“It was fantastic,” he said.

Another fantastic festival, the number 13 notwithstanding.