Lowell Folk Festival

The 37^th Lowell Folk Festival  has returned to Mill City. Although the event kicked off on Friday evening and there was parade of Naions from City Hall to Boarding House Park. 

The parade was planned through the Kirk and French streets culminating at the Boarding House park Stage. A throng of attendees, received a warm welcome by the Mayor Daniel Roark, while state Representative Vanna Howard took the stage  to introduce the participating  countries.

Every year in anticipation of this amazing event Downtown Lowell starts buzzing hours before the start of the parade. Festival enthusiasts bring their chairs and blanket and seriously secure prime spots at the Boarding House Park.

We have attended our first Festival in 1987 and this event have us going back year after year ever since. 

Lowell Folk Festival, 2024 offered a wide variety of spectacular performances ranging from Indian Kathak by Farah Yasmeen, Native Pride Dancers, to a global variety of performances for everyone to enjoy.

Farah Yasmeen is an internationally acclaimed performer. She is an amazing dancer, coreographer and instructor. She performs with her diverse touring ensemble which includes Hindu, Muslim, and Sikh performers dedicated to carrying out the revered tradition of the kathak dance.

Click the link below to see the dance. The highlight for me was the part that a little girl, seen in the video, from the audience left her parents’ side, and mimicked the entire performance of the dancer. It was absolutely delightful.

https://youtu.be/oed6VAliGJE

I entered the first day of the Folk Festival from the Market street side to find Farah Yasmeen peforming on the Market Street stage. Since I went to a Hindu college for my Undergrad, I had attended and took part in many annual events that celebrated creativity in its forms. Kathak used to be one of the major part of the music and Dance event. But I never heard of a muslim girl taking part in that particular performance genre. Farah grew up in a Pakistani immigrant family in Salinas, California. She was offered an opportunity to enroll in a course by legendary kathak dance master pandit Chitresh Das. She studied under him for two decades and became an internationally known artist. I was gloating about my luck to be able to see the kathak performance while walking around to explore more of what was there for me to ingest, I realized that I had to go back and watch the up-coming act on the same stage by Native dancers. Here is a video of the performance that I watched which I never could have had an opportunity to see. It was a unique experience.

The powwow dance tradition can be traced back to the religious ceremonies and warrior dances performed by plains Indian tribes before the mid-19th century.

The food and performances were spectacular. Evey year we find great variety of performances where everyone has a great time dancing, listening to music and watching in awe all that is offered.

Gatherings similar to powwows existed in most native communities long before the advent of European settlement. Dances were usually associated with one of four occasions: religious ceremonies, homecoming celebrations honouring successful war parties, celebrations of new or reaffirmed alliances, and events sponsored by various warrior societies or extended family groups. One major difference between old-time events and modern powwows is that the latter are intertribal and inclusive, meaning that they are open to all who wish to attend, whereas pre-contact events allowed only tribal members and those from friendly neighbouring tribes on the dance grounds

When you enter the Festival area, there are four stages: Boarding House park, Dance Pavilion, Market Street Stage, and Saint Ann’s Churchyard where a full weekend schedule of spontaneous performances were featured tranforming the lowell downtown to a living theater.

I am having a hard time offering even a glimplse of what joy I experienced being part of the Lowell Folk Festival. Innumereble global food stalls line-up along the streets offered mouth- watering array of food choice for the food lovers. I talked to some people who said that they would never dream of missing the food choices and fun of eating at this, jubilant, open-air venue where we also enjoy yummy international cuisines for years. This year our choice had been Greek Mezzes, lebanese kibbes, Columbian empanadas, and Cameronian grilled fish which was delicious. There were many more global delicacies to die for. Every one should take the time to vistit the Lowell Festival at least on one of the three-day weekend celebration.

I am excited to inform everyone about this incredible treat we are offered every year on the final weekend of July. Although my attempt might be a sliver of the what goes on through out the weekend, but it will definitely shine a light on the tradition of folk music, food, and crafts which city of Lowell brings to our doorstep from world over. I am always grateful for the ultimate enjoyment, and education that develops an understanding of other cultures, and helps you have meaningful interactions with those around you.