"It's almost like, I want to say, the Smithsonian gave us the excuse to do something else we want to do." That is how Alvarez, senior curator of the Southwest Folklife Alliance, described this year's changes to the Tucson Sentinel in August. The Smithsonian visit is what made the news. The bigger change is the redesigned layout that comes with it.
Tucson Meet Yourself returns Friday, Oct. 16 through Sunday, Oct. 18, centered on Jácome Plaza and the streets around it. It is free and needs no ticket. Hours are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. Regulars who know the old layout will find a different festival this year. It is built around places to stop, sit and listen.
Why the Smithsonian Came to Jácome Plaza
The Smithsonian Folklife Festival has been held for years around the Fourth of July on the National Mall. This summer the Mall hosted the "Great American State Fair" for the nation's 250th anniversary. To mark the anniversary, the Smithsonian said it would make about 40 stops at local festivals across the country under the banner "Of the People." Tucson Foodie reports that Tucson Meet Yourself is one of those roughly 40 festivals, chosen as part of the Smithsonian's Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage initiative.
Festival director Bryan Falcón describes the goal plainly. "This year we're creating more opportunities for visitors to slow down, engage in conversation, and experience the stories, traditions, and people that make this festival unlike any other." The layout reflects that goal. The new festival is organized into 10 themed villages, five performance stages and a series of small micro-pavilions, which together make more room for conversation than earlier layouts did.
The Culture Kitchen Moves Out of Its Tent
The clearest example sits at the corner of Congress Street and Stone Avenue. The Culture Kitchen, where local chefs lead live cooking demonstrations, used to be what Alvarez called an "understated" attraction in a tent. Smithsonian funding has turned it into a stage designed to look like a diner. The set is by artist Sarah Polzin.
"Tucson Meet Yourself is a lot more than just eating the food. It tells the story of the food," Alvarez told the Sentinel. "Now we get this amazing, beautiful stage." The official festival guide calls the area Culture Kitchen Lane. Its landmark is a diner window where visitors can pose for photos.
The schedule starts right away. Fonz Chavez and Jacob Robles take the Culture Kitchen at 11 a.m. Friday, and YellowBird Farm follows at noon. A short demonstration here before lunch adds context to the food stalls nearby.
The Pennington Mural Lot Becomes a Workshop
Many regulars know the mural lot on Pennington Street, across from City High School. This year it becomes the festival's Smithsonian village. The official site calls it the Of the People Village. It has two conversation spaces, the Folklife Here stage and Shop Talk, where tradition bearers and everyday workers talk about what they do. Blacksmiths and glassblowers work on site, and a Boxing tent sets up ringside seating.
The village focuses on occupational folklife, meaning the traditions that grow out of work. According to Tucson Foodie, the participants include boxers, desert landscapers, Sonoran glassblowers, bootmakers and the Delgado family of luthiers. The Delgados are a four-generation Nashville instrument-making family whose handcrafted instruments appear across country, Latin and roots music. Alvarez's summary of the change was simple. "We're able to tell a more full story this year."
The Folklife Here stage opens Friday at 11 a.m. with the Tucson School for the Blind Singers. The Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Latino follows at noon. On Saturday, Oct. 17, author Jeff Chang gives his talk "Bruce Lee and Asian American Identities" from 6 to 7 p.m. on the same stage. Chang wrote Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation, and he is coming to discuss his newest book, Water Mirror Echo: Bruce Lee and the Making of Asian America.
The New Map, Village by Village
The festival has turned its own layout into a game. The official Villages & Landmarks guide gives every area a "Look for" landmark, and finding all of them is a treasure hunt. The landmarks also make handy meeting points for anyone who has ever lost a friend near the fry bread.
| Area | What's there | Look for |
|---|---|---|
| TMY Plaza | Info tent, Festival Store, passports | The giant TMY letters |
| Of the People Village | Folklife Here stage, Shop Talk, Boxing tent | Faces of the Festival gallery wall |
| Home Cooks Corridor | Family recipes from Tucson home cooks | Home Cooks Story Board |
| Culture Kitchen Lane | Live cooking at the new diner pavilion | The diner window |
| Native Nations Way | Native Nations Demonstration Ramada, Tohono O'odham and Pascua Yaqui tents | The Demonstration Area |
| Gathering Green | Open-air performance space, Spain and Asia micro-pavilions | The giant Orbs |
| Homelife Park | Marketplace of art, food and supporting businesses | "You Belong in Tucson" neon sign |
| Global Artists Triangle | Masters of Living Traditions stage, micro-pavilions | The Coyote wall |
| Frytown & Wildcat Court | Fry bread, roasted corn, sweets | The Frytown metal sign |
| Barrio Commons | The busiest street for international food, plus the Stone Stage | The Stone Stage |
| Big Jim Square | Church Stage, the hill, The Friends' Oasis | "Come for the Culture" neon sign |
| The Crossroads | Central meeting point with signs to every village | The Crossroads sign |
Tucson Foodie lists the micro-pavilions as Caseta de Flamenco, Expo Peru, Asian Cultures of Tucson, Jewish Cultural Community, Qazaq Dalasy, Tucson Museum of Art, Disability Cultures, the National Museum of the American Latino, and a Tucson Lotería exhibit with 56 original pieces by Kim Fernandez. More than 500 artists, musicians, dancers, cooks and tradition bearers take part over the three days.
Almaty Arrives as a Sister City
The micro-pavilion with the fullest schedule represents Almaty, Kazakhstan, which is Tucson's sister city. The Kazakhstan: Almaty x Tucson pavilion is a cultural exchange with master artists from Kazakhstan, presented through music, art and conversation. An August festival announcement named the Almaty groups Steppe Sons, DUANA, Aldaspan and HasSak. In August, Alvarez told the Sentinel that organizers were still working out a joint performance by local musicians and musicians from Kazakhstan. The current schedule pairs HasSak, a Kazakh ethno-folk group, with Tucson's Dan Levenson on the Stone Stage Saturday from 2 to 3:15 p.m. HasSak also plays its own Stone Stage set Friday at 5 p.m.
The pavilion's own schedule, from the festival site, has something on each of the three days:
- Friday, Oct. 16: Alastau morning blessing ceremony at 11 a.m. A traditional Kazakh tassel, called "Shashaq," at 11:30 a.m. Kazakh jewelry techniques at 1 p.m. The stories behind Kazakh music at 7 p.m. Karajorga traditional dance at 8 p.m.
- Saturday, Oct. 17: Wood inlay with metal and natural materials at 11:30 a.m. Traditional Kazakh textiles at 1 p.m. The "Zhorga Iz" jewelry engraving technique at 5 p.m. Songs that every Kazakh knows at 6 p.m. Karajorga traditional dance at 7 p.m.
- Sunday, Oct. 18: The sounds of Kazakh traditional instruments at 11:30 a.m. Humor in the dombra tradition at 3 p.m. The new sound of Kazakhstan at 4 p.m. Karajorga traditional dance at 5 p.m.
Most sessions last 30 minutes. That short format fits the festival's new layout, which is designed for stopping by.
The Food Still Sets the Pace
None of this replaces the eating. Regulars have called the festival "Tucson Eat Yourself" for decades, and this year 50 food vendors take part, each run by community members cooking food from their own heritage. The list runs from Muna Food's Palestinian cooking and Nohpalli's Pakistani dishes to Pupuseria Rosita's, Natalka Ukrainian Bakery, Sumaj Bolivian Street Food and Malta Joe's Baked Goods. Several Tohono O'odham vendors return, including O'odham Ladies and San Xavier Cooperative Farm. The published roster does not mark which vendors are new this year.
The Taste of the Festival Passport is another way to work through the lineup. Each passport holds five vouchers for small plates offered only to passport holders, from 15 participating vendors. It costs $30 in advance or $35 at the festival store, and Tucson Foodie notes that it has sold out in prior years. Passports are sold at the Festival Store in TMY Plaza, next to the giant letters. The redesign helps with the food, too. A plate from Barrio Commons is easy to carry to the lawn at Gathering Green or the hill at Big Jim Square and eat in front of a stage.
Getting Downtown Without Circling
The festival's Plan Your Visit page lists Sun Tran, Sun Link, Sun Van, Sun On Demand, Sun Express and Sun Shuttle as fare-free. The Sun Link streetcar's Church and Congress stop is the closest to the festival. According to the festival FAQ, the grounds are one block west of Ronstadt Transit Center. The nearby streetcar stops are Broadway/Church and Broadway/Stone eastbound and Congress/Church and Congress/Stone westbound.
For drivers, metered street parking runs 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and is free all day Sunday. The festival lists these garages and lots, among others:
- Main Library Garage, 101 N. Stone Ave., entrance on Alameda Street
- La Placita Garage, 211 S. Church Ave., entrance from Jackson between Church and Stone
- Pennington Street Garage, 110 E. Pennington St., enter at Scott Avenue
- Franklin Lot, 50 W. Franklin St., two blocks north of the festival
- Catalina Lot, 419 W. Congress St., two blocks west of the festival
- Tucson Convention Center Lots A, B and C
Downtown also has plenty of bike racks. Visitors should bring cash or a card for food vendors, folk art and festival merchandise.
Sunday is the shortest day, ending at 6 p.m. The last Kazakhstan pavilion session that day is the Karajorga dance at 5 p.m. Visitors who want both the dombra sessions and a final plate should plan to arrive by early afternoon.
Downtown Tucson has a long history of making room for the people who keep its traditions going, and this festival is part of that history. If you'd like to talk about the downtown blocks, the historic barrios, or the parts of Southern Arizona that keep calling you back after the festival weekend, Nancy Mancuso would be glad to hear from you. Let's Connect.
