Lotus Fest brings global celebration to small-town Indiana

If you thought … maybe … just maybe … you could wait to go to Bloomington to this year’s Lotus World Music & Arts Festival until Friday or even Saturday, the Lotus folks aren’t making it easy on you. Their Thursday evening kick-off features two must-see artists: Jeff Daniels, who appeared not long ago in Indy, and festival favorite Balkan Beat Box.

Neither performer is scheduled beyond the Thursday night performance. Instead, some 20-plus performers from around the world will fill out the Friday and Saturday night showcases, with a host of other performances and events over the weekend — a number of which are free.

Lee Williams, executive director/artistic editor of Lotus, recalls, “When we decided to produce a world music festival in 1994, we looked at all the different options. Of course, the main one is generally a very large stage … in a field somewhere … where you can fit 5,000 or 20,000 or 15,000 people. We just knew that the whole concept of world music for us was intimate. It wasn’t on a grand scale. You had to be able to see the fingers of the musicians as they played their instrument. Close enough to see their faces. Close enough to have them jump into the audience — like Balkan Beat Box.”

It’s true. Balkan Beat Box took Lotus by storm a couple of years ago, with antics normally associated with punk rock concerts. The lead singer went sailing into the moshpit. This writer, in fact, was one of the throng who caught his sweat-slick body.

Williams adds that Balkan Beat Box “considers Bloomington the best place to play in the United States.”

Various venues provide diverse listening environments, from the street-dance-oriented outdoor tents, to the acoustically sublime Buskirk-Chumley Theatre, to the venerable Bluebird to the quiet venues. This year, two churches will feature performances.

The roster features first-time Lotus visitors, including two Tunisian artists, a 30-piece marching band from the West Coast and women drummers from Guinea. Seventeen of the 23 groups will perform for more than one night, increasing your chance to sample a wide variety of music, from Slovenian folk to world a cappella to Tuvan throat-singing to Celtic to Klezmer to Caribbean pop to Tunisian oud to Portuguese fado.

With all this, what is Williams looking forward to?

“17 Hippies is a German group — our first German group. Really fun, lively, humorous, engaging group that play … all over the map … string music from various European cultures,” Williams says. “A little cabaret, a little German folk music, Eastern European, Balkan, Cajun … I’m very much looking forward to them.

“Dhafer Youssef from Tunisia is a world-class singer, a vocal jazz improviser; in terms of the quiet or spiritual side of Lotus, his sets should be beautiful.”

Williams promises, “Everybody that comes will have their own favorite artist. In other words, each artist will be somebody’s favorite.”

All this and more in a downtown area shut down to cars in lieu of foot traffic between indoor venues and outdoor tents.

Finally, if you missed Gypsy Caravan at Landmark this past month, you can catch it at Buskirk-Chumley on Saturday at 11:30 a.m. for the cost of a $5 Lotus pin.

Check the Web site before coming to catch up on any last-minute changes.

WHAT: 14th annual 2007 Lotus World Music & Arts Festival

WHEN: Thursday, Sept. 27-Sunday, Sept. 30

WHERE: Bloomington, Ind.

TICKETS: Buy tickets online at www.Bloomingtonarts.info (search for “lotus” or on specific festival dates); box office/walk-up sales at Sunrise Box Office and Bloomingfoods locations.

WEB: lotusfest.org

• An Evening with Jeff Daniels: Thursday, Sept. 27, 7 p.m., $20/$25

• Balkan Beat Box: Thursday, Sept. 27, 9 p.m., $20/$25

• Festival showcases: Friday or Saturday, general $30/$35, IU students $28/$33, seniors/kids $23/$28

• Festival showcases: Friday and Saturday pass $50 advance/$60 at the gate