Bloomington High School South, The Gothic, 2007, Page 221

Description:	Flags decorate the streets of downtown Bloomington celebrating the13th annual Lotus Festival. Downtown Bloomington was decoratedfor the celebration.The saxophonist from the bandAfro-Beat Jazz playing a particularly difficult solo. This group was anew act this year.Street vendors sell all sorts ofglow-accessories outside of tentsin hopes of trapping tourists. Glowtoys were thrown through the air inmany musical events.Junior Charlotte Clayton and seniorKristen Miller attend the festival.Miller served as a volunteer at thefestival this year.Story & Photo Essay By Alex Esta-he 1 3th annual Lotus Festival decorated the streets of Bloomingtons commercial district this past fall, sprawling across what most students refer to as downtown. Itsglobal attractions featured artists and musicians from all over the world, each with theirown unique contribution to make. Throat singers, drum circles, electronic beat machines,and traditional folk, rock, and reggae groups spotted Kirkwood and surrounding areas ina multi-colored swirl of music, harmony and love. Dancing in the streets and parades ofpeople bearing flags and glowsticks were not an uncommon sight, and as the night carriedon, the madness only became more pronounced.It would seem that such an event would mainlv cater to an older set, but Bloomington High School South students were by no means under-represented. In fact, manywere to be found pushing their way to the stage at every event. Teacher Ms. CatherineRademacher just smiled as junior Anne Cavanagh enthusiasticially told people that everyone should see Lotus. Radamcher, the theater teacher was happy to see that Lotus hastaken such a strong hold on Bloomingtons community. Cavanaghs favorite event was areturning group this year, called Balkan Beat Box.Balkan Beat Box can best be described as fusion music, a mixutre of traditionalmusical instruments with turntables and mixers and other tools of the digital era. Thisis a rather new thing for Lotus, because the foundation of the festival is based in a moreprimitive environment. Things like drum circles, traditional robes, and face paint are alltoo common to the festival, but bringing in computers and mixers and turntables brings awhole new dimension to Lotus. Cavanagh was also delighted with the culture, as alwaysshe said, its such a large group of different people getting together, it really makes mehappy. She attended with South graduate Anna Ardizzone, who is currently attendingIUPUI.Obviously this festival draws a lot of attention, both locally and internationally.Its kind of a product of the environment that Bloomington is, and stands for a lot of whatmakes up Bloomington: diversity, understanding, music and culture, all warped togetherinto a completely unique environment for onlookers of all ages to enjoy.Lotus (FestivatS&2X 2KJWPeople crowd Saturday night outside the Buskirk-ChumleyTheater. For the Festival, the theater was converted intoanother music venue.Community
Source:	http://cdm17129.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/hs-bloomsouth/id/7745
Collection:	Bloomington High School South

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