Fall means a few things: Cooler weather, pumpkin-flavored everything, haunted houses, and pumpkin patches.
But in Tucson, fall means Tucson Meet Yourself.
Never heard of Tucson Meet Yourself? Youβre in for a treat ... literally.
WHAT IS IT?
Tucson Meet Yourself is an annual festival that takes over downtown Tucson for three days, this year itβs Friday, Oct. 12, through Sunday, Oct. 14.
Itβs everything you could ever ask for in a festival β dazzling performances, unique art vendors, and food you canβt get elsewhere.
But the festival is more than the Caribbean soul food, Iraqi violin music, Filipino dance teams, and Turkish jewelry-makers.
βItβs a party of many cultures, with all the flavors, colors, and personalities that yields,β said Kimi Eisele, the festivalβs communications director. βI would also describe it as a place where you get to sit next to, listen to, and learn from people who have different cultural backgrounds than you.β
Eisele calls Tucson Meet Yourself an βeducational experience that happens by a celebration.β
HISTORY
The festival has been growing since 1974 and has evolved to be one Tucsonβs biggest events.
Tucson Meet Yourself was founded by folklorist Jim Griffith, his wife Loma Griffith, and friends.
In an interview with the Star last year, Festival Folklorist Maribel Alvarez said the festival was inspired by the two-week-long Smithsonian Folklife Festival, which began in the 1960s.
Griffith had experienced many cultures in Southern Arizona which sparked the idea to create a festival surrounding all of them, said Eisele.
Tucson Meet Yourself now welcomes more than 120,000 people β so many that the event outgrew its original location in El Presidio Park, the civic plaza. This yearβs event was moved out of the plaza and will take over four blocks of downtown Tucson.
WHATβS THERE TO DO?
Hereβs a better question: Whatβs there not to do?
Letβs start with the performances β thereβs more than 100 of them. Youβll see everything from Afro-Brazilian martial arts to a Colombian dance group to Korean drumming.
Thereβs Japanese archery, Mediterranean acoustic music, circus performers, and bluegrass bands. And the list goes on.
Beyond the performances, there are cooking demonstrations, car shows, films to watch, and art vendors showcasing jewelry, photography, calligraphy, origami, pottery, painting, and more.
The 50-plus food vendors slated to be at the festival are truly enough to make your heart sing. Beyond the normal fair foods, the festival includes cuisine from dozens of different countries.
βWithin a span of 15 minutes as I walk over the grounds, I can hear music from all over the world and taste five different kinds of food and see people who I wouldnβt normally see sitting next to each other on a bench,β Eisele says. βThatβs what moves me the most.β