Northwest Folklife Festival Photos taken Monday, May 28th, 2006
Monday was the last day of the four-day event, but it was also the first sunny day and since it was a holiday as well, people turned out in large numbers. I thought I'd seen big crowds in the previous days, but with the sun shining, the number of people present was even larger than before.
Once again, I felt compelled to start off the section with free reed photos. This one was an instant favorite for me.
A second accordion sighting not too distant from the one above.
This butterfly showed up at the festival and decided to stop on a bush beside me, so a photo seemed in order. I noticed after reviewing the photo that its wings have been damaged in the 'tail' area.
I've never before encountered anyone offering this sort of service to the public (outside of a certain comic strip at least). Obviously they must offer premium quality notions and insights because most people, myself included, are more than willing to offer free advice to anyone willing to stand still long enough to listen to it.
A couple of fellows were doing a show involving piles of broken glass, beds of nails and so forth. This photo doesn't do proper credit to the size of crowd they drew - a large circle of people and several deep.
I noticed one fellow playing a rather unusual instrument in a quiet area of the grounds. It's construction appeared deceptively simple but the sound was almost haunting. After listening for a short time I purchased one of his CDs and later looked him up on the Internet. This is Fred Ji and he's playing a Erhu. It is a two-string violin-like instrument that originated in China, and its construction typically makes use of python skin for the sounding head. I played Mr. Ji's CD immediately upon arriving home and was very pleased I'd bought it. If playing an Erhu is as easy as Mr. Ji made it look I might like to take up playing one myself so that I can have access to more of the music it produces. Additional information about Mr. Ji is available here, as well as a sample of his music.
Was it just coincidence that the sun illuminated the body of the instrument with extra brilliance as I took the photo?
The following photos are a general sampling of impromptu buskers around the grounds on Monday
