"Zlatne Uste Balkan Bass Band and friends present their 23rd anual celebration of the sounds, dances, colors, and flavors of the Balkans... and beyond." So read the poster for the Golden Festival, which I attended last night with several other Slavs (that is, members of the Yale Women's Slavic Chorus). It was quite an event--it occupied three whole floors of a high school in the uppermost part of Manhattan, and was filled--absolutely filled--with a most interesting mix of people. The most dominant demographic was certainly the twenty-something NYC hipster set, but there were also older people, Balkan-looking grandmothers, small children; really people of all sorts. There were three acts performing at any given time, food being served (hummus, pita, cheeses, sausages, pickles things...), henna tattoos. By the end of the nights--3 am, that is--the building was quite humid. But people kept dancing until then, the grandmotherly types as well!
We saw some really excellent acts, such as a group called Raquy and the Cavemen , who had actually performed at Yale the night before: "Progressive Middle Eastern Music, Heavy on the drumming." They are incredible. Some very good Balkan Brass bands as well, such as Zlatne Uste. Lots of Dancing. Slavs escaped the mild fetidness of the building (I say that only in the most loving of ways) to sing outside on the sidewalk. It was very well received, except by the security guards, who chided us for being too loud. People applauded us nonetheless.
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