For the next nine days, we've got the world on a string. Well, an isthmus at least.
Madison's 5th annual World Music Festival begins Friday, turning our campus into the musical equivalent of Epcot as 14 world-renowned musicians from 13 countries spice up our local venues. Plus, unlike Disney World, the festival is free.
This is their [students'] chance to experience the world ... from their union,"" Rose Gear, the festival's coordinator, said, pointing out that many performances will take place on the Terrace.
The World Festival has ballooned since 2003. This year, it will stretch two weekends and include two new venues: the Willy St. Fair (Sept. 20) and the Annex (Sept. 14).
""We're hoping that's going to reach a whole new audience ... that might not be interested in traditional music otherwise,"" Gear said.
Students might be skeptical about the quality of music for a large festival funded entirely by donations from student orgs and a few corporate sponsors. After all, just think how much UW spends on live music at Freakfest and All-Campus Party. Gear said she had similar reservations before attending last year.
""It sort of blew my mind. I wasn't expecting the high quality of performance... Some of these acts are really famous in their home countries, but they don't have much of a fan base here so they're interested in coming to festivals like this even though they don't pay as well,"" Gear said.
On the bill are musicians the Plastic People of America, Chiwaniso and Maraca, all famous acts in Prague, Zimbabwe and Cuba respectively.
Other bands, like Nation Beat, bring the same foreign flavor to their music, although half of the Brazilian/American band calls Brooklyn, NY, home. Drummer Scott Kettner, described their music, as ""Brazilian honky-tonk"" - a perfect metaphor for a festival that fuses together unexpected sounds in people's ears.
Gear said the fest's goal to ""not only educate them [students] about the world and try to create a curiosity, but to bring students and the community together over this event.""
The fest's schedule can be found at _http://uniontheater.wisc.edu/worldmusicfest._
