Almost Time for Tucson Meet Yourself (October 8-10, 2010): Tucson Meet Yourself Folklife Festival Readies for Its Largest & Most Diversified Celebration

TUCSON, Ariz., Sept. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- It's almost time to trek, eat, dance, craft and meet yourself at the 37th Annual Tucson Meet Yourself (TMY) Folklife Festival, October 8-10, 2010.  The year's most beloved and largest celebration of the multi-national Arizona-Sonora Region's folk and ethnic communities promises to be better than ever. Hundreds of performers, food vendors, folk artists, marketplace vendors, special events and more will converge in an expanded Downtown Tucson showcase area over the three-day, free Festival, which last year attracted 75,000.

The Tucson Meet Yourself annual celebration of Tucson's cultural diversity has grown dramatically over the years, so much so that this year the Festival is expanding beyond El Presidio Park and Jacome Library Plaza and now will include these six Festival areas:

1. Key Ingredients in El Presidio Park;
2. Meet Our Heritage in Jacome Library Plaza;
3. Meet Your Soul in La Placita Village;
4. Pima County Meet Yourself in the Pima County Administration Building/Surrounding Areas;
5. Traditions of Home and Games People Play in Tucson Convention Center (TCC) Plaza; and
6. Meet the Street area on Church Street.

Each Festival area will house performance stages and plazas; folk arts demonstrations and marketplace; flavors of the fest food court; a Meet Our Heritage area of local ethnic club interactive exhibits and demonstrations; and many special events. The Meet the Street area on Church Street will be open to pedestrians only, from Alameda Street to Pennington Street, for a giant pedestrian cultural mall and for a weekend of easy trekking to a variety of Festival special events and Lowrider car show.

Some unique new aspects of the 2010 Festival are:

• Key Ingredients Pavilion: Tucson Meet Yourself, partnering with the Arizona Humanities Council, will kick off the Arizona tour of the Smithsonian Institution's traveling exhibit, "Key Ingredients: America by Food," scheduled to run from October 2010 - August 2011 across the state. At the Tucson Meet Yourself kick-off, there will be exhibits and foodways programming, with broad community interaction, focused in an outdoor Key Ingredients Pavilion and Kitchen Stadium. The programming is being planned, moderated and implemented by outstanding humanities scholars, chefs and foodways experts. After the Tucson Meet Yourself kick off, the Smithsonian exhibit will travel to six rural communities across Arizona, intended to inspire the gathering, celebration and preservation of the finest of what rural America has to offer.
• Traditions of Health & Wellness:  In partnership with the Southern Arizona Roadrunners, Tucson Medical Center and Activate Tucson, Tucson Meet Yourself will host another new special event designed to highlight traditional health and wellness practices in conjunction with the TMC Get Moving Tucson 10 Mile Run and 5K & 1K Family Friendly Walk Saturday October 9th at 8am. There will be a Trekking TMY pathway that winds through the Festival grounds, encouraging adventurous exploration on foot, and exposing Festival goers to Thai massage, Tai Chi, Get Hands On with Wells Fargo activity workshops, and health screenings.
• Tucson International Mariachi Conference Partnership: Tucson Meet Yourself will partner with The Tucson International Mariachi Conference, which will staff a 'musical instrument petting zoo' plus provide educational heritage displays on the rich history of mariachi and folklorico dance. El Centro Cultural de las Americas will present a Tamal Fiesta including food, music and culture displays.
• Traditions of Home: There will be a new opportunity for public participation in this year's Festival. Traditions of Home is a new cultural area featuring installation-art treatments that celebrate spaces of everyday life (including living rooms, gardens, kitchens, home niches). This colorful cultural demonstration area in the TCC Plaza will present story-telling and displays that reflect interpretations of home and traditions and is co-Sponsored by Southwest Center at the University of Arizona.
• Ranching Traditions Exhibit:  Ranching is an integral part of Arizona-Sonora region's culture. This exhibit will showcase the history, traditions, people, foods, cattle, land, occupations and arts representative of Arizona-Sonora ranch life.
• Returning Special Events:  Tucson Meet Yourself will continue its tradition of the Corrido Contest, honoring the popular borderlands music-poetry folk form. In addition, the Lowrider Car Show will be back with its colorful assembly of vehicles decked out in the lowrider tradition. Festival goers can expect to experience old favorites including folk art demonstrators, music and dance performers and delicious ethnic foods representing over 50 different countries and cultures. Parade Traditions expands to include a Trinidadian Carnival and East Indian Street Procession, in addition to Scottish Pipe & Drum Corps parade. Closing Festival ceremonies will once again include traditional dancers of the Pascua Yaqui tribe and the Tohono O'odham nation.
• Coordinating with Other Tucson October Events: In support of a vibrant region-wide festival atmosphere, Tucson Meet Yourself is coordinating with other special events including 2nd Saturdays Downtown, which expect to bring even more visitors to the community during the Folklife Festival weekend.

"Everywhere you turn will be an extravaganza of great music, dance, arts and culture celebrating Tucson's diverse ethnic traditions," says TMY Executive Director Mia Hansen.

This year, Tucson Meet Yourself major sponsors are: Pascua Yaqui tribe, Providence Service Corporation, Wells Fargo, Tucson Medical Center, Pepsi Beverages Company and Arizona Restaurant Supply. Additional support is provided by Pima County, Arizona Humanities Council, The Southwest Center at the University of Arizona, Tucson Ethnic Dance Ensemble, Southern Arizona Roadrunners, Susan G Komen of Southern Arizona, CareMore, La Frontera, Jim Click Nissan, and Tucson Pima Arts Council. Media sponsors are Cox, Arizona Daily Star-Caliente, La Poderosa and Good News Radio Broadcasting KVOI 1030*AM.

Donations from individuals and foundations continue to support the TMY 2010 Campaign. Donations are still being accepted and volunteers are needed to present the Festival and to keep TMY free, open to all, family friendly and downtown for the 37th year in a row. For Tucson Meet Yourself Festival schedule and map, to sign up to volunteer or to donate, please visit www.tucsonmeetyourself.org.

About Tucson Meet Yourself (TMY) Folklife Festival

TMY is a three-day free celebration of the living traditional arts and expressions of the Arizona-Sonora region's folk and ethnic communities. The 37th Annual TMY will be celebrated on October 8-10, 2010 in an expanded downtown Tucson Festival area including five stages. TMY, conceived by folklorist Dr. James S. "Big Jim" Griffith, features more than 200 folk artists, performance groups and ethnic clubs sharing their foods, heritage and customs. It is the largest Folklife celebration in Arizona, named as "Tucson's favorite festival" by Tucson Home magazine (2009). Tucson Meet Yourself is a 501(c)(3) organization.  

SOURCE Tucson Meet Yourself