Downtown Tucsonan - October 2008 - (Page 8)

T u c s o n M e e t Yo u r s e l f – More Than Just the Food By Jim Lipson ucson Meet Yourself (tMY), our annual october spectacle, has become such a legendary food festival, it is often referred to as Tucson Eat Yourself. Fortunately, that’s a compliment. But as culturally rich and diverse as the festival’s various cuisines might be, these tastes and treats from all corners of the globe, are only a part of what makes this event unique to tucson. Big Jim Griffith is a musician, storyteller, folklorist, and real life local legend. along with a handful of others, he co-founded this event in 1974 and has been tMY’s driving, creative force throughout much of its history. originally he and his friends wanted to create something that could showcase tucson for the melting pot it truly is. “Initially,” he said recently, “this all came together because a small group of us realized a lot of beauty was being created by small groups within their ethnic communities and there was no place it could be shared. we wanted to provide a neutral ground (where you could experience these cultures) without feeling like you were on someone else’s turf.” obviously, this translates well into food. In addition to native american, Indian, asian, Polish and of course Mexican, tMY offers foods unique to places like costa Rica, turkey, denmark, Laos, the Philippines, columbia, and various Buddhist traditions, to name a few. But this is only one part of the complex tMY equation, and to stereotype this festival as a food event would be selling it short. “the idea,” said Griffith, “was to showcase the living traditional arts of the southern arizona folk and ethnic community. we were the first place people could see waila music outside the native american community.” Primarily this mission is defined not only through dozens of performances of music and dance on various stages throughout El Pre- t 8 downtown tucsonan.october.08 http://www.downtowntucson.com http://www.foxtucsontheatre.org http://www.foxtucsontheatre.org http://www.foxtucsontheatre.org http://fa.ml.com/Lori http://fa.ml.com/Lori

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Downtown Tucsonan - October 2008

Downtown Tucsonan - October 2008 Contents Downtown Lowdown Vital Signs Downtown Live Arts Galleries Performing Arts Film Events Museums Historic Downtown Guest Editoral Billboard Classifieds

Downtown Tucsonan - October 2008

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