It’s that time of year again when milky white dogwood petals peek through the budding hardwood forests of the Ozarks and countries from far-flung corners of the globe knock on Silver Dollar City’s doorstep. Each country sends representatives to entertain and educate at World-Fest, the largest international festival in America. No passports required to take a one or two-day tour—or several tours between April 17 and May 5. No hassles with crossing borders or exchanging currency; just pleasant strolls along the sidewalks of the reproduction mining-village-turned-theme-park to soak up the culture, music, and food of other lands. No matter that we speak different sounding words. Humor and music are universal components of life, traversing the common ground of all people.
For World-Fest 2013, expect to see a high energy blend of drums, dancing, and comedy in Amamos Argentina. The Los Pampas Gauchos drummers share the Opera House stage with the gravity-defying spectacle of dancers taking the tango to new heights with aerial choreography and a new interpretation of this classic Argentinean art form. Originated by Argentinean national folk dancing champion Andres Sosa, Los Pampas Gauchos has performed and thrilled audiences around the globe.
At Riverfront Playhouse, Island Fire presents World Fire Knife Champion Anelu Iakopo in a breathtaking display of dancing flames. The dramatic showmanship of Iakapo is accentuated when he reveals that one end of his fiery baton is a sharp knife. Talented singers, dancers, and musicians add the traditional songs and dances of South Pacific islands including Samoa, Fiji, and Hawaii. This interactive and educational show is enhanced with colorful authentic costumes and set designs that transport the audience to a Polynesian paradise. The show shares the wonders, culture, and beauty of the cast’s native Samoa and Polynesian Islands while it entertains and amazes at the same time.
Trio Voronezh, named for the conservatory where they trained in Voronezh, Russia, performs at Dockside Theatre with a virtuosity and artistic innovation that alters the way audiences experience classical, folk, and contemporary music. Discovered playing Bach in a Frankfurt, Germany subway station, Trio Voronezh has since made several tours of the United States, and earned audience and critical praise. The Trio presents a diverse repertoire, including works from Bach, Vivaldi, Tchaikovsky, Strauss and Stravinsky to Russian folk songs, gypsy dance music, and popular songs by Gershwin. Their concert material is arranged by the trio’s members and performed entirely from memory on traditional Russian instruments: the double-bass balalaika, the domra and the bajan. A balalaika is the three-stringed Russian national instrument with a triangular body made of fir. A domra is a three-stringed short-necked ancestor of the mandolin, often heard in the Ozarks. A bajan is a chromatic-button accordion with various registers.
The trio made its American debut at the 1996 Oregon Bach Festival. Over the past 17 years, the musicians have toured the United States, beginning with a featured spot on American Public Media's “A Prairie Home Companion” with Garrison Keillor. The trio went on to perform at Houston's Society for the Performing Arts; the cities of Ann Arbor, Chicago, Portland, and St. Louis; and the Universities of Arizona, Georgia, Illinois, Nebraska, and Los Angeles; as well as Amherst, Dartmouth College, New York's Rockefeller University, and Stanford. Their orchestral debut came with the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra in a highly successful collaboration with Doc Severinsen. Since that performance the trio has performed throughout the United States with major orchestras. Now for World-Fest 2013, they are gracing the Dockside Theatre stage at Silver Dollar City.
The haunting melodies of Dearbhail Finnegan's Irish Harp have captured World-Fest audiences for numerous years. While Dearbhail (pronounced Derval) and her husband, Robin Slater, a multi-talented vocalist and emcee, come from Ireland, they have performed throughout Ireland, Europe, and the United States. Dearbhail Finnegan grew up in a family steeped in traditional Irish music. Since 1996 she has combined a busy solo performance career with her role as director of the Meath Harp Academy, a center for learning Irish harp which has a student base of forty harpers. Dearbhail has recorded as a member of the Grammy-winning Belfast Harp Orchestra and appeared on the soundtrack of the animated feature film "Nim's Winter Tale." She once performed before former President Bill Clinton in the Whitehouse, Washington, DC, during the 50th anniversary of NATO, for seniorities at The House of Commons, London, and for President Barrack Obama during his visit to Ireland in 2011. Dearbhail has released four of her own recordings and more recently, recorded a track on "Masters of the Irish Harp" CD. She has also published a book of Irish Harp arrangements. At World-Fest, she also performs at the Dockside Theatre.
At the Gazebo on Silver Dollar City’s Town Square during World-Fest, sunlight filters through the budding green leaves of towering trees, welcoming springtime to the Ozarks. The returning refrains of Ecuador Manta’s panpipes carry imaginations to South American mountains. A favorite act of World-Fest for many years, Ecuador Manta preserves and presents the music of the Andes on traditional Andean instruments including the zampona, a bamboo wind flute, the quena, similar to a recorder, the charango, a small 10 string guitar made from armadillo shell, and the bombo, a goat-skinned drum. The group also weaves other Latin rhythms, melodies, and instruments into their unique performances.
Streichmusik Alder, a new act to World-Fest 2013, brings the traditional music of the Alps to the Ozarks. Founded in 1884, Strechmusik Alder has been performing for four generations, sharing Alpine folk music with audiences around the world. Their performances are complete with traditional instruments and their own special style of yodeling. Streichmusik Alder alternates performance times with Ecuador Manta at the Town Square Gazebo.
Back by popular demand in the Red Gold Courtyard, Viva Italia entertains and fascinates visitors as they make their way to see Spettacolo Musicale in the Red Gold Heritage Hall. The entire courtyard comes alive with the Italian-inspired, interactive entertainment experience of living statues and trees, exquisitely costumed stilt walkers, lavishly dressed street characters, a comedic three-piece band, and a live music box ballerina.
Plan extra time to take in World-Fest’s Little Italy at the Red Gold Courtyard.
Inside the Red Gold Heritage Hall, Spettacolo Musicale features classically trained tenor and recent Carnegie Hall performer Aaron Caruso, Sicillian soprano Cristina Carollo, and the nine-piece Gondolier Band in a musical journey through Italian and Italian-American classics.
When world travel creates an appetite, the Frisco Barn sets out “Tastes of the World.” Traditional global specialties include French Crepes, Greek Antipasto Salad, Scotch Eggs, and Italian Calzone, as well as various flavors in nachos and international sandwiches. From Old Mexico, there are soft-shell tacos and chicken fajitas. Tastes of the world must include spaghetti and Italian meatballs and bratwurst, smoked sausage, kielbasa and frankfurters. For dessert, visitors sample German apfel dumplings with cinnamon ice cream and French éclairs.
In previous years, World-Fest has hosted Africa, China, Bulgaria, Belgium, the Canary Islands, Germany, Ukraine, Japan, Russia, and Australia—to name a few of the countries performing in the spring-time international festival. Those countries and more will likely return in future years. In the meantime, World-Fest 2013 affords interaction with folks from other countries and cultures, continuously emphasizing that underneath our skins, we are the same... each person carrying joys, fears, hopes, problems, and pains. Across the world—and at Silver Dollar City on a warm spring day—we stand on common ground.
