Category Archives: Festival

Pennsylvania Apple & Cheese Festival

Nationality: American
Age: 86
Occupation: Retired
Residence: Long Island, New York
Performance Date: 3/7/16
Primary Language: English

The informant is an 86-year old man who spent his adult life in Northeastern United States.

 

Tell me about the Pennsylvania Apple & Cheese Festival

TS: Every October, for the past ten years, me and my wife made it a tradition to go to the Apple and Cheese Festival in Pennsylvania. Then, after maybe five years, we started going with some people from the fire department, until it became.. uhh.. a whole sorta tradition for a bunch of us in the community.

How many of you go to the festival together?

TS; There are about forty of us that go now, every October. It’s a wonderful place.

 

The Pennsylvania Apple and Cheese Festival is a celebration of the agricultural economy of Pennsylvania, with focus on  apples and cheese production. Using agricultural pride as the foundation for a festival, the festival-runners bring tourists and profits into an area that normally wouldn’t draw many.

Independence Day in the Zocalo

Nationality: Mexican
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 15
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English

I interviewed a really good friend of mine who is 20 years old and moved to the United States from Mexico City pretty recently to go to school. I thought he would be a perfect person to interview because I really don’t know much about Mexican culture especially that of Mexico City. Through some research and discovery, I did find that the city was the center for celebration and festivals across the nation and that people come here for the wonderful events. However, I wanted to find out which festivals my friend was a part of during his childhood.

Collector: “Were there any celebrations or events that you regularly took part during your life in Mexico City?”

Informant: “Yes of course, there are a lot of festivals that occur every year. One is Independence Day which is on the night of September 15th. The main square is decorated with lights and it turns into a huge party with music, drinking and a lot of really good Mexican food. At this celebration the President of Mexico rings a huge bell and after he rings it and we all shout the famous names of important Mexican heroes and then yell “Viva Mexico!”. It is a huge party that I go to every year with family and friends. The next morning there is parades and stuff that we also go to. It is a lot of fun.”

This was a really cool interview because he has been one of my best friends at school but I didn’t really know the culture from which he came from. I wanted to do a little more research on Mexican independence because I still didn’t know much about why they celebrate on this day. September 16th was the day Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla uttered the “Cry of Dolores” which encouraged Mexicans to free themselves and fight the Spaniards for their rights. He got every one in the churches to revolt in what became known as The Siege of Guanajuato. This ended up being the start of a war which gave them independence.

Candlemas

Nationality: Mexican
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 15
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English

I interviewed a really good friend of mine who is 19 years old and moved to the United States from Mexico City pretty recently to go to school. I thought he would be a perfect person to interview because I really don’t know much about Mexican culture especially that of Mexico City. Through some research and discovery, I did find that the city was the center for celebration and festivals across the nation and that people come here for the wonderful events. However, I wanted to find out which festivals my friend was a part of during his childhood.

Collector: “Any other celebrations you could tell me about?”

Informant: “Yes, there is one other tradition that we have that follows christmas called Candlemas which occurs on February 2nd. “This is in celebration of when the Child Jesus came to the temple. People dress up and go to church, then after there is a big party with my family and friends. We listen to music, dance, eat tamales, drink, and eat this soup called stole which is made from corn. It is always a very fun day.”

It was a very cool process to learn more about one of my good friends’ culture. After doing a little research I found out that this tradition is very close with Epiphany where everyone eats the kings’ cake and whoever finds the muneco, or small christ child, in the cake must organize Candlemas. The small child figure is then brought to the church to be blessed. Whoever drew the figure must prepare tamales and the whole family comes to dinner. This is a tradition that is passed down from generation to generation and gives the holiday an aspect of sharing and community.

Tanabata

Nationality: Japan
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Tokyo
Performance Date: 4/19/16
Primary Language: Japanese
Language: English

SF was born in Tokyo, Japan, and lived there for 10 years. She is a student at USC majoring in Business Administration. SF is in my Introduction to Music Technology class and she had a ton of Japanese folklore to share with me.

“In Japan, there’s a festival called ‘tanabata’ on July 7th. On that day each year, people say that 織姫 (orihime) and 彦星(hikoboshi), a princess and a prince who were separated by the milky way, get to reunite for just one night.”

“How did you learn about this festival? Have you taken part in it before?”

“Yeah, my parents told her about it, and I’ve also participated in it each year. You put a wish on an index card and put it on a bamboo tree.”

“Is tanabata celebrated in certain regions or cities, or is it celebrated everyhwere?”

“It’s celebrated all throughout Japan.”

It seems to be that this festival is based off of an old Japanese myth, as implied by my informant. Unfortunately, I did not get the chance to ask her the full backstory behind the origin of the festival. It is interesting to note that the festival takes place all throughout Japan, which suggests that the festival is probably quite ancient. If it was a newer tradition, the festival would probably be celebrated in select regions of Japan instead.

El Día de los Muertos – Day of the Dead

Nationality: Mexican
Age: 32
Occupation: Construction Worker
Residence: Mexico/San Diego
Performance Date: 4/20/16
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English

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Context:

El Día de los Muertos is a longs standing Mexican tradition/holiday that takes place in central and southern Mexico on November 1st and 2nd. The belief stands that on the 31st of October the gates of the heavens open, letting the dead back to earth. The first two days of November are used to celebrate their existence. This comes in the form of large festivals that contain art showcases, performances, food, stories, dancing and much more.

According to the informant, this holds a special significance for him because he has lost many people in his life, including family. This acts a cathartic two days where he and his friends/family bask in the nostalgia of their loved ones. He says its also a time for self expression. Artists from all other take the thematics of the festival, including the skull and finds new and decorate ways to present them.

My Thoughts:

Without knowing much of what this festival stands for, it could easily be mistaken for some sort of carnival or halloween event or possibly some freak show. Once one understands its purpose though, it becomes a very meaningful event. To us Americans this sort of thing is non existent. We do have holidays of course, but not one with such a sense of heavy handedness. That is celebrating the loss of loved ones. I can imagine that it is very therapeutic for the people as a whole.