Folklorama: A Bridge for Cultural Understanding

A Mexican, an Irishman and a Frenchman walk into a bar. Wait, that’s not right, let’s try that again. An Israeli, a Scotsman and a Chilean walk into a church and… wait, wait, still not right.

The problem might be that you can’t fit all 41 different cultures represented in a single Folklorama in one story. The other problem might be that we as Americans don’t know much about other cultures other than what we hear in jokes or watch on TV.

Sure, we’ve all been to the Olive Garden, but what do we really know about Italians? Hey, I love Taco John’s as much as the next guy, but do you think potato olés are a common Mexican food staple?

There are only two ways to find out. One, you could go to Mexico, travel all around and meet actual Mexicans and learn a little about their food and culture. Or two, you could go to Folklorama, where a group of Mexicans have set up a pavilion with authentic Mexican food along with traditional Mexican dancing, music and real Mexican beer.

Maybe it’s because restaurants like Taco Bell and Olive Garden are like a cover song. Everyone knows the song, but they still like to hear other musicians cover the tune and give it their own spin. The problem arises when the source material is unknown to the audience. Where then is their reference point? If you don’t know the original, how do you know when someone is improvising?

In the case of Folklorama, all the pavilions are put up by natives of the country. One can travel around the world — so to speak — meet the people, enjoy the cuisine and sample the drinks all within about three hours of travel time.

Folklorama is in a league of its own, and unlike some festivals, it’s spread all over the city in small and medium size venues with several shows a day. These are usually adjacent to the area of town the ethnic groups are native to. The interesting part is that it’s kind of a grab bag — you sort of know what you’re getting by the country of origin, but that’s about it.

One year I spent some time learning Asian watercolor techniques and then hopped over to the Irish pavilion where I saw the most amazing “River Dance”-style Irish dancers strut their stuff. Amazing — all business above the pelvis, crazy dance party below. We finished off the night with a spectacular show at the Cuban pavilion with one of the most incredible dance/theatre shows I have been privileged to see.

It’s true, Folklorama didn’t sound like my kind of event. To be completely honest, I too confused it with the similar sounding Winnipeg Folk Festival. After attending and finding out that Folklorama was indeed something altogether different, many of my misconceptions were soon after debunked. What’s more, I soon found out why Folklorama is the largest and longest running cultural event in the world, and it just so happens to be right next door in Winnipeg.

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