The World Beat Festival features Indian folk dancing throughout the weekend. (Courtesy/Edgar Peteros)
Thousands of people are expected to turn out for this year’s World Beat Festival to enjoy music, food and dancing from around the globe.
Organizers recommend coming to the event hungry, as more than a dozen vendors will be serving up dishes ranging from Ethiopian stews to Indian curry. There will also be a beer garden that opens at 5 p.m. Friday and noon on Saturday and Sunday, and closes thirty minutes before the festival does each night.
Some of the highlights Saturday include dragon boat races, Indian folk dances and Polynesian fire dancing.
More than 30 teams will compete in the dragon boat race heats that start at 9 a.m. and run until the finals, which start around 4 p.m.
This year’s theme is India and there will be plenty of Indian folk dance performances throughout the weekend.
On Saturday, Nupurum Dance Group performs at noon and 3 p.m., Eugene Bhangra performs at 2 p.m., Gowri B. Kashyap’s Dance Group performs at 2:40 p.m., Yashaswini Raghuram’s Dance Students perform at 3:05 p.m., INDUS performs at 3:45 p.m. and 7:15 p.m., and Kalabharathi School of Dance performs at 6:30 p.m.
At 8:15 p.m. there will be a DJ leading an interactive dance lesson that will transform into a Bollywood musical aimed at keeping people moving.
That’s followed by Polynesian fire dancing at 10 p.m.
The event will also feature musical acts, starting at noon on Saturday and running until 7:45 p.m.
The Klezmonauts, who perform at 1:45 p.m. Saturday, play exuberant music from the Jewish villages of Eastern Europe, with diverse roots from ancient Hebrew melodies to fiery Hungarian dances.
On Sunday, award-winning musician Jan Michael Looking Wolf will play songs on Native American Flute with acoustic accompaniment starting at 5:30 p.m.
Multiple vendors will be selling items from jewelry, to woven African baskets, to Peruvian crafts.
Founder Kathleen Fish said the event is meant to be joyful and hopeful.
“Everybody should be made to feel welcome no matter where they’re from,” Fish said. “Our bottom line is everybody has a culture to share and everybody has something to learn.”
The festival runs from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Friday. Saturday opens at 10 a.m. and closes at 11 p.m. On Sunday it runs from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Tickets are by donation Friday and cost $5 on both Saturday and Sunday. Kids 14 and under are free. Oregon Trail cardholders are free. More info and a full lineup of events can be found at the World Beat website. 200 Water St. N.E. More info can be found on the World Beat website.
The IKE Box building, on the corner of Cottage Street and Chemeketa Street, was used as a funeral home for decades before being transformed into a coffee shop. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter)
This weekend IKE Box is hosting a mini concert series to bring folks together for a night of dancing and to raise money to move the coffee shop’s building.
On Friday, Hustle and Drone, an electronic trio from Portland, Phantom!, Sister Ray and Sadgasm, an emo/punk band from Salem, will play the former funeral home.
Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door. The show starts at 7 p.m. 299 Cottage St. N.E. More info can be found on Facebook.
The following night, Wild Ire, an independent alt-rock band from Salem, No Aloha, an indie-pop band from Portland, Mark Lemhouse, American roots and The Arbor, a pop/rock group from Salem, will perform starting at 7 p.m. Saturday at 299 Cottage St. N.E. More info can be found on Facebook.
Fans of the Craigslist section “Missed Connections” can see performers read and re-enact the Salem personal ads live on Friday and Saturday at the Capitol City Theater. Operations Manager Julie Shadlow has said it’s one of the venue’s most popular shows.
The adults-only show starts at 9:30. 210 Liberty St. S.E. Tickets cost $13 plus service fees online or $15 at the door. More info can be found at the theater’s website.
Move your feet to City of Pieces and Chromatic Colors when they play at The Governor’s Cup Coffee Roasters Friday.
Salem-based City of Pieces labels itself as “idiosyncratic socio-punk,” that plays “thrashy” and “surf punk” tunes to get crowds engaged. The trio behind Chromatic Colors has called the band’s sound “somewhere between jazz-fusion, psych-rock, funk and art pop.”
The show starts at 9 p.m. at 371 Court St. N.E. More info can be found at the Governor’s Cup Facebook page.
Saturday
Need a good stretch? Head to Minto Island Growers Farm Stand Saturday morning for a one-hour, all-levels yoga class. The farm’s food truck serves up food, so yogis can stay after the class and enjoy the farm. The Saturday morning class takes place each week in July and August.
Class starts at 9 a.m. and pay is by donation. 3394 Brown Island Road S. Call 503-990-5043 for more info or visit the Peas, Love and Yoga! Facebook page.
George Rodriguez’s ceramic sculptures are on display at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art. (Courtesy/ Foster/White Gallery)
Take in some art at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art, which has two exhibits running until August. Seattle-artist George Rodriguez creates ceramic sculptures that connect to his Mexican-American Heritage and explore current political issues. Public Relations Manager Andrea Foust said it’s the first bilingual exhibit the museum has hosted.
Oregon artist John Stahl has created paintings, sculptures and works on paper over the last 40 years that will be on display in the museum until Aug. 11.
The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $6 for adults, $4 for seniors, $3 for educators or college students and free for kids 17 and under. Admission is free on Tuesdays. 700 State St. More info can be found at Willamette University’s website or by calling 503-370-6855.
Make art at The Zine Show taking place at the Bush Barn Art Center through July 10. Attendees are encouraged to make their own zines, an independently or self-published booklet, and leave a copy that will become part of a newly-formed zine library. The creations will later be housed on the Annex landing after the exhibition.
The exhibition presents zines from across Oregon and features artwork by Salem locals Miranda Abrams and Eilish Gormley. The center is open Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. 600 Mission St. S.E. More info can be found at the Salem Art Association’s website.
Have an event coming up? Contact reporter Saphara Harrell at 503-549-6250, [email protected] or @daisysaphara.
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