Entertainment Magazine: Staff: Barnetts

Carolyn & James Barnett visit Tucson Meet Yourself 2023

By James Barnett



Carolyn Barnett (r) with her helper Bincy.

•Sixty. Five.  Food booths!
•150,000 people!
The math boggles the mind. Good thing it’s going on for 3 days!

Saturday. I am aware that no gastronomic plan ever survives first contact with the food!

Our plan to approach this was to arrive early and park under the library. This has worked in the past but… 50K per day,  we may have to park overnight!

10:00am. Good thing we arrived early! The library parking is already full. We drove around until we found a good spot for $5.00. Only a few blocks away.



Next, we look 👀 over the offerings. We’re headed for Wat Buddhametta’s  wonderful vegetarian egg rolls. And the samosas and the lovely rose water at Saffron Indian Bistro. And I have to stop by Sema Foundation-Turkish for some baklava and Turkish coffee to keep my strength up!  

Plus so much more of everything. We ended up bringing a lot home!

The low riders are awesome. Art on wheels! I’m already full just thinking about all this food. Well, maybe not.





But this whole thing isn’t about just the food. It’s about the people who prepare it and the wonderful interaction of everyone involved.
Tucson has been an international town since the 1920’s with the opening of DMAFB and the UofA. It’s just gotten better over the past century!




The music is everywhere. Every kind, every culture. There is a wonderful amount of shared joy everywhere! I love that this is in front of the Courthouse we were married in 1977.

Tucson will always be our Old Pueblo!


The 2023 Tucson Meet Yourself Festival


The annual beloved event Tucson Meet Yourself (TMY) Folklife Festival celebrates its 50th edition this October with food, performance, and folk arts from over 60 cultural traditions. 


In 1974, the late folklorist James "Big Jim" Griffith and his wife Loma observed that Tucson's many cultural expressions were happening largely inside homes, backyards, churches, and temples.


To change that, they inaugurated Tucson Meet Yourself in Presidio Park in a downtown center that was in the midst of an economic downturn. Ever since, Tucson Meet Yourself has brought culture previously hidden into the light and reclaimed civic space in downtown Tucson.


Now organized by the Southwest Folklife Alliance, an independent nonprofit affiliated with the University of Arizona, and presented by title sponsor Rio Nuevo, this year's festival will be held on Jacome Plaza and surrounding blocks on October 13-15. In addition to staging the most diverse celebration of local cultures in Southern Arizona, the festival is also an economic engine for dozens of small ethnic artists and businesses, who collectively raise over $1M over the three days. 


Festival highlights include:


Food: Over 60 food booths representing nearly 30 regions, with favorites like Order of Ahepa's Greek food, Takoyaki Balls, and plenty of churros (including a new vegan churro), and new offerings from Maya Gracie's (Nepal), Pupuseria Rosita's (El Salvador), The Sweet Coqui (Puerto Rican), the return of the Women from the Kingdom of Congo, and more!


Performances

Three main stages showcase music and dance from over 80 performing acts from diverse cultural traditions. The stage on Jacome Plaza's lawn with sideline bleachers offers intimate, close-to-the-ground and participatory performances. 


Memory Tent: The Way We Were in 1974
This year's Memory Tent, an annual feature that began in 2021 to honor memories of losses during the pandemic, celebrates 1974 in honor of the first Tucson Meet Yourself. Listen to groovy albums, try your hand at the Rubik's Cube, and hear stories from folks who remember the festival's early years and its impact in downtown Tucson.


Heritage Beer Garden
The first annual Heritage Beer Garden honors the age-old tradition of beer brewing and celebrates women as the first beer brewers in partnership with Borderlands Brewing Co. Brewing demonstrations and samples of "heritage brews," including a commemorative beer "Tucson Wheat Yourself" to celebrate the festival's 50th edition.


Improved Accessibility
The festival's commitment to Disability Justice continues with wheelchair loans, assisted listening devices, improved accessibility across ramps, designated areas at each stage, and representation of artists and vendors with special needs in the program. The festival also offers a "tranquility tent," an adaptive sports area, and a staff Accessibility Coordinator.


Honoring Corridos and Dr. Celestino Fernandez
The festival celebrates Celestino Fernandez, a corrido scholar and emcee of the festival's famous corrido contest (founded in 1982). Interviewed by UA ethnomusicologist Estevan Azcona, in lieu of the contest, this year local corridistas perform corridos by Fernandez, a composer of over 50 corridos. 


Lowrider Car Celebration
In partnership with Tucson Meet Yourself for more than 30 years, the Dukes Car Club presents the annual Low and Shine Car Show featuring some 60 modified cars from classic 1940s Chevrolets to Impalas, DeSotos, and Cadillacs. A downtown lowrider cruise on Friday night (Oct. 13) commemorates the festival's 50th year and a special "Pachuco Nights" celebration is planned for November 18 at the FOX Theater. 


Pima County Meet Yourself
Festival-goers can experience the newly renovated Pima County Historic Courthouse just west of Jacome Plaza, while visiting with staff from various Pima County departments, including Parks and Recreation, with live animals from the Sonoran Desert. Visitors can also stop by the Southern Arizona Heritage and Visitor Center and the January 8th Memorial.


The 35th annual AIDSWALK
A long-time partnership between Tucson Meet Yourself and the annual AIDSWALK, this event borrows the festival grounds on Sunday, Oct. 15 to educate the public about HIV, remember those we have lost to AIDS, and celebrate those living with HIV. 


Festival Co-Director Bryan Falcon says this year's Tucson Meet Yourself is a good reminder of the powerful role that cultural community gatherings can play in fostering mutual respect, inclusion, and prosperity. 


Menus, performance schedules, hours, and other information at: https://tucsonmeetyourself.org/


Additional festival sponsors include the National Endowment for the Arts, the Arizona Commission for the Arts, Tucson ER and Hospital, Casino del Sol, Pima County, City of Tucson, COX, Visit Tucson, D2 Dispensaries, Tucson Water, Chicanos por la Causa, Desert Diamond. The University of Arizona plays a prominent role as the academic hub for research about the festival and its significance for a sense of inclusion and belonging since 1974. 


Tucson Meet Yourself is produced by the Southwest Folklife Alliance (SFA), an affiliate non-profit organization of the University of Arizona, College of Social and Behavioral Sciences. We are the designated Folk Arts Partner of the Arizona Commission on the Arts with the support of the National Endowment of the Arts. Its mission is to build more equitable and vibrant communities by celebrating the everyday expressions of culture, heritage, and diversity rooted in the Greater Southwest and U.S. Mexico Border Corridor. Nationally, SFA amplifies models and methods of meaningful cultural work that center traditional knowledge, social equity, and collaboration.