In a dramatic change of weather, for the better, about 80,000 people enjoyed live music, great food, crafts and sunny skies at the city's third annual Great Lakes Folk Festival in downtown East Lansing.
Pitt Richards, a Thailand native and jeweler, reveled in Sunday afternoon's warmth and sunshine at her booth at the festival. For two days, she sold her wares, enjoying the music and friendliness of the festival's patrons.
"I didn't come on Friday," she said. "I was supposed to come, but I was afraid it would be cold. Thailand people are scared of the cold, but I've been here for 35 years."
Among necklaces, bracelets and earrings made of jade, which is cool to the touch, Richards' booth was surrounded by imported wood figures and ceramics from Thailand.
Like many festival food and craft vendors, Richards took time away from her booth to enjoy the music.
"Saturday night I went to the Dance Stage," she said. "I like to dance, but I can't dance while I work."
Lansing resident Matt Brooks relaxed within smelling distance of the barbecued meat from A&J Ribs. Brooks said he has made an effort to attend the festival over the past few years, and while he enjoys the music and food, he said Sunday's crowd seemed a little sparse.
"There's not as much of a turn out, it seems there's less and less people each year," he said, adding that fact is unfortunate. "It's cool they have stuff like this, where people can just walk around, listen to music and enjoy the weather."
Lora Helou is communications manager for the MSU Museum, which organizes the event each year. She said despite cold weather Friday, the festival is right where it usually is in terms of attendance.
"I think the weather being threatening may have kept some people away," she said. "But I think we're right on track with 80,000 people. We may have been a bit lighter than years in the past, but everyone here enjoyed themselves."
Merchandise sales for the festival surpassed those of last year, totaling $15,000 as of Saturday night, compared to $12,000 in 2003.
But Helou said donations for the festival, collected by festival volunteers, totaled only $15,000 as of Saturday night, compared to last year's $30,000.
Helou said the university has already agreed to invest $75,000 for next year's festival.
One of the many aspects that pleased Helou about this year's event is the patchwork of so many different people from all walks of life that attended the festival.
"It's a free event and there's such diversity in the program, it really has a lot of appeal on a variety of levels," Helou said.
Festival-goers included both young and old.
"I'm seeing all the fun people here and I might dance later," said DeWitt Elementary School first-grader Gabriella Baldino.
Altu Tadesse, owner of Altu's Ethiopian Cuisine, 1312 W. Michigan Ave., in Lansing, was among many food vendors at the festival, which featured international tastes.
"We have one of the few ethnic foods in Lansing. This is a good way to introduce to the public and advertise our food," Tadesse said. "Also, this is our third year at the festival and so far things are going wonderful."
And while the food and crafts were greatly appreciated, the heart and soul of the festival, of course, was the music, said East Lansing resident Monica Del Valle. "I love the festival, it's fun to listen to the music," Del Valle said.
"My favorite right now is the accordion player for Finnish-American All Stars. He is just fantastic. He can't even stand on his feet, he has to keep dancing."
Staff writer Sarah Al-Ramadhan contributed to this report.
