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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (May 13, 2004)
MYSOGYNY TV "»4 Commentary of the media’s ^ love affair with Reality TV and how this affects women’s inherent worth as individuals Multimedia Presentation on gender roles by Jennifer Pozner presented by the UO Cultural Forum I \!\ I KSt TV $$$$$ I I II A I Kl UO Students!! Present this Coupon with Your Student ID UO Ticket Office Main Floor- EMU \\illiaiii s|iakcN|Haiv's much ado about | . nothing a lolmi-son ilicntiv pniduriion Ma\ I I, la 20, 21.22 2K. 2!)- S PM May 23- 2 PM y benefit for Womenspace for benefit tickets 4X5-8232 Two Tickets for the price of One much ado about nothing Thursday, May 20 Only! Tickets: UO Ticket OITice/bMU 346-4363 ■ ; ikfast 1978-2003 1st Place, “Best. 3rd Place Eugene f Teefi. kiasC 2r« Place, Soup,” 2:M Place, “The best eats in town.” Sports Illustrated on Campus 2588 Willamette St. 541-687-8201 * I 340 Alder Street 541-687-0855 «ssssesssu Celebrating its 34th year, the Willamette Valley Folk Festival serves a healthy combo of music and food By Natasha Chilingerian Pulse Reporter When the first Willamette Valley Folk Festival was held in 1971, a tran sition occurred in the on-campus folk music scene. Instead of just exhibiting folk musicians sporadically through out the school year, the University be gan devoting an entire event to pro moting new folk musicians. The first festival — sponsored by the UO Cultural Forum, as it still is today — lasted just one day and took place behind the School of Music. It has since blossomed into an annual three day extravaganza of music, crafts, food, massages, workshops and children's activities that fills the EMU east lawn and spills onto the south lawn. Even with the addition of new fea tures over the years, the festival aims for the same goal it did 33 years ago — to give lesser-known singers and songwriters a chance to express them selves in front of an audience. "It started as a venue for local singers and songwriters and a way to get local talent exposed, and that element re mains today," Willamette Valley Folk Festival co-Coordinator William Reis chman said, who is producing the 2004 festival with Ariel Zimmer. As the festival grew, some activities reappeared and turned into tradi tions. One example is the workshop stages, which have included songwrit ing instruction, short classes on drum ming styles and a how-to on con structing a drum. Cultural Forum Office Coordinator Mandy Chong said each festival usually focuses on one category of music style or origin. "During the year that we have a blues focus, the workshops might be on blue grass or banjo playing," she said. food and craft booths are also part of the Willamette Valley Folk Festival's her itage. Chong said festival attendees can count on finding Chinese, Indian and Latin American cuisine, plus pizza, ice cream, beverages and espresso. Some food booth vendors are devoted to bringing their ethnic fare to the festival yearly, such as Afghani Cuisine, which Chong said has been returning for 19 years. Booth shoppers usually comb through and look at candles, blankets, jewelry, knickknacks, and other items typical of the University's street fairs. One standout event at a past festi val was what Chong calls "the mud bowl" in 1998. That year, heavy rain mined the grass and created a mass of mud, which attendees used to jump, dance and slide in. With so many activities occurring at once, the festival requires some serious planning. The Cultural Forum tradi tionally hires one coordinator, but this Tim Bobosky Photographer Ariel Zimmer and Will Reischman, shown here in the UO Cultural Forum office, are cocoordinators of the upcoming Willamette Valley Folk Festival. PART 1 OF 2 Today: A historical and behind-the scenes look at the festival May 20: An in-depth preview of the 2004 Willamette Valley Folk Festival year, Reischman and Zimmer are shar ing the time-consuming job. Both coordinators said they have a passion for programming and discov ering new music. Zimmer said she "fell in love with the local music scene" dur ing her programming work. Reischman's interest in producing on-stage events stemmed partially from his family — his father is a con cert promoter, and both his parents performed bluegrass at the Willamette Valley Folk Festival in the 1970s. "I wanted to book an event rather than just be a stage monkey," Reis chman said. Planning the festival is a yearlong process. Reischman and Zimmer start ed brainstorming for the event before the 2003-04 school year, then quickly moved on to planning fund-raisers and finding sponsors and advertisers. This year, they raised money by putting on two music shows and by receiving sponsorship from the Smith Family Bookstore, University Bookstore and Emerald Valley Kitchen. Advertise ments for the festival appeared in Eu gene Weekly and on KLCC radio. Then, the coordinators recruited performers and craft and food vendors to fill slots. "Throughout the year we are inves tigating different acts and getting a sense of what people would be inter ested in," Zimmer said. On top of fund-raising, booking and getting the word out, coordina tors must organize smaller details of the festival, such as amplified sound for the acts and renting out tables and tents. Zimmer said all members of the Cultural Forum help coordinators during the year. Working with a budget is a central focus of planning the festival, and Reischman said coordinators rely on fund-raisers and donations to help pay for the event. Zimmer said she is pleased with how much can be pro duced with limited funds. "It's a free event, so the bottom line isn't to make a profit," she said. "We would like a larger budget in or der to bring in the best music possi ble, but we've done a great job with the budget we have." Contact the Pulse reporter at natashachilingerian@dailyemerald.com. Will Reischman and Ariel Zimmer, both graduating seniors, take a break from festival planning in the UO Cultural Forum office. Tim Bobosky Photographer WALKER TRYANlSINNY SINS SINS & THE DELTA MYSTICS! 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