What’s new at this year's Tucson Meet Yourself

Tucson Meet Yourself returns Friday for its 42nd installment, and, like usual, the three-day folklife festival will bring a ridiculous amount of food to the table.

It’s easy to see why fans of the event call it “Tucson Eat Yourself,” with 55 food vendors. This year, three new dining options are on the menu—authentic Italian pizza, Virgin Islands cuisine and Japanese-styled takoyaki balls.

While the food may be a big draw, it’s clear the festival is about the culture. At its core, the event has always been about showcasing the diversity of Southern Arizona through dance, music and art.

What’s new

This year, organizers are doing more to support the event’s performers. For the first time in its history, the festival is offering larger cash awards to performance artists in the form of artistic fellowships.

The fellowship will fund eight performers through grants provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Surdna Foundation and Casino del Sol Resort. The money will help performers create bigger and better shows.

“It’s exciting for us because it offers the artists more possibilities,” said Maribel Alvarez, director of the Southwest Folklife Alliance, the parent of Tucson Meet Yourself. “They’re able to bring guests, collaborate, and do something special.”

“I was surprised when I heard about it,” said Mele Martinez of Tucson’s Flamenco del Pueblo Viejo. “We’ve never had the opportunity to bring out artists of this caliber.”

Martinez is planning to collaborate with a number of talented flamenco musicians. She is using the money to cover their travel costs.

Other fellowship recipients include a Polish folk dance group, a cast of classical Indian musicians, an ensemble of Cuban musicians, an African dance and drum group, a puppet-making master, a Western music association and a troupe of African soul musicians.

In previous years, the festival sporadically offered compensation, but the amounts were small and largely symbolic, said Alvarez.

Also new is the 100 Years of Anthropology in the Community exhibit curated by Alvarez and supported by the University of Arizona’s School of Anthropology and the Arizona Humanities Council. The display will highlight the accomplishments of UA anthropologists and the Tucson’s community.

“This is the most respectful and democratic representation of our community,” said Alvarez. “It’s about being diverse and not being ashamed of our culture.”

The three-day event is expected to draw 100,000 to 120,000 people. Here are some other things you can look forward to:

• Performances by Kabuki style Japanese dancers, Latin jazz band Grupo Manteca, the “Waila” dance of the Tohono O’odham, and Aztec dancers.
• Arts and crafts in the form of egg painting, basket weaving, rope braiding, Polish wycinanki paper cutting and Arabic calligraphy.
• Mac-n-cheese, collard greens and fried chicken from Daddy’s Girl Home Cooking, traditional Tohono O’odham Nation fry bread and Turkish ice cream.