Bloomington, Ind., is similar to Champaign in many ways, beginning with the presence of another Big Ten school, Indiana University. But, like Champaign, the community has a life beyond its flagship university. The Lotus World Music Festival is an annual tradition in Bloomington — a weekend of music from around the world.
And that is not an exaggeration. I saw five performances on Sept. 24, and the performers hailed from five different regions of the world — South America, Australia, Europe, Africa, and the Polynesian Islands. I left hoping that Champaign or Urbana would adopt a similar festival.
Click the i in the upper left corner of the slideshow to see captions.
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