Tucson Carnaval 2011

The Tucson Carnaval is today (Still going on as I write this....until 8:00pm!)  in Armory Park. It's a fun, family friendly outdoor festival. Not a huge carnaval, just a great place to take the kids on a Saturday. Armory Park is downtown, across from the Children's Museum. It has the usual: fried food and lemonade, games, a big inflatable slide, arts and crafts, a stage with live music going all day long.

Right after the parade, stilt-walkers gather by the stage.

For the last few years, Odaiko Sonora has performed and done something in the parade, usually a simple Obon-style dance with percussion. This year we have been busy with gigs, so no performance, just a chance to be in the parade. In fact, we lead the parade!
So after the first taiko class this morning, a small group of us plus some kids from one of our classes got dressed up in happi coats (or yukata, as in my case) and went down to dance in the street with the various Afro-Brazilian drumming groups! The weather wasn't ideal but we had fun. (Lots of wind and some blowing dust from an impending rain storm! But luckily it wasn't cold, around 68 F). We didn't stay for the whole day, we were just there for the parade. The kids wanted to be back for the 2:30 taiko class. So of course I dressed up in yukata 'cause that's what I do when I want to be festive. So here I am in my brightest and most colorful yukata ensemble yet!

Inside the dojo, you can see a bit of a homemade banner someone created several years ago.

Orange and yellow yabane tabi socks!

I wore two kasane-eri (layering collars) for an extra festive look!

The ensemble break-down: turquoise yukata from Vintage Kimono with white spider mums and bits of hot pink; yellow hemp-leaf patterned hanhaba obi; a luxuriously wide obijime in electric fuchsia; two kasane-eri collars, one yellow and one a pink, red, orange, and purple flower print with a bit of gold thread; multicolored spider mum geta with orange and yellow yabane tabi socks to keep my feet warm. And to disguise the fact that I did not have time to paint my toenails hot pink. (Geta are usually worn without socks). And I had a couple of Hawaiian-style plumeria kanzashi flower clips in my hair! My hair is so short, I can only wear the modern alligator-clip style. I added a pair of hot pink Alexis Bittar Lucite earrings for good measure and my pink Hello Kitty drawstring bag and I was ready for the parade!
All of these photos were taken after we got back to the dojo, so I had dust in my ears and my hair looked a little disheveled, but not too bad considering the wind.
Next weekend is Matsuri in Phoenix, so I may wear this yukata again since I love the color so much. I'll be there for both days I think, so I will try to take lots of photos!
Arigato,
Reb