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Illinois State Fair Ethnic Village showcases best world has to offer
Wide
variety of music and food available at Ethnic Village
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[August 13, 2007]
SPRINGFIELD -- If it's great food and
entertainment you're after at the 2007 Illinois State Fair, look no
further than one of the main staples of the fair,
Ethnic Village.
With food ranging from Thai to Italian to Australian, there's a wide
variety of exotic cuisine to choose from. While enjoying the food,
take time to check out the performers, which include bagpipers,
steel drummers, polka bands and martial arts exhibitors.
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The food at the 2007 Ethnic Village is sure to please anyone looking
for a change of pace from the usual variety of fair food. Fourteen
different nations are represented: Australia, Holland, the
Philippines, Greece, Germany, France, India, Italy, Korea, Jamaica,
Mexico, Poland, Turkey and Vietnam. A beer booth is also included
for adults looking to wet their whistle.
The Italian booth offers freshly made pizza, garlic cheese bread,
Italian sausage, chicken parmesan and everyone's favorite, the
Italian beef sandwich. The Ciao Babies have been responsible for the
booth for 14 years, according to member Sue Paso. The group, which
consists of Paso, her sister Rosemary Weisthart and friend Donna
Nall, said they began as vendors at the Farmersville Irish Days
Centennial celebration, and later moved to the state fair. Paso says
that the Italian beef has kept many customers coming back over the
years, due to the use of secret family herbs and spices.
"At the beginning of the fair every year, we have people coming
back, and they always get the beef," Paso said.
According to the Ciao Babies, the best part of working at the
Illinois State Fair for 14 years has been the people who come to
their booth.
"The people (are the best part). It's nice to see old friends and
repeat customers every year," Paso said.
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 Of course, there's more to the Ethnic Village than just the food.
The wide variety of entertainment and exotic music is just as much a
staple as the food. A large number of acts will grace the stage this
year, including Steely Pan, with Jamaican steel drum music; The
Flying Dutchmen, featuring polka music; St. Andrews Society of
Central Illinois, with Celtic dance and bagpipes; Bloomsday,
featuring Irish music; and several martial arts displays.
One of those acts, The Flying Dutchmen, has been together since
the early ‘70s, playing their traditional brand of polka music.
According to drummer Gary Niehaus, the band traveled to Germany in
1990 to see how the original polka masters plied their craft.
"We went there in July for about 10 days, and we learned to play
it the way they play it in Germany," Niehaus said. "German marches
are slower than U.S. marches. We used that to develop an original
library of traditional polka music."
Niehaus said that the band gets its greatest joy from playing in
front of people at the state fair, as well as the other fairs it has
played all over Illinois and Missouri the past 30-plus years.
"We enjoy playing for the people," he said. "Anytime we can, we
love to play. Most of our crowd is older people. If we don't play
and if the young people don't come back, it just dies off."
"I miss playing polka, because it's a down-home, country-type
thing. If we didn't get to play the fair every year, I'd be real
disappointed."
[Text
from
Illinois State Fair news release received from the
Illinois Office of Communication and Information] |
