The lineup for the 2016 Lotus World Music & Arts Festival, which takes place annually in Bloomington, was announced this week.
More than 30 international artists will visit Bloomington Sept. 15-18 for the 23rd annual festival, according to a press release.
Lotus, which lasts four days, will fill eight downtown venues with music from 20 countries.
Artists from Zimbabwe, Israel, Ghana, Sudan, Argentina, Ethiopia, Finland, Hungary, Mongolia and more will be represented.
The music ranges from Finnish folk music and classical Indian sarod, to reggae and east African afro-pop.
Festival passes and one-day tickets are being sold beginning Aug. 1.
Lotus, which was established in 1994, is one of the oldest world music festivals in the country and the only one of its kind in Indiana.
It attracts more than 12,000 people to Bloomington each fall.
According to a press release, Lotus creates — on a grand scale — the rare opportunity for audiences to experience places far removed from their everyday routines and to broaden their worldview through the arts.”
Lotus Fest is put on by Lotus Education & Arts Foundation, whose mission is to “create opportunities to experience, celebrate and explore the diversity of the world’s cultures through music and the arts.”
Lotus offers other special programming and events throughout the year.
In addition to the music festival, Lotus in the Park returns this year, according to the release.
An event free to the public, Lotus in the Park allows all ages to engage in hands-on artwork.
It will celebrate Indiana’s statewide Bicentennial Celebration this year.
The work of four Indiana instrument makers will be featured, along with the traveling exhibit “Indiana Folk Art: 200 Years of Tradition and Innovation.” The exhibit, which has 24 panels, includes the work of more than 45 Indiana artists.
Bruce Taggart, a mandolin builder, and Bill Berg, a dulcimer builder, are both local artists from Nashville, Indiana.
For more information about the 2016 Lotus Festival, visit www.lotusfest.org.
Grace Palmieri
