23rd Annual Lotus World Music & Arts Festival Announces their 2016 Lineup
By: Ashley LaChant Jul. 25, 2016
Over 30 global artists take the stage September 15-18 in Bloomington, Indiana, for the 23rd annual Lotus World Music & Arts Festival. Over 30 International Artists come together September 15 - 18 in Bloomington, Indiana, for the 23rd annual Lotus World Music & Arts Festival. The four-day festival packs eight downtown venues with internationally recognized artists representing over 20 countries, including Zimbabwe, Israel, Ghana, Sudan, Argentina, Ethiopia, Finland, Hungary, and Mongolia. The music is as diverse as the countries represented by the artists, with notes of anything from Finnish folk music, timple, classical Indian sarod, reggae, American roots, Irish traditional, east African Afro-pop, Yemenite folk-electronica, Swedish hip hop, and more.
As the flagship program of The Lotus Education & Arts Foundation, Lotus World Music & Arts Festival is one of the oldest world music festivals in the U.S. and the only one of its kind in Indiana. Established in 1994, Lotus World Music & Arts Festival attracts more than 12,000 people to downtown Bloomington each fall for 4-5 days of music and arts from around the globe. Through the Festival, 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. In doing so, Lotus World Music & Arts Festival contributes to The Lotus Education & Arts Foundation mission: to create opportunities to experience, celebrate, and explore the diversity of the world's cultures, through music and the arts.Contributors
The 23rd annual Lotus World Music & Arts Festival is made possible by the generous support of local business sponsors:
Presenting Sponsors: Blueline Media Productions, Indiana University
Producer Sponsors: Bloom Magazine, Organized Living, Pizza X, Lennie's, One World Catering & Events, Bloomington Brewing Company, Indianapolis Monthly, IU Office of the Provost, Ivy Tech Community College, and the Lou and Sybil Mervis Chair of Jewish Culture and the Arts, Robert A. and Sandra S. Borns Jewish Studies Program.
Sustaining Sponsor: Southside Rental
Festival Grantors: Visit Bloomington, National Endowment for the Arts, Indiana Department of Tourism, Indiana Bicentennial Commission, Indiana Arts Commission, Brown County Community Foundation, and the Bloomington Arts Commission.
Established in 1994, the Lotus Education & Arts Foundation is a not-for-profit 501(c)3 organization based in Bloomington, Indiana, with a mission to create opportunities to experience, celebrate, and explore the diversity of the world's cultures, through music and the arts. All Lotus programming supports the institutional mission: the annual Lotus World Music & Arts Festival, Lotus Blossoms Educational Outreach, Edible Lotus, and a vibrant Visual Arts program. Lotus also offers special programming and events with community partners throughout the year. Lotus is supported by a diverse funding base: individual contributors, business sponsors, foundation and governmental grants, and ticket revenues. The organization is named partly in honor of Indiana musician Quinten Lotus Dickey (1911-1989). His spirit of open inquiry into the music of cultures other than his own-and his gifts as a musician, singer, and songwriter - inspired the founders.
| Artist | Country | Genre |
| Aallotar | Finland - US | Finnish-American folk music |
| Adonis Puentes | Cuba | Contemporary Cuban son |
| Alsarah & The Nubatones | Sudan/US | East African retro-pop |
| Altan | Ireland | Irish folk music |
| Anda Union* | Mongolia | Mongolian folk music |
| Anna & Elizabeth** | U.S. | American roots & folk |
| A-Wa | Israel | Yemenite folk & electronic dance |
| Ayaan Ali Bangash | India | Classical Indian sarod |
| Baladino | Israel | Sephardic & Mediterranean fusion |
| Federspeil | Austria | Austrian brass |
| Fémina | Argentina | Urban fusion from Patagonia |
| Fendika | Ethiopia | Traditional Ethiopian music and dance |
| Fiddle River Stringband | US/community dance | Old-time & community dance |
| Germán Lopéz | Canary Islands | Timple from the Canary Islands |
| Josienne Clark & Ben Walker | UK | Folk vocals & guitar |
| Lautari | Poland | Polish ethno-jazz |
| Lotus Dickey Tribute | US | Honoring an Indiana music icon |
| Maryann Talia Pau | Australia | One Million Stars founder |
| Mokoomba | Zimbabwe | High-energy Afro-fusion |
| Movits! | Sweden | Swedish swing & hip-hop |
| My Bubba | Sweden/Iceland | Minimalist folk music from Scandinavia |
| Palenke Soultribe | Colombia/US | Afro-Colombian electronica |
| Riyazz Qawwali | US | South Asian Sufi devotional music |
| Rocky Dawuni | Ghana | Reggae |
| Solo & Indr? | Senegal /Lithuania | Senegalese kora/Lithuanian kankles |
| Söndörg? | Hungary | Balkan tamburitza |
| The Dhol Foundation | UK/England | Dhol & Bhangra percussion |
| Yann Falquet & Pascal Gemme | Quebec, Canada | French-Canadian traditional |
* Kat Domingo Memorial Artist
** Lotus Dickey Artist
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