Chehaw Native American Festival

All I can say about this year's festival is WOW!!  Much larger than the one I attended two years ago, the weather was beautiful and the photo opps were everywhere.

I'm trying something new with this blog.  Since the software seems to not let me position the photos exactly where I want them, I created composites.  Hopefully this will work better and I won't have to move my blog to another site.

The Native American Festival is held annually at the famed Chehaw Park and Zoo.  The Zoo was designed by former Wild Kingdom host, Jim Fowler, who is also a resident of Albany.

It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words, so I'm going to save the better part of  a thousand words and just post the pictures here.  There are even more on my website Alfie & Company Photography

The most colorful and exciting event, for me at least, is the Aztec Dancers:

I was surprised and delighted to see Okefenokee Joe at the festival this year. Known across the world as an expert in field herpetology and a fascinating wildlife interpreter, I met Joe several years ago at the Sierra Club Annual Meeting in St. Simon, GA.  Joe is also a singer/song writer and at that meeting he played a song, 'Just a Tree, which has stuck with me all these years. The song tells a simple story about the complex environmental impact of just one tree.  As luck would have it, Joe had copies of the CD with that song with him, so naturally I purchased it and he was kind enough to autograph my copy.

There were numerous demonstrations and exhibits about pioneer living, and the children seemed to be fascinated by it all.

Of course, handmade crafts were everywhere--some of the prettiest jewelry, musical instruments, children's toys and home decor I've seen anywhere.  My second reason for going to the Festival, aside from material for my book, was to hopefully encounter a handcrafted bath soap vendor who was there two years ago.  Sure enough, I was again delighted when I found him and came away with the most wonderful Lemongrass Patchouli soap anywhere on earth!

I had hoped to start my Christmas shopping at the Festival.  Unfortunately, Uncle Sam was NOT cooperating this year or I probably would have spent a small fortune!  Maybe next year!