In a town 22 miles away, they have a fun street festival called Amani. http://www.amanifestivalcarlisle.com
Amani means peace in Swahili. The festival is about multi culturalism and diversity. It brings the community together to celebrate those things and lets everybody have some fun. And good food! They shut down several streets and you can just stroll around and enjoy the whole thing. The weather was perfect too.
There were merchants with so many different kinds of things to sell. Quite a few food vendors of foods from different countries. Live music of several different kinds was playing thru the festival area.
I had some good Chinese stir fry with noodles, made to order with what I wanted in it. Then I had a walk-away sundae, with good ice cream. So I was bad, lol, but it was good.
At one edge, they had a family drum circle, and that was so good.
There were some animals. A dog park had a stand there and people could pet the dogs. (There was some barking, but no dog fights.) Lots of people brought their own dogs along, on leashes and some even in carriages.
An alpaca farm brought two young alpacas who had just had their hair cut, and they had alpaca yarn for sale, and things made from the yarn.
Some people who sell exotic snakes were there; one guy was wearing one of his snakes!
It was a day when people of all different backgrounds, religions, and races came together to enjoy the festival, the weather, the food, and the enjoyment of celebrating each other, all together. The world could take a lesson from this town, and this festival. So Amani, peace.
This is held annually and if you’re in the area, you should go next year. Check their website above for details.
Sarasin's thoughts....... 
I love festivals! Thanks for sharing 🙂 It looks like it was lots of fun!
It was! Food is a priority of mine……😊
of couse! mine would be too!
Doesn’t that guy wearing the snake know that they snake must be dead and made into a belt or boots before he wears it?!
No Tony. He was very comfortable wearing it……alive!
Before Rhocy, I lived with an elderly terrier named Bill. When he got worn out running round in circles (he was blind), I wore him around my neck. It was both comfortable and very stylish.
Awww, bless your heart. 🙂
Oh, he certainly did that.
This sounds fun!! What a wonderful way to spend a gorgeous spring day. We definitely need more such events 🙂
Your blogpost reminded me of an event VIESHEA that was a tradition at Iowa State University (my alma matter) and discontinued in 2014 due to unfortunate events.
But the highlights of this weeklong celebration were a parade of local businesses and clubs, an international food fair (yum), midnight pancake tents and so much more fair food. 🙂
Different kinds of fair foods are the best, cos they add to the fun and taste good when you eat them at a fair.
Thank you for coming to Amani Festival! I am the president of Amani…and just now stumbled upon this article/blog 😀 I even shared it on our Facebook page!
I hope to see you again soon at one of our other events throughout the year.
https://www.facebook.com/AmaniCarlisleFestival
Thanks for your comment. It’s an amazing festival and I’ll be back again!