McKinley East Sacramento Neighborhood Association (MENA)

Music, food and harmony at the H Street Festival

Oct 13, 2005

The second annual H Street Festival was held on September 10 at the Central United Methodist Church on H Street and according to Brenda Jew Waters, the coordinator of the project, "The letter ?‘H?’ in the title stands for Harmony and Healing, a feel for community, multi-cultural diversity and a sense of spirit."

All this was evident from more than 25 amazingly diverse exhibits and booths at the festival. These included public agencies such as Sacramento County Voter Registration and Elections, and the United States Post office. Artist and arts-related exhibits included CSUS Arts Bridge, Best of Broadway Benefit Productions, as well as many individual painters, jewelry makers and writers. Service agencies, such as Happy Tails Pet Sanctuary and the Volunteer Center of Sacramento, were also represented.

The festival provided diversity in performances too. Doug the Heart Drummer opened with a drum circle on the front lawn, catching the attention of many of the children in attendance. Later the children from the Camellia Waldorf School performed all sorts of daring feats on unicycles and stilts. The Good Intentions Paving Company, who described themselves as "old flower children" or "dried flowers" gave a fine performance in the early afternoon. All the while people were seen enjoying the savory food from The Persian Garden Restaurant and Mariano and Rica Albert's Asian Cuisine. "The Salsa Capital" from the Del Campo Dance Studio was the closing performance and sent all the festival-goers home tapping their toes.