Our Second International Folk Music Festival: A Euphoric Encore

Music has a way of universally connecting people that is so unique and magical; it can be hard to put into words just how it works. But, if one were to try they probably couldn’t do better than to play you a recording of Glenn McClure’s song Somos Hermanos. The call for solidarity among ALL Americans (meaning North, Central, and South America) was upliftingly performed by Glenn and local band Teyocoyani in what was just one of many highlights from June 5th and the Second International Folklore Festival in El Sauce.

The concert was a worthy sequel to the first festival two years ago when Nicaraguan musical icon Carlos Mejía Godoy performed in El Sauce in collaboration with McClure with whom he co-wrote a song. It

continued the tradition of being an international collaboration, but without the musical giant Godoy, it was also a wider platform for the amazing talent in El Sauce and Nicaragua. Local legends Teyocoyani treated Sauceños to their signature style in between the colorful choreography of local dancers in Atabal. Special guests Duo Monfran proved to be wildly popular with fans and first-time listeners alike.

The show culminated in the final performance by headliner El Guadalupano whose songs are famous throughout the country. During the 1970's he hosted several popular radio programs and later teamed up with Carlos Mejía Godoy including a tour to Spain. Like Godoy, he also was a strong Sandinista supporter who faced intimidation and governmental monitoring for his support of the Sandinista movement at that time. Today he is counted among Nicaragua's most popular musicians alongside Godoy and others.

Throughout the evening concertgoers could be seen dancing, singing, and clapping along to the music while in between sets a happy chatter could be heard. At its peak more than a thousand people were enjoying the music and dancing on the warm Friday evening. The event would have been all to familiar to any U.S. festival or concertgoer; small children running around the concert, adults dragging seats together with friends and family, and teenage boys draining soda after soda while they pretended not to notice the girls who were just as busy pretending to not care. It was an all-American experience capturing the simple truths of music and life.

With two incredible shows in the books, we are already looking forward to the next festival and strengthening the connection between ALL Americans, especially those here in Nicaragua and our friends in the United States.

We would like to acknowledge the incredible team effort that went into the concert by thanking all involved organizations: the mayor’s office for hosting the space and providing decorations, SUNY Geneseo for its support, all the wonderful performers and of course our very own staff for all their hard work with preparation and making the show run smoothly.