Faire and Fair

 The Endangered Species Faire is part of an exhausting but exuberant first Saturday in May every year. There is also a "Pioneer Day" Spring Parade that I am boycotting because the parade committee would not change the name of the parade last year after representatives of the Mechoopda and Pomo people both spoke to Occupy Chico about how painful to them it is to celebrate pioneers and we made a well reasoned request that was never responded to. That was enough for me. Change it or stay away from it. (I don't feel done trying to change the name.)
Anyway, there is nothing I would want to change about the Endangered Species Faire that Butte Environmental Council puts on each year. It is a Gem.

 We have been blessed with creative people working all year in the schools with children to educate and make puppets representing endangered species. In this section the creatures of Air, Water, Earth came out separately after the original Procession of the Species... a wonderful, solemn entrance of many children, adults and their spectacular and humble puppets.

 It was nonetheless heart searing to hear the little voices on the microphone one after the other describing their species... so many at risk and these little people not really understanding why this is happening to their animal.. me either. me either.
The next stop was the International Fair at Chico State University where I got some fun shots of Jeanne Christopherson's dancers.

 At the end we were all samba-ing around and a couple of the guys from an Arabic country, I think they were perhaps Saudi, came out and danced around to the beat with the crowd. Just one big family under a hot spring sun. I loved it.