World Music Festival — global goulash for everyone

For five years running, Keystone's World Music Festival has been kicking off its summertime season with family events, shopping, dancing and drinks. It's set to run Saturday from 1-6 p.m. at River Run in Keystone Resort.

“It's completely free — free parking, free everything,” said Josh Blanchard, the events and pavilion manager for the Keystone Neighbourhood Company. “It's very family friendly. There's stuff for older folks — wine and beverages — great music and kids activities.”

Drinks and food are available for an affordable price.

The World Music Festival is Keystone's first big festival of the summer, and its start is also aligned with the resort officially opening its mountain bike park.

“We pick different cultures each year to highlight with crafts and music,” Blanchard said. “It's the only event like this in Summit County all summer long that focuses on world cultures.”

Though festival attendance is dependent on the weather, Blanchard expects to see 2,500 people coming into town for the day.

“We do get a lot of Front Range folks,” he said, noting that a good mix of people attend — from surrounding areas, local peeps and summer visitors. Pets are, unfortunately, not invited.

Cool things about the festival

To celebrate cultures from around the globe, Keystone is creating a collision of cultures, combining live music, crafts, kids activities and shopping.

Here are a few fun World Music Festival activities:

— The new kids marKIDplace in the River Run Silvermill courtyard is featuring four “stops” around the world — Hawaii, England, South America and Australia.

According to Blanchard, world destinations picked for previous years include Africa, New Orleans, Ireland and Caribbean. Kids can participate in educational activities, and arts and crafts, including lei making and hula dancing, building crowns, learning fun new Spanish words, and “swimming” in the Great Barrier Reef.

Participating children will receive a “passport” to explore the world. Live clown and mime performances, as well as bounce houses will be available for kiddy-fun.

— Steel Alive, a Colorado-based steel drum group made up of teenagers, will play at the festival as part of their summer tour. The band will put on a demo and perform their Caribbean sound.

— Naturally 7, a European band, is a jazz-hip-hop fusion a cappella group that makes techno noises with their mouths.

“It truly sounds like a full-scale band with real musical instruments,” Blanchard said.

— Several nonprofit and free-trade groups will also be featured in the Keystone marketplace, including Ten Thousand Villages, Hands of Hope and People of Hope Crafts.

Ten Thousand Villages, a nonprofit, volunteer-run alternative trade organization, works with artisans who are disenfranchised in their countries — over 70 percent are women, many single mothers.

“The World Music Festival fits us like a glove,” said Jane Snyder of Ten Thousand Villages. “We are able to share the stories of our artisan partners with a wider audience while enjoying the fantastic music and food that the festival brings to Keystone.”

As the oldest and largest fair trade company in the United States since 1946, the organization pioneered the idea of fair trade in North America, and it purchases crafts from over 60,000 artisans in 36 countries.

For more information about the World Music Festival, visit keystoneresort.com or call (970) 496-4386.

Caitlin Row can be reached at (970) 668-4633 or at crow@summitdaily.com.