Three festivals bring the world to Hampton Roads

The world, or at least big, tasty chunks of it, comes to Hampton Roads this weekend. Three events glory in the culture of other lands. Travel a spell with us...

INDIA FEST

Bathe your eyes in the colors of Indian life - the fashion and fabrics, the artwork, the costumes of dancers and singers.

Treat your nose and tickle your taste buds with the cuisine of the sub-continent.

In other words, get to Old Dominion University on Sunday as it hosts India Fest, now in its 14th year.

The theme this year is "Vibrant India," according to the group that sponsors the event, Asian Indians of Hampton Roads.

The entertainment will reflect that theme, with classical and folk dances, Bollywood music and dances, and the presentation by local children of music and dance.

As always, it's a free event, but visitors can buy Indian food, including groceries; art; crafts; books; Bollywood DVDs; and other items.

IF YOU GO

What India Fest 2009

When 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Sunday

Where Old Dominion University's Webb University Center, Norfolk

Tickets Free; (757) 270-4208

MID-AUTUMN MOON FESTIVAL

Cheryl Tan of WAVY-TV will be master of ceremonies for this year's Mid-Autumn Moon Festival Saturday in Norfolk.

The festival marks the most important Chinese holiday after Chinese New Year - a celebration of the traditional autumn harvest and of family togetherness, much like Thanksgiving.

A special treat for the occasion is the moon cake - made with a light, tender dough filled with sweet bean paste or lotus seed. Sometimes an egg yolk (the moon) is placed in the center. Plenty will be available at the festival. Legend has it that the Chinese smuggled messages of uprising inside moon cakes during their occupation by the Mongols.

Among the events celebrating Chinese culture will be: lantern making and storytelling; a parent-and-child costume parade; and appearances by the Moon Goddess; and music and dance.

IF YOU GO

What Mid-Autumn Moon Festival

When Noon-4 p.m. Saturday

Where TowneBank Fountain Park, alongside Waterside Festival Marketplace, downtown Norfolk

Tickets Free; (757) 441-2345

MOTHER TONGUES AND OTHER CULTURES

Think of this as a festival for the mind.

This symposium at Old Dominion University features Germany's top German-Jewish writer of the post-Holocaust, Rafael Seligmann, who has been called the Philip Roth of Europe. Another speaker will be Anna Rosmus, the real-life model for the film "The Nasty Girl," a 1990 drama about a German teen who investigates her town's Nazi past; it was nominated for an Academy Award.

Four days of lectures, discussions and films will examine how people settle in new cultures but express themselves in their original language. This changes the mother tongues, and affects other forms of expression, such as film and music, as well as sexual, spiritual and cultural identity.

The conference includes nationally and internationally recognized authors and translators Shelley Frisch, Michael Blumenthal, Luisa Igloria, Tim Seibles and Peter Wortsman.

IF YOU GO

What Mother Tongues and Other Cultures: Creative Writing, Translation and Multi-Cultural Transformation, an international symposium

When Today through Sunday; keynote address "The Renaissance of the German-Jewish Novel" by Rafael Seligmann at 8:30 tonight.

Where Old Dominion University, along Hampton Boulevard, and Temple Israel, 7255 Granby St., Norfolk

Tickets Free; (757) 683-3981, www.al.odu.edu