Faces of the Festival

Michelle: Greek Connections

My ancestry is Greek, Swedish, and Irish. I feel most connected to my Greek heritage. A decade ago I took a trip to the island my grandfather is from, called…

Stephanie: Fear and Coffee

When I was a young person traveling across the United States by myself in the early 1980s I was trying to get to Tucson. I stopped at a truck stop…

Dena & Jesus: Garden Connections

Dena: I grew up in Tucson and then moved to Spain. I’m torn between Tucson’s desert and the rainy forests in Spain. I feel at home and in both worlds….

Etty: Student Becomes Teacher

I have loved Tucson since the first day that I got here from Peru in 2002. I’m married to an American guy. In the beginning I felt like I was…

Gerard: Proud Tucsonan

I am most proud to be a Tucsonan more than anything else. People think I’m Native American, but I’m really German and Hispanic. I rarely feel connected to my German…

Imelda: Corn in My DNA

I feel the most joy when I’m eating. I try to eat a lot, small portions, but all the time. Food is connected to a certain part of our brain…

Bruno: Locker Love

I’m a native Tucsonan, and a retired Air Force veteran. I used my GI Bill to go to college in my later years, so in 2017 I graduated from the…

Beverley: Citizen of the World

I grew up in New Zealand on a dairy farm, milking cows and shoveling. In Polynesia, in New Zealand, the Maori culture is still very strong, the Maori language is…

Arturo: I Belong Here

I was born in 1952. I was born on a reservation and I’m living on another reservation. Born in Coolidge, I now live here in Pascua. I am most connected…

Jacobo: Musical Parents

I’m of Mexican descent, but I play music from all over Latin America. I started with the guitar, but from there, I started playing charango, the South American 10-string Andean…

Lisa: Tucson & New Orleans

I am a writer and teacher and editor and podcast producer. I moved to Tucson a little over 12 years ago to go to graduate school. I’m originally from New…

Kate: Ethnomusicology

When I was very small, like three, the San Diego Symphony had a Sunday afternoon family concert series. And at the end of them they’d always have instrument petting zoos….

Aaron: Banker’s Advice

  “I started out as a handful as a child, dropped out of high school, got my GED when I was 21, you know? Kind of just livin’ life day…

Liane: Food as Love

I was a chef for a while here in Tucson. It was my first job when I got here when I was 18. We always get the question of what’s…

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