Kids roam the field, flicking frisbees, firing popguns, running and laughing. All this looks like any country fair anywhere. Then you enter another world, another time in the huge wooden canopy built like an open sided tipi. Stands of bleacher seats ring the central performance pad. The dancers cue at the entrance.
Drummers pound a rhythmic mesmerizing beat and sing a shrill song, a tremulous sustained scream.
Tentatively, a line of dancers enter in single file circling around the perimeter then spiraling in toward the centre as the endless line snakes onto the performance pad. Maybe 200 men, children and women, in turn fill the area with a swirl of blazing colour and movement. Bells attached to their costumes raise a shimmering tinkle. The costumes are extraordinary. Flamboyent feathers splayed over vibrant colours with accents of fur, beaded work, ribbons and flowing fringes of fabric and string.