The 27th annual Lotus World Music & Arts Festival will be held virtually from September 24–27 and will feature the music of 27 artists with influences from 17 countries. Performers include fan favorites Movits! and Väsen and Friends.
Festival activities will begin on Thursday night with the virtual Kick-Off Concert, livestreamed from the Lotus Firebay. Local artists Salaam (Iraq) and Brad Leftwich & The Humdingers (U.S.) will open the festival alongside Nation Beat (Brazil), a Lotus first-timer.
On Friday night, the virtual three-hour Evening Showcase is free and open to the public, featuring pre-recorded performances from Fanfara Station (Italy), Cimarrón (Columbia), Habib Koité (Mali), Paris Combo (France), De Temps Antan (Canada), Creole Choir of Cuba (Cuba), the Friel Sisters (Scotland), Lo’Jo (France), and Väsen and Friends (Sweden/U.S.).
A live, in-person, socially distanced concert will be held at Switchyard Park on Saturday featuring Craig Brenner (U.S), Mariachi Perla del Medio Oeste (Mexico/U.S.), and the Jenn Cristy Band (U.S.). The concert will be followed by the virtual Saturday Evening Showcase, with music from Ak Dan Gwang Chil (South Korea), Guy Davis (U.S.), The Wailin’ Jennys (Canada), Kevin Locke (U.S.), Tuuletar (Finland), Ricardo Lemvo (Democratic Republic of Congo/Cuba/U.S.), Huun Huur-Tu & Carmen Rizzo (Tuva), Nohe & Sus Santos (Honduras/Mexico/U.S.), and Movits! (Sweden.)
Lotus will conclude with a virtual Sunday livestream from the Lotus Firebay, featuring music from Joshua Thompson (U.S.), the Krista Detor Band (U.S.), and Lotus first-timer Ley Line (U.S.). At 10 a.m., Festival Unwind Yoga will be available via video conference.
The Friday and Saturday Evening Showcases are free, and the Thursday and Sunday livestream tickets cost $25 for virtual admission to both shows. Tickets for the in-person Saturday concert are available here.
This year, the Lotus World Music & Arts Festival is presented by Indiana University–Bloomington, the Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies at Indiana University, and the Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President at Indiana University.
Event links are available on the Lotus Facebook and YouTube pages. For more information, visit lotusfest.org.
