hula hoops

hula hoops at MoctoberFest, Tucson, AZ (3/30/2013)

Tucson MoctoberFest 2013 Photos

Here are a few pictures I took at MoctoberFest on Saturday.  MoctoberFest is a fun All Souls Procession benefit and spring carnival held at the Mercado San Agustin in Tucson.  Above, belly dance performance by Skirt Full of Fire.

Mamaxe put on a great show of West African dancing to the beat of Planet Djembe.

... and offered the chance for folks to get up a learn a few moves

The Mamaxe dancers (front) with Planet Djembe drummers (West African music and dance)

In addition to their evening performance, members of the Flight School acrobatics group put on an amazing demonstration out in the courtyard of the Mercado.

just sitting around on a Saturday afternoon... they make it look so easy...

ok, supported by one foot, this is just an amazing pose!  

The propane tank at the top of the stack above was part of a cool, make that warm, large flame that would periodically go off during the evening lighting up the entire performance area.  Pretty neat!

Circus Electric was there with their very large as well as this small Van de Graf generator to light up the night.  My blog entry/photos from last year's MoctoberFest has some pictures of their large Van De Graf generator performance.

It's always fun to try to take night pictures of led hula-hoops.  It works better with a steady camera support, but still fun to take.

Main music stage to the left, and aerial silks hanging in the breeze awaiting silk artists later in the evening.

igniting a hula hoop for a fire dance

Since my still photos don't do any justice to the sound and motion of the festival, here is a short collection of quick video clips taken with my phone of fire dancing by the always great Orbital Evolution Hula Hoop Troupe, the large Van de Graf generator with Circus Electric.  Perhaps this event would be better shot in video?

MoctoberFest 2013 was a great way to kick back and enjoy a beautiful spring day in Tucson --  gotta love Tucson and the performing arts community of Tucson!

Tucson MoctoberFest 2012 pictures

 I had a great time Saturday night down at the Tucson MoctoberFest listening to bands, watching dancers, a wide range of great performers, and shooting a few pictures while at it.   I rotated the above picture upside down for a different perspective -- hey, they're acrobats, they should be able to handle it.  :-)

In addition to being a great event on its own, the MoctoberFest was also a fundraiser for Many Mouths One Stomach, the organization behind the wonderful All Souls Procession held every year in Tucson.

The festival setting was held inside the courtyard of the Mercado  San Agustin and in the parking lot to the west of the building (below) looking up at Tumamoc Hill.  It was really nice listening to a band on the main stage while looking up at the Orion constellation in the night sky overhead!

Hoops!  Lots of hoops at this festival!

and silk artists

and costumes and smiles!   The Orbital Evolution Hula Hoop Troupe are always fun to watch.  They also provided Hula Hoops for adults and kids to enjoy in the grassy area inside the Mercado.

and happy feet!  -- I really enjoyed watching some outstanding dancers dancing to a great African rhythm beat.

in addition to two main stage areas, there were some small breakout groups as well

a family friendly event, there were a number of activities for children

Once it got dark there were many "sideshow" performances, including Professor Carl Noggle’s Tesla Coil -- a truely electrifying performance.

she's standing on the top of a giant Tesla coil, has potential...  ;-)

long exposure of a great led poi dancer

oh, and to be accurate, here is the correct perspective of the picture at the start of this blog entry,  Flight School during their very cool performance.

and here is my full set of MoctoberFest pictures (about 100) on a flickr slide show (click the bottom right icon to expand to full screen)...   Enjoy!  I did!