Director: Sally Grubb | Theme: 10th Anniversary Celebration
Reaching a crossroads, and forming a new non-profit organization, Festival supporters and organizers briefly debated taking the year off to get the organization more stable. "I'd rather have an imperfect festival that happens than a perfect one that doesn't." - Eric Lerner A 10th anniversary cake measuring 8 feet by 4 feet, and 14 inches deep with an apricot filling and chocolate icing was baked by Clever Hans Bakery. Highlights included an outdoor exhibition by 15 Ithaca sculptors, including Deb Jones, Cly Boehs, Robert Jessup. The artists used cardboard, clothespins, styrofoam, duct tape, paint, and other discardables to create such pieces designed to last only a few days at best - an exercise in evanescence. Perennial favorite performers included the belly dancers, Mark Rust, the Live Mannequin, Dickens the Clown, the Scottish Country Dancers and more. A sampling of the gastronomic delights found at the Festival: falafels, potato pancakes, freshly picked strawberries, Navajo fry bread, tempura, mango juice, Cornell chicken, and ice cream. "People said they could smell them from across the park," said Carolyn Wargo, who sold nearly 100 quarts of the succulent red berries.
"The Festival really makes you feel like part of a community-everybody turns out to see old friends and to make new ones." -Tony Ingraham, veteran festival goer
