The Port St. Lucie International Fest

I went to the 3rd annual Port St. Lucie International Fest yesterday afternoon. I did not have high expectations, mainly because it was being held in Port St. Lucie, the city of endless suburban housing developments and surprisingly enough, the 6th largest city in Florida. But it was actually kind of fun. They had live performances on an outdoor stage, including mariachi bands (one of which I saw), lion dancers (which I also saw, as seen in the photograph on the left), and to conclude the evening, a concert by 1964 The Tribute, a Beatles tribute band that the Rolling Stones have called the "Best Beatles Tribute on Earth," which, of course, I missed. Those are the breaks, I guess.

They also had a dachshund dog race, which I also witnessed. I didn't see all the races, but in the one I did see, once the race started, all the dogs except one headed toward the side of the field (and the exit) instead of straight ahead to the finish line, despite coaxing by one of the event volunteers, as seen in the photograph on the right. Those dog owners need to do a lot more training of those mutts if they want to get serious about racing. Plus, I feel obligated to mention that many of the dogs did not resemble dachshunds, not even remotely. I was thinking of filing a complaint with the Port St. Lucie dog racing commission, but this being Florida, I am sure they would just look the other way.

And I also have to report that I saw a mime in person for the first time in my life, as seen in the photograph on the left. I grew up in Chicago, and for the past 44 years have lived in Colorado, and both states have very strict laws banning mimes. As it should be. This, of course, is Florida, and so almost anything goes down here. After all, Governor Ron DeSantis had all the signs at the state line changed to "Welcome to the Free State of Florida." Which technically is not true, judging by the price of groceries in the local supermarkets. In any case, the festival also had a large number of food booths, featuring international cuisine, and inside the event center there is a "Cultural Fashion Exhibit, " which will be on display until December 1st. And I also might mention that they had a good-sized turnout for the festival, too. This being Port St. Lucie, I assume that is because it is probably the only thing happening there this weekend. All in all, I'm glad I went, despite the fact it seemed to take hours to get out of that sprawling city.