International festival returns to downtown Eau Claire

Sep. 11—EAU CLAIRE — Mao Xiong smiled and held her smartphone up to record her daughter, Pearl, 10, and four nieces as they sang songs in the Hmong language on the main stage Saturday afternoon at Eau Claire's International Fall Festival.

It was the second live performance for Second Generation Nkauj Hmoob — an ensemble of girls ages 6 to 10 who perform in traditional Hmong attire.

With younger generations of Hmong children being raised primarily speaking English, the singing group is a way of passing down the language, culture and values of their elders.

"They learn to read in Hmong so it helps them soak up the language and culture," Xiong said.

After a hiatus last year brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, the downtown Eau Claire festival returned to showcase different cultures seen in the region.

"It's just refreshing to be back this year," said Christina Rambo of Eau Claire, while sitting down with her children and their friend as they pleaded with her to take another bite of their cotton candy.

The festival is an event she typically goes to each year with her family and this year Rambo also was a part of it. She performed during the afternoon as part of the CollECtive Choir, a local group of people from different backgrounds who come together to sing gospel songs.

Taking place on five blocks of South Barstow Street on Saturday, the festival featured live performances, a variety of food vendors and booths from different organizations and businesses.

Organizers at Downtown Eau Claire Inc. changed some aspects of this year's celebration with the ongoing pandemic in mind and a goal of making the event more multicultural than it had been in years past.

Vendor booths were spread out more along the street to allow social distancing between people. The usual afternoon parade was canceled, both due to a lack of units expressing interest and to prevent spectators from clustering together. A petting zoo and inflatables for children were also absent this year, also to prevent the spread of germs.

But a couple blocks down from the festival, the Eau Claire Children's Museum picked up the baton for activities for families and children. Coinciding with the festival's 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. hours, the museum held its block party at the future site of its new facility along North Barstow Street.

While eschewing some things from prior years' festivals, Downtown Eau Claire Inc. did add shuttle service to remote parking this year. The downtown promoting organization also increased its efforts to draw in a more diverse slate of vendors and performers. Groups who performed on stage were paid — a first for the festival — and vendors were sought out to showcase more cultures at the event.

Lorena Rodriguez of Minneapolis got an invite to bring her small business, Mexico en mi Corazón, to set up a booth at the festival in Eau Claire.

On Saturday, she brought an assortment of handmade pottery, sandals, artwork, dolls and other colorful merchandise to sell along South Barstow Street.

"It's from my country," she said. "I feel so proud to be Mexican. We have so many beautiful things."

She started selling imported wares last year after she found herself unemployed due to the pandemic.

Rodriguez had been contracted to sew clothes worn at formal dances, such as school proms, from home. However, with those gatherings largely canceled due to the pandemic, the work dried up.

Looking for a way to make money, she looked to her roots and started up her own business of selling Mexican goods online and at festivals.