<

Rossini Festival (in less than 10 minutes) from Lia Ballentine on Vimeo.

Went to the Rossini Festival in downtown Knoxville (Tennessee) today. I was really disappointed. Where’s the “Rossini” in all of this? (To find out what the Rossini Festival is SUPPOSED to be, go here: http://www.knoxvilleopera.com/rossini.)

I volunteered last year, and it was a mess. Just to recap some of what happened: I showed up and there were no volunteer coordinators there. I wandered around until I found the booth I thought I was supposed to be at, which was the wine and cheese booth. Nobody was there, and the festival was to begin in an hour. Another volunteer and I, who were the only ones setting up the booth and making the food, were treated rudely by a couple of opera company members. Then I ended up having to listen to opera members talk badly about each other and the festival — they stood around me drinking the wine and eating the cheese (without paying!) and kept gossiping about this and that. It was all so negative. AND THEN, I ended up working extra hours because there were no replacements; however, there were at least five opera folks standing around bad-mouthing people chatting and eating the cheese that entire time. And I never once got a “Thank You” for my help. (Even as I left — when I went to the Tennessee Theatre to turn in my “volunteer” badge — the woman inside just pointed to the table for me to drop it off. Not a word.)

After all of that, I decided to come back again this year. Everyone gets a second chance, right? But I don’t think it helped. I still had a bad taste in my mouth from last year. And it just bummed me out to get there and realize that I was walking down the street of another Southern craft fair and food festival. I could get this anywhere. I thought the point was to bring Italian culture and opera performances to downtown Knoxville? Maybe I just didn’t see it because the huge funnel cake and corn dog signs were in my way.

As much as I love supporting the arts, I don’t know if I can support this particular event anymore. I’ll still go see the opera. I’ll still buy my ticket for Pagliacci. But maybe the opera folks are just tired of this festival. I guess they know the food will be a success. I know the vendors are making good money (judging by the crowds at the hot dog tents). But where’s the opera?

Where’s Rossini?