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Lotus Director: Some Scheduled Artists Can't Attend Due To Visa Trouble

lotus festival concert

The Lotus World Music And Arts Festival is a four day event that starts Thursday night. (WFIU/WTIU News)

The Lotus World Music and Arts Festival kicks off in Bloomington tonight with a concert at the Buskirk-Chumley Theatre. 

Tamara Loewenthal has worked for the Lotus Festival for 25 years and was named the executive director this summer. She says the festival experienced more difficulties with artists obtaining visas to come perform than in the past.

“If we disagree with the politics of that country or some other aspect of what we’re doing USA Department policy might be to make it difficult for even travelling musicians to come to the United States,” she says.

She says three performance groups had to adjust their line-up because band members couldn’t obtain visas on time. Some of these groups include performers that have played at Lotus before, like Trio Brasileiro.

“They started their visa process at the same time as they always have," Loewenthal says.

There will be a Jordanian-Palestinian band playing at Dunn Meadow Thursday night, but the group lives in Belgium. Loewenthal says if a group comes from a country that has strained relations with the US, but they live in a European nation, it sometimes helps them get a visa faster.

This year, the festival has just over 500 volunteers. Loewenthal says the volunteers are a key part of what makes the event consistently successful. 

She expects around 12,000 people total to attend the event.

Loewenthal says the festival is looking for people who have committed to living in Bloomington to invest in the future and of the Lotus Fest by either volunteering or joining the board.

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