By: Allison Ballard
Taiko is loud. That is irrefutable. So one of the best (and most fun!) ways we can market ourselves is to simply get out in the community and play. Once the weather gets nice, our annual festival circuit starts. And when we ask people how they heard about us, more often than not, they mention one of these events. This year, we are scheduled to play performances at the Cherry Blossom Festival on May 18, at New Haven Canal Days on June 6, at the Three Rivers Festival on July 12 and at the Taste of the Arts on August 23. On April 24, we are headed out to Summit Square, drums in tow, and playing during the noon lunch hour for no specific reason whatsoever–other than to introduce ourselves to the folks who are working downtown. And if we drum up enough interest that some of those people are inspired to attend our fundraiser being held at Wunderkammer Company on May 4 at 7 p.m. then all the better!
Beat of a Different Drum, a collaborative fundraising event between FWDC and Fort Wayne Taiko, has a $10 cover charge and food and drink will be available with proceeds going to support Fort Wayne Taiko. This year, our focus is expanding our costume wardrobe so we’re hoping to raise funds to pay for fabric (we’ll do the design and construction ourselves)….not to mention our desire for a couple of kasujis–smaller taikos that we can strap to our body and carry around. (It makes it much easier to work a crowd!) To prepare for this event, we have been working on songs we learned in Japan and are adding three new pieces to our standing repertoire. So get us on your calendar and come hear what we’ve been drumming up through the long, cold winter!