Hello everyone and thank you for stopping by the new site. Let my begin by saying that this festival has been a dream for a handful of ocarina enthusiasts here in the US for sometime. And while it is a shame that it has taken so long to have one in North America, it is about time!
Although the Ocarina is well known in Europe and Asia, it has had it’s ups and downs in North America. There has been a very small place for ocarina makers and collectors in the US, with last surge of Ocarina popularity back in 1998. This was because Nintendo released a video game under their popular Zelda series titled, “The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time”. Ever since then, fans of the video game have created a demand for replicas of the ocarina from the video game, which is how I discovered the instrument. Needless to say, I fell in love with it and soon realized that it was more than a simple toy from a video game, but a beautifully expressive instrument!
Over the years, I collected several ocarinas but my world was blown open when I began posting videos of my ocarina playing on the popular video site, youtube.com, back in 2007. I learned that fans of the game did not know it was a real instrument and thousands of others had never heard of an “Ocarina” before. Youtube not only allowed me to share my love for the instrument, but provided a platform to connect fans of the ocarina and start the next generation of Ocarina players!
Now, at the beginning of 2009, there are more people with ocarinas here in the US than ever before, and I feel we have reached the point where we can come together and exchange our knowledge, experience, and even ocarinas at our very first festival! Similar festivals have happened Europe and Asia. Every other year, there is ocarina festival held in Budrio, Italy, where the 10-hole was first developed. In 2008, two major festivals were held:
One in China (Click Here for video) and another in Austria (Click Here for video).
Both were opportunities for enthusiasts from their regions to come together to trade/sell ocarinas, attend seminars, and perform together in large groups. It has been a long wait for some here in North America, but I am very happy to say that in 2009, we will share those same opportunities. We hope you will be able to attend and be a part of this very historical occasion!