World Beats a Path to Orange Fair

No one paid much attention to the Korean teen-ager who stood silently amid three brightly painted buk drums suspended on carved stands.

Then in a whirl of motion that prompted the steady stream of people filing past her to stop and watch in awe, 17-year-old Grace Kim of Anaheim Hills began her intricate dance, beating on the drums and spinning in graceful circles.

“Wow, she’s really good,” said Jonas Marquez of Norwalk as Grace pounded the thin drumsticks against the taut skins at lightning speed. When she finished, the crowd gave her a hearty round of applause.

“I didn’t feel nervous,” Grace said. “It’s fun to do.”

Grace, whose mother served up heaping plates of hot, spicy Korean food while the dance went on, was one of the many ethnic entertainers who performed before thousands of people Saturday at the 18th annual Orange International Street Fair.

The three-day Labor Day weekend event, held on Chapman Avenue and Glassell Street in the heart of the city, is expected to draw more than 400,000 people by the time it closes tonight, said fair spokesman Marshall Feduk.

“Last night was the busiest Friday night I have ever seen,” said Feduk, a local artist who has been a volunteer at the street fair for the past 13 years.

Bernie Howard, vice president of the Danish American Club of Orange County, put the crowd estimate in more colorful terms: “You could have walked on the heads of the people, there was so many of them.”

On Saturday afternoon, young fair-goers were treated to a variety of activities, including ceramics and finger-painting, while their older counterparts browsed through arts and crafts, jewelry and informational booths under bright skies.

But in keeping with the international theme of the yearly fair, the focus was on food, and lots of it. Fair-goers were tempted to taste dozens of different foods, from sopes to souvlaki, and from Danish ableskivers to American apple pie.

Organizers said that 13 different ethnic groups were represented at the street fair, whose theme this year was “Orange, Where the World Meets.”

The reputation of the fair, which started in 1973, has grown over to the years, drawing people from all over the Southland, Feduk said.

Indeed, Arnold and Agnes Guminski, avid Greek-style dancers, drove down from Glendale to see the Hellenic Sounds, a Greek music band that was playing on a stage near a series of booths that sold gyros, loukoumades and kataifi.

“We’ll go anywhere to listen to good Greek music,” said Guminski, panting after a round of dancing. “These guys are good.”

The nonprofit groups that sponsored the booths donate much of the proceeds to local charities. The fair also promotes understanding of the various ethnic cultures that exist in Orange County.

“Everybody is here to have a wonderful time and eat the greatest food,” said Reza Yadzi of Orange, a volunteer at the Arab-American food booth. “We all share a good sense of humor.”