Fourth May Fair Draws 5000 To Music, International Bazaar

An estimated 5000 people descended upon the Cambridge Common yesterday to sample ethnic delicacies from all corners of the globe, take in the sounds of folk and bluegrass music, and shop for artifacts from as far away as Bali and Peru in the Harvard Square Business Association's fourth annual "May Fair."

From afar, the blue- and red-striped tents seemed to produce an anachronism, a medieval fair nestled in a New England setting. Under the tents, throngs of eager shoppers flocked to the 55 booths set up for the association's six-hour spring counterpart to Oktoberfest.

Association Executive Director Sally Alcorn, who founded the fair, said the international bazaar's purpose was to "reflect the international diversity of Harvard Square and to bring the academic and residential communities together."

The event's main attractions included Salisa, a middle eastern dancer from the Averof Restaurant who performed on a trailer-turned-stage, and an array of vendors hawking jewelry, clothing and art work from five continents.

The Cambridge-based "New Voice Jazz Sextet," the rhythm and blues ensemble "Little Frankie and the Premiers," the sixties folk group "Battery Park," and the Caribbean band "Salsa Nova" played for the busy shoppers. For younger fairgoers, the fair featured Beep the Clown, pottery demonstrations, cotton candy, scooter rides and a merry-go-round.

The varied and tantalizing odors of Teryaki steak, stuffed clams and the ever-present candied apples spilled over the bustling crowds.

Shoppers were lured by such exotic wares as Nigerian cotton shirts, jars of sand and gravel from different parts of the world, Polish boxes, trays and dolls, several volumes from the 1830 Encyclopedia Britannica, and costumes from a 1920s marching band.

The perrenial Boston showers held off just longenough not to hamper the fair, and organizers saidthey were pleased with the turnout despiteunseasonably cool temperatures.

Wandering amid Italian sausage stands, Africanart displays and Japanese-made American flags,fair-goers noted the distinctly Cambridgediversity. Said one woman leaving the Common: "Itcould only happen here.