海角大神

This Indio, California, fair is pure Americana 鈥� corn dogs, rides, demolition derby, face painters who can turn a child鈥檚 cheeks into butterfly wings. For 10 days in February, the desert city fairground glows with candy-colored lights while the wind flicks American flags.

But walk toward the heart of the hubbub, past the smoke of sizzling turkey legs, and the scene transforms.

What looks like a minaret rising tall among the palms is part of an outdoor stage. It鈥檚 meant to conjure long-ago Baghdad 鈥� or what a Hollywood set designer in the 1940s envisioned as such. Here, Coachella Valley locals have long paid tribute to the origins of a local cash crop, the date, by performing pageants loosely tied to tales in 鈥淥ne Thousand and One Nights.鈥� The half-hour version of 鈥淎laddin鈥� this year was based on the 1992 Disney film.

As a kid at the fair, 鈥淚鈥檇 come here every day and I forced my parents to come and watch. ... It鈥檇 come to the point where I knew the dance numbers to all the songs,鈥� said teenager Linda Ceniceros. Backstage before a show, she sat still as a helper affixed her Princess Jasmine headpiece.

Local nostalgia runs deep at the Riverside County Fair and National Date Festival, where guests once got in for free for wearing 鈥淎rabian Nights鈥� attire. Such fairground folklore is tied to local date palms, which originated in the Middle East and North Africa. The full-blown event, which ended Sunday, returned after a pandemic hiatus with a new operator, who has scaled back some traditions while keeping more typical events found at a county fair. The traces of sequined fantasies that endure may reveal more about America than about the Arabian Peninsula.

For many locals, those traditions have cultivated community.聽

鈥淲hat brings me back? The cast, the people,鈥� said pageant co-producer Richard De Haven, involved for two decades.聽

Castmates 鈥渂ecome family,鈥� said performer Mellissa Ballard, whose own family has participated for three generations. During a quick change, her mother, Pamela Ballard, was tasked with zipping up Mellissa鈥檚 flying carpet costume.

鈥淎merica鈥檚 Arabia鈥�

In the United States in 2021, California accounted for three-quarters of date production 鈥� 44,220 tons, according to a federal crop report.聽Date palms used for large-scale cultivation were introduced to the Coachella Valley starting around the turn of the 20th century from Iraq, Algeria, Egypt, and Morocco by Americans who included 鈥渁gricultural explorers.鈥� These U.S. government-appointed scientists traveled the world seeking profitable crops to fill the country鈥檚 expanding borders.

The arid Southwest matched conditions in parts of the Middle East and North Africa, which have grown the syrup-sweet treat for millennia.聽

Indio鈥檚 date festival officially began in 1921 鈥� the same year the silent film 鈥淭he Sheik鈥� offered American imaginations an exotic Orient. (The Riverside County Fair and National Date Festival became an annual event in 1947.)

To boost tourism to their desert, locals capitalized on the date industry, infusing the fair with 鈥淎rabian鈥� themes based on Hollywood aesthetics 鈥撀爁antasies of how the West imagined the East. Beyond the event, a town was renamed Mecca, streets were given names like Arabia, and Coachella Valley High School sports teams became known as the 鈥淎rabs.鈥� (At the urging of the Washington-based American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, the district agreed to聽modify the image of the mascot, now known as the 鈥淢ighty Arab,鈥� in 2014.)

Local boosters marketed the eastern Coachella Valley as 鈥淎merica鈥檚 Arabia,鈥� says Sarah Seekatz, professor of history at San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton. 鈥淚t鈥檚 strange, because it is a cultural appropriation, but it鈥檚 based on Hollywood 鈥� and the locals are sort of not hiding that,鈥� she says. Archival photos show young women crowned Queen Scheherazade 鈥� a central character in 鈥淥ne Thousand and One Nights鈥� 鈥� posing for photos with her court beside camels and dates.

The pageantry became a source of wonder to locals like Linda Beal, born and raised in the valley, whose family grew dates.聽

鈥�The costumes and the dancers and the singers ... we wait every year just to see them in their beautiful costumes,鈥� said the Coachella Valley History Museum volunteer, who holds a small, camel-shaped purse.

To Dr. Seekatz, however, the harem imagery 鈥� like the bare midriffs used to market Medjools 鈥� involves problematic stereotypes.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a sexualization of Middle Eastern people that is historically happening in the United States for a really long time. I think the fair really shows that off,鈥� says the historian from the Coachella Valley and author of 鈥淚mages of America: Indio鈥檚 Date Festival.鈥�

Finding a picture of her grandmother, who is Mexican American, dressed as a dancer in the pageant in the 1950s was 鈥渃omplicated,鈥� she adds. 鈥淗istorically, they鈥檇 been excluded from the community. And participating was one way of trying to be a part.鈥�

鈥淛ust imagination鈥�

Mohammed Bwaneh said his family has enjoyed coming here for several years. But he wishes event organizers would publicize more about the date sector鈥檚 history and how the fruit hailed from abroad 鈥� something to help explain why fairgoers traipse by domes and arches.聽

鈥�There鈥檚 more history than just food and drinks,鈥� said Mr. Bwaneh, representing the Islamic Society of Palm Springs at a booth. The 鈥淎rabian Nights鈥� performances haven鈥檛 bothered him, he says; he knows their source material comes from stories.

鈥淚t鈥檚 just imagination,鈥� he adds. 鈥淚t does not represent or give you the culture of the Middle East.鈥�

Indeed, organizers distanced themselves from the region when promoting the fair during the Persian Gulf War.

鈥淲e always hope it doesn鈥檛 scare anybody away,鈥� an executive director of the festival told the Los Angeles Times in 1991. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not involved in the Arab cause, it鈥檚 just kind of unusual timing.鈥�

鈥淲e don鈥檛 pretend to be authentic,鈥� a member of the fair board added. 鈥淚t鈥檚 fantasy. We want dazzle and glitter.鈥澛�

Visitors this year could still see prizewinning platters of dates in a building called the Taj Mahal, but gone were the ostrich and camel races (though for $15 you could ride a camel).聽Scholarships were awarded to 14 high school seniors, no matter their gender, in place of the Queen Scheherazade competition, which had also involved scholarships. Some locals interviewed hope that tradition, seen as more than a beauty pageant in recent years, will return.

Chris Pickering, operational manager of Pickering Events LLC, which is the new fair operator, said he鈥檚 unaware of any cultural appropriation concerns.聽

鈥淭he fair has its own rich, steeped traditions, and we鈥檙e looking to honor those, while also inviting and welcoming everyone in our community,鈥� he said, noting, for example, the addition of Out at the Fair, an event that promotes the inclusion of LGBTQ individuals. Musical acts like Mariachi Sol de M茅xico serenaded guests in Riverside County, where around half of nearly 2.5 million residents are Hispanic or Latino.

鈥淎laddin鈥� was spared the sword 鈥� both in programming and plot. Though critics have targeted the Disney film over Orientalist tropes, Ms. Ceniceros, playing Jasmine, said the entertainers approach their roles with respect.聽

鈥淲e don鈥檛 use brownface,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 use funky accents making fun of them.鈥�

The show got a shorter time slot this year, but the cast pulled it off through vibrant song-and-dance routines and surprise pyrotechnics. Ms. Ceniceros鈥� pastel blue gown dazzled like her voice.

鈥淲e鈥檙e happy to see it, because we haven鈥檛 seen it in three years,鈥� said county local Richard Rios, sitting in the audience with two adult daughters. 鈥淲hen we come here, we鈥檝e always got to watch it.鈥�

Thwarting custom, 鈥渟treet rat鈥� Aladdin won the princess after all. It鈥檚 a rags-to-riches rise that smacks of the American dream.聽