♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ [applause]

♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

>> i am -- i am the person santa claus. -- p histe sayserian sauc ersias i said, i'm going to go see my friends in city hall. i'm going to go see the people of san francisco. i am going to go see supervisor avalos arenas -- supervisor mirkarimi. i'm going to see our new mayor. he said, why?

i said, because it is our new year. are you kidding? i said, this is a different new year. this is persian new year. [applause] our culture has a different new year, the beginning of spring when everything blooms. the flower carts bloom, the earth becomes fresh, it refreshes itself. -- the flowers and birds abloom. he said, jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way." i said, not to that kind of new

year. our new year has a different song. [singing] [singing] he said, ok, bye. because he was my older brother, i let him go. i said, i will see you in nine months. persia in new year is the beginning of the spring, everything refreshes. we also refresh just like the

earth. we refresh our friendship even with our enemies. we forget our sorrows and we look to the new year with bright eyes and full of hope, full of hope. let me see what i have in this bag. ah-ha! my brothers, he forgot. in the persian new years, we

put seven items on the table. we start with the letter "s," which represents the goodness of the earth. everything that comes from the earth. we celebrate, we celebrate these blessings, we love these blessings so we represent them with seven "s's." this is a sign of health, the apple. please, can you put it there on this table? next, we have --, this is sour

but it is good for your health. this comes from any other fruit. this is the vinegar. it was very hard to carry out. oh, -- is good for many things. persians knows for what. this represents wealth. i don't know why. let me see what i have. egs-- eggs, i don't know why we put these. it does not start with s. we put this on kabob.

we love this. do you love this? yes, you do. c'mon, this is very good for your health. this is garlic, for your health. everything is for your health. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. one more. oh, money. this is for wealth. those people who are wealthy, they have a lot of this. yes. there are many more but i forgot to bring them. i came in a hurry. this is kind of crushed now. this is the greenery.

we love this. i don't know for what. there is a big one, you can go and eat it. [laughter] ok, that is an asset. and, we put the book, usually hafiz or other books. i will read a few verses. but, i have to put my glasses because i am very old. [speaking foreign language]

morning breeze, and the old world will once again sale [speaking foreign language] to libs will bring a red cup to the meadows -=- tulips will bring a red cup haifz -- hafiz will tell the tale [laughter]

we will celebrate the rest of new year's in that room. this new year is for friendship and to put your sorrows away and to walk in love in the garden of your heart, that not the rows of love. let's celebrate new year for justice, peace, and everyone in the world'. [applause] please follow me. ♪

♪ i think you are already celebrating.

♪ ♪ ♪

♪ >> welcome to "culture wire." the director will introduce you to the man behind one of san francisco's most anticipated music festivals. ♪ >> welcome to "culture wire."

with me today is the founder and financier behind the hardly strictly bluegrass festival. tell me about what inspired you to have the festival. >> i am flattered that you would want to listen to me. now you are going to have to. i had a sort of fantasy for a lot of years that it would be really fun to put on a bluegrass festival. i have a friend named jonathan nelson. we were skiing one weekend. i told him about my fantasy. he said that i should do it. dawn holliday and sherry sternberg. the four of us had lunch. he said we would start a

festival. that was the genesis. it was not anything more complicated than that. in my own defense, and was not yet playing the banjo -- i was not yet played the banjo. the ulterior motive i was accused of did not exist yet. >> i would have thought it was because of your interest in the music and the instrument of the banjo that you play with a lot of love and enthusiasm. i would have thought that would lead to the founding of the festival. >> i have loved the music. much of my life. i really love the old time music. >> you mentioned dawn holliday. she works with you collecting the older music. >> she basically organizes the whole thing'. she decides who is going to be on. they have incredibly great bands opposite each other.

i always worry about that, but she tells me not to. >> this has really grown in the number of participants. >> she kept asking what i would do about it and i kept saying nothing. i do not want to change anything. i love it the way it is. i know it creates traffic jams, but so what? there ought to be something we can do once a year where there is a little bit of suffering a lot of pleasure. >> you have a band. >> the wronglers. i think this is our third or fourth year in the festival. the first year was spectacular. the band had played together less than a year at that point. this stage manager said he could give us 10 more minutes. i told him we did not know anything else.

[laughter] so far, we have not had to audition for it. that may give them the idea. >> one thing that fascinated me is that it seems so incongruous to consider someone with your background that is ultimately the driving force behind this fabulous music festival. >> i guess this sort of shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in one generation. i went to cal and went away for 28 years. i always wanted to come back. it turned out there was a wonderful moment in time when three of my four for children were living here. now all four do with their children. i thought there was a real opportunity. i wanted to start a new financial firm. it was a wonderful opportunity

to do it in san francisco. i get to do business with people i do not the test. [laughter] >> you established your firm here. he reestablished your family roots here. -- you reestablished your family roots here. you used this festival as a way to give back to the community even more. >> the theory of that was that we would have a concert for the middle school kids. we bust in nearly all of the middle school kids from san francisco and now from around the bay area. the kids love it. the letters i get are very endearing. school volunteers and the school districts are really into it. there is a lot of collaboration. >> i have this image in my mind of you as the biggest fan of the hardly strictly bluegrass festival. what are some of the highlights for you over the last 10 years? >> they are sort of the

nostalgic highlights. every year at the end, when in the low harris -- emmylou harris closes the festival and someone else opens the festival. i always call them the heart and soul of the festival. those are wonderful must object moments. having a chance to listen up close to some of the greats. those are some of the great emotional moments. there's always one moment that is so bizarre. 3 or four years ago i was sitting out front listening to emmylou harris. she was very stylishly dressed. i turned to her making conversation. i said there was a strong smell

of pot and she asked if i wanted some. [laughter] the following year my wife said there was an elderly gentleman old banjos. he was a very nice man sitting on the ground. he said he understood that i like old benches. he said he had three that he would like to show me. he said he understood that i liked white ladies. he said i would like this one. i asked if he was trying to sell the banjos. he said he was giving it to me. he was giving me a $3,000 musical instrument. he said he really wanted me to have it. >> that is a beautiful story. it is true. >> do you play it? >> yes. the this delta region the

nostalgic, the letters, depreciation -- -- the nostalgia, the letters, the appreciation. i love the music and i love the way that people have gotten into it. it has become a part of people's lives. i wrecked my car the other night and was waiting for triple a. this man came up and said was the one who put on the bluegrass festival. he said it is the best thing that happens to him all year. the pleasure of that, i love the appreciation there is for the festival. what snow in the lineup of the 10th anniversary concert -- >> knowing the line of of the 10th anniversary concert, what are you looking forward to? >> there is one band we met up in colorado.

i am sure nobody in san francisco is familiar with. they recalled the ebony hillbillies. i hope everyone will come to hear them. you will not believe them. >> what are some of the other groups who are looking forward to? >> trombone shorty is that in the deal of publicity lately. he is off the charts. we have a band coming up from new york. margo is phenomenal. the chocolate drops did a special on public broadcasting. they are fantastic. the anderson family band, i live in sheer terror of us having to follow a family band. they're performing saturday morning at 11:00 for 40 minutes. we have enough stuff to play the

whole time. we are ready. >> it has been a delight to have you on "culture wire." i want to thank you personally for this great musical festival you have given us. >> is a lot of fun. >> remembered the hardly strictly bluegrass festival will be in san francisco. visit the website to get information on all of the performances. ♪