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The Fire-on-the-Mountain Cloggers
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There are over 150 different ethnic foods, including
Lebanese shish kabobs and tabouli, Cajun 
gumbo and boudain,
Belgian mussels, Filipino lumpia, El Salvadoran pupusas, and Scotch eggs.
In addition to mouth-watering food for every culture, this festival
features stages with exciting entertainment, as well as “Back Forty” craft
demonstrators: egg decorating,
blacksmithing, whittling, bread making, and more. The Fire on the Mountain Cloggers have proudly participated in the Texas Folklife
Festival since 1983 and have enjoyed every exciting minute of it.
In 1994 Fire on the Mountain Cloggers initiated the “Giant Routine” which has
become an annual ritual at the Texas Folklife
Festival. 
We invite various ethnic groups to participate in a
routine during one of our performances at the Festival. 
Each culture designates one couple to represent them
during this grand routine. Although each
dancer demonstrates traditional steps from his or her ethnicity, the
participants are unified by common figures accompanied by bluegrass music. Fire on the Mountain Cloggers dance alongside
German and Scottish folk dancers.
Lebanese and Ukrainian, as well as Belgian and Norwegian, dancers
display their elaborate costumes and intricate steps. Hawaiian dancers hula in time with the
fast-paced music. Chinese Lion
Dancers wave multicolored streamers as they glide gracefully across the
stage. Dutch Klompendancers
proudly flaunt their wooden shoes and authentic costumes from 
The lively procession becomes a magical blend of
ethnic cultures following one steady rhythm.
The colorful group merges into a traditional mountain figure known as
Rise and Shine, where each couple gets to showcase steps of their choosing as
they travel down the center of the stage.
Intermingling of ethnic groups is common as Fire on the Mountain
Cloggers sometimes partner with Norwegian Vikings and Irish feet keep time with
Polish. Smiling faces fill the stands
and the crowd applauds for each couple that dances past. The Fire on the Mountain Cloggers’ Giant
Routine is truly a group effort that represents the Texas Folklife
Festival at its best.
