Check out our slideshows from this weekend: iFest bands and food and faces from iFest. Also, be sure to read our write-up of iFest's musical performances.

Well, iFest is over, y'all.

By now, the downtown streets of McKinney, Smith, Lamar and Brazos, once bright and teeming with festival goers of all ages, have turned back into the Houston Public Library's more studious thoroughfares. Festival volunteers are surely resting their sore, overworked feet, and the food and drink coupons are now just souvenirs, proof of the Argentinean-themed Houston International Festival's two action-packed weekends.

Abby Koenig covered the first weekend of iFest and graciously provided us with a guide of what to expect. Armed with her instructions, we set out to conquer the festival's second half.

The Houston International Festival was just beginning when we arrived on Saturday. Although the vendors were still setting up, the KHOU-sponsored Center Stage, already on fire with the stomping stylings of Grupo Folklorico Raices de Panama, drew our ears (and legs) to its front row. From there, we headed down Market Row, known any other day as Walker Street, to peruse the fine arts and crafts for sale. We were mildly grossed out by Real Bugs, purveyors of bracelets, necklaces and key chains with actual dead insects lodged inside, but we found CultGrrrl Creations, created by Jess Carlos, quite darling.

"These are unique handmade crocheted dolls," said Luis Carlos, Jess's husband, in her absence. "They're cotton outside, fiber filling on the inside." According to her hubby, the CultGrrl creator was trained to crochet by her grandmother and can now create dolls of any color, shape -- or type, such as eyeballs, sugar skulls, Frankenstein dolls, lions, donkeys or whatever suits a customer's fancy.

The arts and crafts of Inca Wash.

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One of the most pleasant discoveries at last weekend's iFest was the guitar sculpture of local graphic designer and political junkie Pen Morrison. A Yankee who came south to college and fell in love with all things Southern -- especially blues and gospel music -- Morrison began the "Guitars" series with a piece she contributed to a benefit auction.

That piece led to her first commission.

"Someone from Whole Foods saw the piece I did for KPFT. In fact, Sandy from the "Dead Air" show bought it. So suddenly I found myself looking for a perfect subject for the new Whole Foods store."

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Like a trip to South America, in the middle of downtown Houston

The most ethnically diverse city in the country showcased its dominance this weekend. The city's annual International Festival opened to large crowds of diversity-loving Houstonians. If you have never been to iFest, you still have next weekend to make your way over there. Head downtown toward Tranquility Park and you won't be able to miss it. The festival takes over, what feels like, half of the downtown area. What can newbies expect from iFest? The festival itself is an ethnic kaleidoscope of music, dance, art, shopping and, of course, food! Art Attack took advantage of this weekend's amazing weather to get our culture on.

The best thing to do first, after you curse loudly under your breath about the $10 parking and $17 entrance fee, is to go get yourself a frozen margarita. However, American money is not accepted at food and drink stands in the iFest world, so you must buy yourself a packet of tickets (with real money). Then, find your bearings because the complimentary map is slightly confusing. Once you've gotten it all figured out you are on your way to enjoying some eclectic entertainment.

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Voted the best bandoneonist (player of a type of small accordion) under 25 in Argentina when he was only 17 years old, Hector del Curto is today a world-class musician. He has played with most of the biggest names in tango, from pianist Osvaldo Pugliese to fellow bandoneonist Astor Piazolla. Representing this year's theme country Argentina, Del Curto's current project Eternal Tango will perform at the Houston International Festival on the Center Stage April 21, 22 and 29. We caught up with the 41-year-old maestro at his home in New York City.

Art Attack: We are always fascinated by people who decide very early on what they want to do, then stick to it and master it.

Hector Del Curto: [Laughs] It was not my decision. I never thought, "I will be a famous tango musician" or anything like that. I started learning guitar when I was five, and switched to bandoneón when I was 11. But I just liked to make music. The other kids thought I was odd because I would stay in and practice when they were outside playing.

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Remember wandering off from your mom in the store as a kid? That's how we felt this past weekend at the Summer Street Arts Festival, only it was the other way around after artist and event coordinator skeez181 grabbed our notepad, scribbled on it a bit, then left us alone in a two-story warehouse of artists and jewelry makers.

We weren't surprised or offended by skeez181's hasty exit; an event that included music, performance art, a puppet show, a fashion show, a live screen printing, laser light production, as well as food truck eats from A Tribe Called Feast and Eatsie Boys all in one night would leave anyone a bit frazzled.

So, we silently forgave him and walked around.

Except in the case of a few artists, the entire space seemed to be a celebration of underground graffiti art. The spray-painted stuff was everywhere: on easels, on papers, even shot onto the second-story walls of the gallery space. KREET-N's (pronounced "cretin," like the word) narrow hallway space, which housed glow-in-the-dark lightbox installations of doodles and cartoon characters, was the ballsiest of the bunch.

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Fara Walker and her book "Jake the Dot?"

See our slideshow from the Menil Community Art Festival and Indie Book Fest.

Writing about writers is as daunting a task as introducing a dignitary to a room full of dignitaries; do it right, or don't do it at all. Imagine, then, the anxiety we felt while visiting the tables of independent authors, booksellers, small presses and literary organizations at the Houston Indie Book Festival last Saturday at The Menil Collection. The festival wrapped around half of the Menil, and the writers were set up like vendors, except instead of merely selling their literary works, each offered a different reason why they became involved in the independent book movement.

Take Ryan Dilbert, for instance. When the aspiring author couldn't get his book published through a blockbuster press, he found a home at No Record Press, a small book publisher that provided him with a hands-on editor, yet allowed him creative control of the cover design of his final product, a novel entitled Time Crumbling Like a Wet Cracker.

"Small presses are the only way that many authors are going to get published initially," admitted Kirby Johnson, event coordinator and founder of NANO Fiction, a flash fiction literary journal that co-sponsored the event along with Gulf Coast Magazine. (They were also voted 2011 Best Literary Journal by yours truly.)

"We do a lot more with less," said Laura Taylor, a member of Haymarket Books, a nonprofit small press that publishes left-wing material.

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Norma Zenteno headlines the East End Street Fest.

The East End is more than just an area of town, according to Lupe Olivarez. "It's like the beating heart where things get made so the city can conduct business and live," he says.

Olivarez, a longtime East End dweller and founder of Bohemeo's, is one of the masterminds behind the debut East End Street Fest, scheduled to take place on Cinco de Mayo. The shindig is part of a mission of the Greater East End Management District, which has been improving a 16-mile area with beautification projects.

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A Trip to the Moon

Come Friday night, we'll be looking up at the stars -- not the ones in the skies, mind you. The ones on screen at Houston Public Media Silent Film Concert: Films by George Méliès. Live music by Loreta Kovacic accompanies several short films by renowned French filmmaker George Méliès, the most famous of which are the 1902 A Trip to the Moon and 1904 The Impossible Voyage. Méliès was an illusionist before he became a filmmaker, which accounts for much of his magical style. He's the subject of the current hit Hugo (Ben Kingsley plays Méliès). Sneak a peek at A Trip to the Moon here.

See Houston Public Media Silent Film Concert: Films by George Méliès on at 8:30 p.m. on Friday at Discovery Green, 1500 McKinney. For information, visit www. discoverygreen.com or call 713- 400-7336.

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Katheryn Winnick in Children of the Air

If this is what Damian Horan can do in graduate school, movie lovers are in for a treat when his career begins to take shape.

For his master's thesis at the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts, Kinkaid School grad Horan created Children of the Air, an allegorical drama based upon Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid. The 20-minute film chronicles a wrecked love affair within the confines of a fairy tale, and features creative filmmaking choices, such as split screens that narrate multiple story lines concurrently.

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Daniel Kramer

The people have spoken, and this is your choice.

Hearty congratulations are in order for former Houston Press staff photographer Daniel Kramer. His haunting snapshot "Bolivar After Ike" won the People's Choice award at last night's FotoFest opening night reception hosted by the Houston chapter of the American Society of Media Photographers.

I was there when Kramer got the shot and remember the moment well. We were zipping west under feeble winter sunlight on Highway 87 through the devastation of post-Ike Crystal Beach in Kramer's convertible Chrysler Sebring. Suddenly Kramer slammed on the brakes and eased over on to the shoulder.

American flags always catch his eye, and while there were more than a few strewn among the rubble of what had once been a thriving little beach community, none was so surreally placed as this one.

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