Bangor man named folk festival director

BANGOR – Robert Libbey of Bangor has been chosen director of the National Folk Festival to take place in Bangor each August for the next three years. Libbey, former executive director of the Maine Performing Arts Network, will lead a team of volunteers in funding, organizing, coordinating and implementing the festival, according to the Folk Festival Committee of the Bangor Convention and Visitors Bureau.

“We are thrilled to have Bob Libbey working with us to guide the Folk Festival activities,” Donna Fichtner, executive director of the Bangor Convention and Visitors Bureau, announced Thursday. “Bob is organized, efficient and will be an excellent person to lead the festival. More importantly, Bob knows the Greater Bangor community and knows how to have fun while making complicated things happen.”

For Libbey, who was one of 50 candidates for the job, the festival is a chance to see Bangor explode with cultural activity and possibility.

“The National Folk Festival will provide a tremendous economic, artistic and cultural boost to the Greater Bangor area, said Libbey. “Folk festivals provide something for everyone in the community and give a community a chance to celebrate its heritage. It will require a great commitment from the community, but it’s worth it.”

With a graduate degree in business administration and undergraduate degrees in theater and broadcasting from the University of Maine, Libbey, 39, has extensive background in arts administration and the performing arts. For 12 years, he was a producer with Maine Public Broadcasting Corp. and won a regional Emmy Award. He has also performed on the stages of Penobscot Theatre, the Maine Shakespeare Festival, and Acadia Repertory Theatre.

The festival organizers will travel to Massachusetts on July 27-29 to attend the Lowell Folk Festival, which originated as a National Folk Festival. Since the festival was founded in St. Louis in 1934, it has traveled to cities throughout the country, typically with great economic impact. The festival comes to Bangor from East Lansing, Mich., where it generated an estimated $6 million the first year.

During the first week of August, the Bangor team will travel to East Lansing to attend and study the organization, setup and execution of the final year of the run in that city. The Folk Festival is currently seeking qualified volunteers. For information, call 947-5205 or 800-91-MOOSE.