All things Acadian to be celebrated at annual festival

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MADAWASKA – It’s fairly easy to spot newcomers at the Acadian Festival. They’re the ones using utensils to eat ployes.

Any festival veteran or St. John Valley native knows the only way to eat the traditional Acadian buckwheat flatbread is to slather it with your favorite topping, roll it up using your fingers and pop it into your mouth.

First-timers and old hands will have plenty of opportunity to scarf down ployes and other regional fare as Madawaska celebrates all things Acadian during the 25th annual Acadian Festival on June 27-30.

Part pageantry, part celebration and all party, the four-day festival is all about regional pride and heritage.

“This whole festival is based on the [Acadian] culture and heritage and celebrating that culture,” said Tina Deschaine, Greater Madawaska Chamber of Commerce executive director. “Even non-French people seem to enjoy listening to the French music and songs and all of the folk art in the festival.”

Deschaine said this year’s festival introduces several new activities to go along with traditional standbys.

“Many of the new events focus on the area’s culture,” she said.

And as always, one St. John Valley family has organized a mega-reunion tying in with festival events. This year, Martins by the hundreds will converge on Madawaska to trace their roots to the first of their line to arrive in the St. John Valley.

“I understand about 1,200 Martins have pre-registered for the reunion already,” Deschaine said. “They are expecting a total of 1,500 to attend.”

The festival opens today, highlighted by the traditional re-enactment of the arrival of the first Acadians in the St. John Valley.

Participants dressed in historical Acadian costumes will arrive by canoe at 4 p.m. at the Acadian Cross site in St. David, the location local folk history holds as the original landing spot along the St. John River.

The latter-day Acadians will make their way from the river to a nearby field, where a rustic cross will be erected next to the permanent marker.

This opening ceremony will be followed by a bean supper and a performance by Franco-American singer Josee Vachon.

Vachon performs again at 7 p.m. at the Musee culturel du Mont-Carmel in Lille.

The Martins begin their reunion activities today with registration from 8 a.m. to noon at Madawaska High School and the planting of the family tree at 1 p.m. at the Acadian Cross site in St. David.

Registration for the reunion continues Friday and Saturday at the high school.

Nightclubs along Madawaska’s Main Street are opening their doors for live music, dancing and parties from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. each night of the festival, including a two-night run of the Party du Main Street on Friday and Saturday.

Traffic will be barred from the street on both nights, allowing revelers to dance and celebrate from one end of Main Street to the other.

Two historic tours leaving from the high school at 10 a.m. Friday and Saturday will showcase historical points of interest, old schools and family homesteads on both sides of the U.S.-Canadian border.

Friday’s tour showcases the eastern end of the Valley to Van Buren, while Saturday’s group heads west to Fort Kent. Pre-registration is recommended and the cost is $15.

History of a different sort comes alive throughout the festival at the multipurpose center, where members of the 20th Maine Volunteers will make camp in a Civil War re-enactment.

Local craftspeople, artisans and historians will be on hand outside the multipurpose center from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, giving hands-on demonstrations of quilting, weaving, basket making and other traditional art. At the same time, a display of antique tractors and engines will be open to the public.

The Martin Family Talent Show takes place Friday at 7 p.m. at the high school and the family gathers Saturday for its banquet at 5 p.m. at the multipurpose center.

The Martins wrap up their reunion at 8:30 a.m. Sunday with a family Mass at the multipurpose center.

Over the weekend, there are food-eating contests, a kids’ parade, a dog show, dinner theater, cabaret performances, a wine cellar, classic car show, fireworks and boat tours of Long Lake.

The festival comes to a rousing finale at 1 p.m. with the annual parade led this year by a fleet of classic and antique cars and trucks.

“We want people to take away with them, more than anything, the pride people in the St. John Valley have for their heritage and culture,” Deschaine said. “We want people who will come back, even though they have never lived here, and who know they are a part of it all. We want them to be proud of that.”

For information or tickets to any Acadian Festival event, contact the Greater Madawaska Chamber of Commerce at 728-7000.