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The streets are paved, the banners are up, the grass is green. It’s time for music and dancing. Tonight Bangor kicks off its final three-day stint as host to the National Folk Festival. If you’ve been before, you know what a great time awaits festival goers. If you haven’t been yet, join the fun this year before the festival moves on to Richmond, Va.
The festival begins today at 5:30 p.m. with a parade through the festival venue and goes until 10 p.m. with blues piano, zydeco and Eastern European music. The festival, which also includes food from around the world, craft demonstrations and children’s activities, starts again at noon on Saturday and runs through 6 p.m. on Sunday.
The best part is that all of this is free – sort of. There is no cost to attend the festival. However, it costs the city and others more than $1 million to put on the three-day affair. Organizers are still $100,000 short of their fund-raising goal. As in past years, volunteers will walk through the crowds with buckets for donations. Give generously.
As Bangor bids adieu to the National, work is already under way on its successor, the American Folk Festival on the Bangor Waterfront, to be held Aug. 26-28 next year. Although this festival will continue to get help from the National Council for the Traditional Arts, much work will fall to Bangor. Again, volunteers and financial support will be needed.
Long after the music has stopped this summer, the benefits of the Folk Festival will continue to be felt. The long neglected waterfront has been transformed into a focal point of the city. New sidewalks, lights and lots of grass have made the riverfront more inviting. Condominiums will soon be built there and plans are in the works for another restaurant and other development along the Penobscot.
Less tangible are the feelings that the festival engendered. Many wondered if thousands of people would really come to the city for a music and traditional arts festival. They did. The task now is to continue to encourage visitors to come here. Some may even choose to settle in the region permanently.
So enjoy the festivities and do what you can to carry on the festival spirit.
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