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BANGOR – Organizers of the new American Folk Festival don’t plan to skip a beat when the event debuts in late August.
The AFF will take place Aug. 24-26 along the Bangor Waterfront. It follows the 64th through 66th National Folk Festivals, which attracted 325,000 visitors to Bangor for the weekend-long event from 2002 through 2004.
With many of the same people in place, organizers are optimistic about the new festival’s chances for success.
“We’ve had three years to practice, so this is going to be even better,” said Brad Ryder, vice chairman of the festival’s board of directors, at a press conference Thursday at the Eastern Maine Development Corp. office in Bangor.
Like the National, the American Folk Festival will feature music, dance and storytelling spread over five stages on the waterfront. Exhibits and demonstrations of Maine’s traditional crafts, dozens of food vendors, a Folk Art Marketplace and a children’s area will also be part of the AFF.
“There will be no difference except we’ll need to get new banners,” said Heather McCarthy, the festival’s executive director.
The first seven of an expected 22 acts for the festival were also announced on Thursday.
Desmond Dekker of Jamaica has earned international acclaim over a 40-year career, which spans the ska, rock steady and reggae eras.
The Nashville-based Del McCoury Band is headed by the legendary bluegrass guitarist and has won nearly 40 awards from the International Bluegrass Music Association.
The Bahamas Junkanoo Revue, from south Florida, will bring the junkanoo, a colorful, loud, festive form of parade music, to Bangor.
Irish music has proved a favorite at past festivals, and this year’s practitioner is Danu, a young, talented traditional band from Ireland.
Quebecois music also will be represented again, this time by traditional band Le Vent du Nord. The quartet is made up of step-dancer, singer and accordion player Benoit Borque, fiddler Olivier Demers, hurdy-gurdy, pianist and vocalist Nicolas Boulerice and guitarist Simon Beaudry.
Paul Dahlin and the Akta Spelman will bring a different form of music to the AFF, Swedish fiddling. Dahlin, of Minnesota, inherited the tradition from his grandfather, and has taught it to a whole new generation.
Always popular at past festivals has been Cajun music, and this year Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys bring the sounds of Louisiana to Bangor. The group has been widely celebrated as the best young Cajun band in the country.
“It’s become more and more clear that the quality and diversity of entertainment will remain just as high for this festival,” McCarthy said.
Ryder recognized the entities that have helped the AFF come to fruition. Producing partners are The Bangor Folk Festival, the city of Bangor, Eastern Maine Development Corp., the National Council for the Traditional Arts and the Maine Folklife Center at the University of Maine. Sponsors include The Bangor Daily News, the city of Bangor, the Maine Office of Tourism, the National Endowment for the Arts, the state of Maine, Bangor Savings Bank, the Davis Family Foundation and U.S. Cellular.
Compared to past years, more funding for the AFF is expected to come from grants and foundations, with less from corporate contributions.
The budget for the event is $960,000, and McCarthy estimated that half that amount has been raised, ahead of levels for the past three years.
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