American Folk Festival plans coming together

BANGOR – It’s only February, but preparations for the second annual American Folk Festival on the Bangor Waterfront Aug. 25-27 are well under way. The first seven of more than 20 performing groups were announced Wednesday by festival organizers.

Stymied in 2005 when a flight was canceled by Hurricane Katrina, the Bahamas Junkanoo Revue finally will make its festival debut in 2006. The revue, based out of south Florida, will bring its traditional parade, featuring vibrant percussive music and colorful costumes, to the walkways and streets of the waterfront.

“We were so excited to have them last year, but because of circumstances beyond anyone’s control they obviously couldn’t come,” said assistant festival director Debbie Melnikas. “It was definitely important that we get them to come this year.”

Always a festival favorite, zydeco music will be represented this year by Geno Delafose and the French Rockin’ Boogie, led by Eunice, La.-based accordionist Delafose, who is billed as the “Creole Cowboy.”

“People like zydeco so much. It’s so fun to have it in the dance tent each year,” said Melnikas. “Each year the planning committee sits down and asks ‘What do we want to have again, and what are the things that we haven’t had that we want to try to get this year?’ Zydeco is definitely a favorite. We like to give people what they want.”

Make sure to get your lederhosen dry-cleaned, since Karl and the Country Dutchmen, masters of “Dutchman”-style polka, will be delighting dancers at the festival this year. The Wisconsin-based group has been playing German-American polka for decades, complete with “oompah” tuba.

The Whites, a country band from Nashville, Tenn., perform sweet, old-timey harmonies, carrying on in the tradition of the Carter Family and other Appalachian legends. The bluegrass band No Speed Limit, based out of Virginia, also is slated to perform.

Austin, Texas, band Grupo Fantasma plays an inventive, exuberant mix of mambo, merengue, dance hall and salsa. Acclaimed in their hometown and in other cities, the 11-piece “freight train of a Latin band,” according to the Village Voice, will surely pack the Kenduskeag Dance Stage this year.

In honor of Maine’s rich Franco-American heritage, Michele Choiniere will sing Franco-American ballads. Choiniere, a Vermont singer-songwriter, blends traditional Franco-American and Quebecois folk songs with original and jazz standards, and the occasional Edith Piaf cover.

More artists will be announced in the coming months. As in the three years of the National Folk Festival and last year’s inaugural American Folk Festival, the three-day event will feature crafts, storytelling, a children’s area, workshops and demonstrations in addition to the five stages for traditional music from around the world. And, of course, vendors will offer an array of foods, from lamb curry to souvlaki and strawberry shortcake.

For more information about the American Folk Festival, visit www.americanfolkfestival.com, or call AFF headquarters at 992-2630.