5 years later … Organizers work to keep Folk Festival fresh, funded – and around for a long time

In marriage, it’s called the seven-year itch. In college, it’s the sophomore slump. But what happens in the fifth year of a major music festival?

“That depends,” said Julia Olin, executive director of the National Council for the Traditional Arts in Silver Spring, Md. “The blush can continue for quite a while.”

Olin is a member of the NCTA scouting team that brought The National Folk Festival to Bangor in 2002-2004 and continues to work closely with the spinoff American Folk Festival on the Bangor Waterfront taking place for a second year this weekend. Each year, attendance has increased, from an estimated 110,000 the first year to about 145,000 in 2005. The board of directors recently formed a committee to plan for the festival’s future, and members say there’s every reason to believe the event will remain an end-of-summer celebration of folk culture and of Bangor.

But that begs the question: Now that the festival seems as if it is here to stay, will some level of complacency set in among the participants, funders and organizers?

“No,” said Brad Ryder, chair of the festival board of directors and owner of Epic Sports in downtown Bangor.

“It’s so easy to go with that type of thinking,” he said. “You could think: Three years of the National. Two years of the American. We’ve got it made. And yet I think of all the hard work. We literally start working the day after the festival to plan the next one. If we took it for granted, we’d say: We’re in auto mode and start in April. But everyone has such a passion for making not just a good event but a great event. No one takes it for granted. It’s too important to make sure it’s the best it can be.”

As with all festival insiders, the word “weather” is off-limits. It’s taboo. That may be because Bangor has had gloriously perfect weather each year. A deluge greeted the opening of the 67th National last fall in Richmond, and only 1,500 braved the rain pouring onto the festival grounds that night. (About 60,000 turned out during the weekend.)

The only deluge in Bangor has been the teeming number of participants.

Organizers, vendors, performers and festival-goers all keep their fingers crossed that the weather gods continue to smile on the Queen City for that one weekend, but planning for the future continues in the background of the buildup to this year’s presentations. The American Folk Festival on the Bangor Waterfront is a three-year commitment on the part of the city, and while everyone agrees that it’s “here to stay,” no one encourages seeing the festival as a “sure thing.”

As Ryder pointed out, it takes work.

Three full-time staff members are employed throughout the year, and 750 volunteers help at the festival, which has a budget of about $1 million.

“Once the festival changes from a novelty to part of the fabric of the community, it has reached a new level of permanence, at least in our expectations,” said Heather McCarthy, executive director of the American. “If people know to count on us, it can be a positive thing. But they need to realize that we don’t need to raise the money once. We need to raise it every year. If people assume it will happen, they may not step forward to make it happen.”

McCarthy said she keeps her eye on three possible plateaus that could level off in the course of time: attendance, enthusiasm and funding.

“I am OK with growth, if it’s moderate and steady,” she said. “And if we are reaching a plateau with enthusiasm, it’s a high one.”

McCarthy is hopeful, too, about finding new sources of funding in addition to local private and corporate donations and grants. “We’re looking at ways that the festival can be a viable and valuable marketing tool for corporate America outside the state,” she said.

The Lowell Folk Festival in Massachusetts is a poster child for a successful transition between the National and a spinoff festival. In July, Lowell celebrated its 20th anniversary with an estimated 250,000 participants over the three-day event. Two years ago, the governing partners hired a strategic planning consultant to help assess the system behind the festival. Changes were made. Branding took place. The festival continues to be a challenge financially each year. And as with Bangor organizers, everyone wonders how long the festival can go on as a free event. They look at charging admission as a last option. “Free” is too much a part of the success.

But so is “fresh.”

“Reaching into the community and getting as many people involved and getting their opinions: That keeps it fresh,” said Philip Lupsiewicz, press representative for the Lowell.

It helped, too, he said, to add a second beer tent.

In the end, however, it comes down to the music. Keeping that fresh is not as big a challenge. The American has miles to go before it claims to have hosted all of the country’s best folk artists.

“We’re still not even close to presenting all the music genres in Bangor,” said Julia Olin. “Folks are thinking about what we need to do. There’s new work every year. It’s always a challenge to keep quality high and to bring new things. I think we should keep reaching.”

If the topic of weather is choked out of discussion, the topic of fundraising is on the tip of everyone’s tongue. Planning for that continues even as the festival tents unfold on the waterfront today. Still, there’s reason to believe that, indeed, the festival is here to stay.

“We’re not on a roll,” assured Ryder. “We’re going forward. It would even be OK if we had a little rain Sunday morning, as long as the sun comes out by noon.”