BELFAST – The first Maine Celtic Celebration, a festival scheduled for July 19-22, is seeking volunteers.

A volunteer orientation is scheduled for 1 p.m. Sunday, July 1, in Heritage Park. The nonprofit group organizing the festival seeks anyone who has some spare time to help out. If you are interested but can’t attend the meeting, call 323-8047 or e-mail celticmaine@yahoo.com.

The festival will celebrate the Belfast area’s Celtic heritage with food, music and sport.

In 1765, John Mitchell was making a voyage from Boston to points east and was captivated by the wilderness at the head of Penobscot Bay. He decided the area would be ideal for a settlement. Mitchell, a resident of Londonderry, N.H., along with 35 friends, decided to relocate to the area. Many of the founders wanted to name the settlement Londonderry, but a strong-willed settler, John Miller of Belfast, Ireland, protested and a coin was flipped. Belfast won.

The goal is to renew the rich Celtic history, culture and hospitality found along the coast of Maine.