BELFAST – Stately, old sugar maples stand like 100-foot-tall sentries over the headstones of Grove Cemetery, lending an aura of peacefulness to this burial ground located just off a busy Belfast commercial strip. But 10 years ago this month, the rows of trees that gave… Read More
Beautiful light I have always liked sleeping in, but since it was “dark under the table” early with no electricity, it was early to bed and early to rise. I would get up in the wee hours of the morning and wander around my parents’… Read More
“In coffee shops and shelters, in kitchens and neighbors’ spare rooms, on the radio and in church … we rediscovered who we are – or most want to be – as a people. Ingenious, self-reliant, neighborly, creative, tough, funny, spontaneous, caring.” – Gov. Angus King,… Read More
MAINE/Events A sampling of things to do around the state before and after the National Folk Festival
. Aug. 19-28 Portland Chamber Music Festival, celebrating its 11th season, features nationally acclaimed performers from the United States, Europe and Latin America, Ludcke Auditorium, 716 Stevens Ave., Portland. (800) 320-0257, www.pcm.org. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes =… Read More
Conjunto music has been very good to Hector Barron. Barron is the founder and leader of Los Fantasmas del Valle (roughly “the ghosts of the valley”), a much-revered conjunto group from Texas that will be playing at the 66th National Folk Festival. googletag.cmd.push(function () {… Read More
It all started at the National Folk Festival. Ten years ago, Joe Wilson, the director of the National Council for the Traditional Arts, asked Seamus Egan to gather some friends together to play traditional Irish music in Lowell, Mass. So Egan, who is hailed as… Read More
Maine’s First Ship – The Virginia Project Phippsburg, Maine googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var i = 0; i < slot_sizes.length; i++) { if (isMobileDevice()) { if (slot_sizes[i][0] googletag.cmd.push(function () { //… Read More
The city of Bangor is proud to host the 66th National Folk Festival. Our citizens, businesses and regional community welcome your visit. A short drive from the festival site on the beautiful Bangor Waterfront lie the rugged Maine coast, the great North Woods of Maine, and a plethora… Read More
AUGUSTA (77 miles from Bangor) Maine State Housing Authority 56 googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var i = 0; i < slot_sizes.length; i++) { if (isMobileDevice()) { if (slot_sizes[i][0] googletag.cmd.push(function ()… Read More
Consider the river. We mean the Penobscot River. Remember dancing on the banks of the river last summer during the National Folk Festival? We do. We think of Dale Watson and His LoneStars and instinctively our toes start tapping. Did you shake your hips to the Congolese beat… Read More
First presented in 1934, the National Folk Festival is the oldest multicultural arts celebration in the nation. This movable feast of American heritage has traveled to 27 communities around the country to celebrate traditional music, dance, storytelling, crafts and food. Now entering its 66th year, the festival is… Read More
Vendors in the National Folk Festival’s Marketplace sell traditional arts. These arts are learned as part of the cultural life of a group of people whose members share a common ethnic heritage, language, religion, occupation or culturally united geographic region. Folk and traditional arts are shaped by a… Read More
In May, Jerry Douglas, who has been called the Jimi Hendrix of the dobro guitar, was traveling with Alison Krauss and her band, Union Station. They were on the Great High Mountain Tour, an amalgam of roots and old-time music concerts produced by the legendary T-Bone Burnett. Near… Read More
Sandra Piechocki Theatrical re-creation of the life of a Maine sea captain’s child googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var i = 0; i < slot_sizes.length; i++) { if (isMobileDevice()) { if (slot_sizes[i][0]… Read More
China’s ancient art of rod puppetry will meet up with Maine’s maritime history in a rich abundance of offerings for children – and adults – in the Children’s Area of the 66th National Folk Festival. On Pickering Square, behind the Maine Discovery Museum, festival-goers will discover games both… Read More
The 66th National Folk Festival celebrates the rich traditional folk, ethnic and tribal cultures of the people of Maine and the United States. The nation’s earliest immigrants and settlers brought the music, arts and customs of their countries of origin to their new homeland, where they encountered the… Read More
At this year’s National Folk Festival, the Foodways Stage will feature the foods and culinary traditions of Greece. Maine is home to four Greek communities, including one in Bangor represented by St. George Greek Orthodox Church. Audiences will see how certain dishes are prepared and will learn about… Read More
Smoothies, homemade lemonade Aucoin Concessions googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var i = 0; i < slot_sizes.length; i++) { if (isMobileDevice()) { if (slot_sizes[i][0] googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var… Read More
When folk artists take to the stage, they often perform or demonstrate for an audience not well versed in the particular culture and traditions. Folklorists serve as interpreters, making communication between the artist and audience easier. At the 66th National Folk Festival, the following folklorists will be on… Read More
Much of Maine’s mystique lies along its striking rockbound coast and pristine lakes and rivers, where tourists flock every summer. Many of these tiny, rustic communities boast highly skilled and creative residents. Some of the talent is reflected in Maine’s century-old boat-building industry. Maine boat builders have a… Read More
Harmonia Music of Eastern Europe googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var i = 0; i < slot_sizes.length; i++) { if (isMobileDevice()) { if (slot_sizes[i][0] googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var… Read More
The first boat built by English settlers in Maine was the 30-ton pinnace Virginia, constructed in 1607 by the Popham colonists at modern-day Phippsburg. National Folk Festival attendees will be able to see the latest, a 7-foot-7-inch Nutshell pram, being put together by Brooklin boat builders Eric Dow… Read More
Scott Fore Flat-picked guitar googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var i = 0; i < slot_sizes.length; i++) { if (isMobileDevice()) { if (slot_sizes[i][0]… Read More
T.S. Eliot thought the naming of cats was a difficult matter. But he never had to come up with the name for a folk festival so broad in its scope that it reflects national character, regional identity and local treasures. That’s a really difficult matter. Read More
We marched backward. That was the only way to see our neighbors, our friends, the kid next door, the guy from work, all in a parade. A parade. In Bangor. And it wasn’t Memorial Day. It was opening night of the National Folk Festival last… Read More
. Through Sept. 7 “Fairfield Porter: A Life in Art, 1907-1975,” Portland Museum of Art, Seven Congress Square, Portland. 775-6148. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var i = 0; i… Read More
Parlez-vous musique? For many of French descent, the answer is a resounding “Oui!” Two prime examples from both ends of the experience scale will perform at the 2003 National Folk Festival in Bangor. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes… Read More
The National Folk Festival is all about tradition. So is Dale Watson, particularly when it comes to country music. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var i = 0; i < slot_sizes.length;… Read More
It’s 2 in the afternoon, but when Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown answers the phone at his Louisiana home, he sounds sleepy, interrupted, cranky. Was he expecting the call? Yes. Can he talk now? Yes. OK then: What’s it like playing for the National Folk Festival? For… Read More
Having grown up in Bangor, there are many aspects of the city I have come to love. The Kenduskeag Stream Race, Fourth of July celebration and Bangor State Fair are among the many events that make it such an extraordinary city. The National Folk Festival is yet another… Read More
The city of Bangor long has been recognized for the beauty of its central and historic waterway, the Penobscot River. Likewise, many in our community appreciate the rich cultural and artistic country we call America. All of this comes together as we welcome the 65th National Folk Festival. Read More
Welcome to the 65th National Folk Festival. This is the 26th time I’ve attended, and you’d think I would know a lot about it. But it is always full of surprises, and I flit about as happy as a Mississippi mockingbird in mating season. You… Read More
What do you say about a river that has been a part of your life for 51 years? As long as I can remember, the mighty Penobscot has been like a member of the family, calm and ingratiating at times, turbulent and foreboding at others. Read More
AUGUSTA (77 miles from Bangor) Maine State Housing Authority 18 googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var i = 0; i < slot_sizes.length; i++) { if (isMobileDevice()) { if (slot_sizes[i][0] googletag.cmd.push(function () {… Read More
For children, the National Folk Festival can provide “glimpses of the wider world, in a festive and fun atmosphere.” That’s according to Andrea Stark, organizer for the Children’s Area and executive director at the nearby Maine Discovery Museum. “It’s a view that Maine children often… Read More
First presented in 1934, the National Folk Festival is the oldest multicultural arts celebration in the nation. This “movable feast” of American heritage has traveled to 27 communities around the country to celebrate traditional music, dance, storytelling, crafts and food. Now entering its 65th year, the festival is… Read More
Saturday: noon Two Rivers, 6:30 p.m. Two Rivers; Sunday: 3:30 p.m. Railroad, 5 p.m. Two Rivers Warner Williams is a songster and guitarist from the Washington, D.C., suburb of Gaithersburg, Md., and one of the finest Piedmont-style blues players in the country. googletag.cmd.push(function () {… Read More
Friday: 9:30 p.m. Railroad; Saturday: 3 p.m. Railroad, 6:15 p.m. Heritage; Sunday: mariachi traditions 1 p.m. at Two Rivers with Nati Cano and members of Los Camperos Since leader Natividad Cano founded Los Camperos 42 years ago, the group has become one of the most… Read More
Kwabena Owusu, drums of Ghana West African drummer googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var i = 0; i < slot_sizes.length; i++) { if (isMobileDevice()) { if (slot_sizes[i][0] googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define… Read More
The 65th National Folk Festival celebrates the rich traditional folk, ethnic and tribal cultures of the people of Maine and the United States. The nation’s earliest immigrants and settlers brought the music, arts and customs of their countries of origin with them to their new homeland, where they… Read More
The Performers Alan Shavarsh Bardezbanian googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var i = 0; i < slot_sizes.length; i++) { if (isMobileDevice()) { if (slot_sizes[i][0] googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes… Read More
Saturday: noon Penobscot, 9:15 p.m. Penobscot; Sunday: 1:15 p.m. Penobscot Sounds of Korea presents a rich array of Korea’s diverse, ritual-based dances and percussion. The group is part of the Korean Traditional Performing Arts Association, a New York-based community organization that works to preserve, cultivate… Read More
Peanut-almond butter and jelly sandwiches Greater Bangor Seventh-day Adventist Church googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var i = 0; i < slot_sizes.length; i++) { if (isMobileDevice()) { if (slot_sizes[i][0] googletag.cmd.push(function () {… Read More
Maine boasts a rich cultural heritage reflected in its food, ranging from the savory buckwheat pancakes, or ployes, prepared in the St. John Valley to the delicate lobster stews served up at churches and Grange halls along the Maine coast. The Pine Tree State’s ethnic population also is… Read More
Friday: 9:15 p.m. Penobscot; Saturday: 1 p.m. Railroad Karan Casey has one of the most instantly recognizable and original voices in Irish music. A former lead vocalist with the Irish supergroup Solas, she exhibits the grace and richness of an old soul. The Wall Street… Read More
Friday: 8:30 p.m. Railroad; Saturday: noon Railroad, 5:15 p.m. Kenduskeag; Sunday: 3:15 p.m. Heritage Five-thirty in the morning is not an hour generally claimed by musicians. While most singers and strummers are dozing on the bus or at the local Motel 6, there is one… Read More
While Maria Baeza was growing up in Brooklyn, there were two constants in her life: beans and rice. Every night, her mother would cook up meat and some combination of the two – either mixed together or served separately. The latter was young Maria’s favorite, because, that way,… Read More
Friday: 8 p.m. Kenduskeag; Saturday: 2:30 p.m. Kenduskeag; Sunday: 12:30 p.m. Kenduskeag Surrounded by local legend and enriched by a multiethnic past, vallenato, the music of Colombia’s coastal region, has become one of the country’s most popular styles. Sensacion Vallenata con Gustavo Nieto, a Maryland-based… Read More
Sunday: 1 p.m. Heritage, 3:45 p.m. Two Rivers The Old Grey Goose is a Maine country dance band that has been playing and singing old-time country music and songs of the Pine Tree State and the Maritime Provinces for more than 20 years. The group… Read More
Saturday: 4:45 p.m. Two Rivers; Sunday: 2:45 p.m. Two Rivers Upon arriving in the United States in 1996, Yang Wei and Betty Xiang were immediately recognized as virtuosos of extraordinary ability, masters of the ancient Chinese pipa (lute) and erhu (violin). This husband-and-wife duet has… Read More
Saturday: 1:45 p.m. Two Rivers; Sunday: noon Heritage The Volskaya Russian Trio, which is about to mark its fifth anniversary as an ensemble, is composed of Tamara Volskaya on domra, Anatoliy Trofimov on bayan and Leonid Bruk on bass balalaika. The group performs a blend… Read More
Saturday: 1 p.m. Heritage Demonstrating Maine’s diverse cultural makeup, the National Folk Festival is proud to present the Alan Shavarsh Bardezbanian Middle Eastern Ensemble. Performing Armenian music from the Ottoman tradition, this group’s vibrant dance music is sure to delight festival audiences. googletag.cmd.push(function () {… Read More
Saturday: noon Kenduskeag, 9:15 p.m. Kenduskeag; Sunday: 3 p.m. Kenduskeag, 5 p.m. Railroad Emerging from the urban centers of the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire) and remaining popular for more than 50 years, soukous, or “rumba,” has been one of the most globally influential… Read More
Saturday: 5:15 p.m. Heritage; Sunday: noon at Railroad with The Bronx New Heaven Shout Band, 4:15 p.m. Heritage Robert Turner and the Silver Hearts Gospel Singers of Indianapolis have been performing gospel music for more than 40 years. Though its membership has changed, the group… Read More
The Maine Discovery Museum 74 Main St., Bangor, Maine googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var i = 0; i < slot_sizes.length; i++) { if (isMobileDevice()) { if (slot_sizes[i][0] googletag.cmd.push(function () { //… Read More
Saturday: 4:45 p.m. Penobscot, 7:30 p.m. Railroad; Sunday: 1:30 p.m. Railroad The members of Mountain Heart rank among the finest bluegrass musicians in the nation, so it is no surprise that their new band is sensational. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes =… Read More
Saturday: 1 p.m. Chinese dragon and lion dancers on midway, 3 p.m. Taiwanese folk aboriginal dance at Children’s Area, 4 p.m. Chinese yo-yo exhibition at Children’s Area, 7 p.m. Chinese dragon and lion dancers parade from Heritage to Railroad; Sunday: 1:15 p.m. Chinese dragon and lion dancers at… Read More
Vendors in the National Folk Festival’s Marketplace sell traditional arts. These arts are learned as part of the cultural life of a group of people whose members share a common ethnic heritage, language, religion, occupation or culturally united geographic region. Folk and traditional arts are shaped by a… Read More
Sunday: noon Two Rivers Don Roy of Gorham is the dean of Franco-American fiddling in Maine. He learned to play the fiddle from his uncle Lucien Mathieu when he was 15 years old, and later was inspired by the playing of Ben Guillemette, Joe and… Read More
Saturday: 12:45 p.m. Two Rivers, 5:45 p.m. Penobscot; Sunday: 2:30 p.m. Penobscot Kora player and ensemble leader Mamadou Diabate was born in 1975 in Kita, a Malian city known for the arts of the Manding people of West Africa. Diabate is descended from Manding jeli… Read More
Saturday: noon Children’s, 4 p.m. Two Rivers, 5:45 p.m. Two Rivers; Sunday: 2 p.m. Two Rivers, 3:30 p.m. Children’s John Styles is the world’s leading authority on and practitioner of the ancient art of Punch and Judy, the slapstick hand puppetry brought to England from… Read More
Saturday: 2 p.m. Heritage, 8:30 p.m. Railroad; Sunday: 2:30 p.m. Railroad, 5:15 p.m. Heritage The Klezmatics play the soul-stirring Jewish roots music known as klezmer. One of the seminal groups in the klezmer revival, the group was founded in New York City’s East Village in… Read More
For generations, the Wabanaki of Maine – the Maliseet, Micmac, Passamaquoddy and Penobscot people – have kept alive their heritage in the form of basketry and woodcarving. Traditional artists specialize in crafting baskets from native flora such as brown ash, sweet grass and birch. Finding these materials requires… Read More
Saturday: 1:15 p.m. Kenduskeag, 8 p.m. Kenduskeag; Sunday: 1:45 p.m. Kenduskeag, 4 p.m. Railroad La Bande Feufollet, a sextet of teenagers from the Lafayette, La., region, is carrying on Cajun community and family traditions and is committed to the Louisiana French language and music of… Read More
Saturday: 1:15 p.m. Penobscot, 8:15 p.m. Penobscot; Sunday: 1:45 p.m. Children’s, 3:30 p.m. Penobscot Few families have more long-standing ties to the National Folk Festival than the family of Tom Ware, director of the American Indian Music & Dance Troupe. A Kiowa flute player and… Read More
Friday: 8:15 p.m. Penobscot; Saturday: 2 p.m. Railroad; Sunday: 2:15 p.m. Heritage Springfield Exit is a new band created by three veteran musicians who bring with them a rich variety of experience. Their sound stems from Appalachian roots and combines elements of bluegrass and country. Read More
Special program segments at the National Folk Festival bring together, onstage, a number of festival artists from diverse cultural traditions. The organizing principle might be an instrument, a musical idea, or specific cultural activity (such as a wedding). These are informal, spontaneous sessions ostensibly guided by a moderator. Read More
Friday: 7:30 p.m. Railroad; Saturday: noon Heritage, 4 p.m. Railroad; Sunday: 4:45 p.m. Penobscot Barachois plays traditional Acadian music – a rhythmic, high-voltage style born in the heart of a culture kept alive through 21/2 centuries on Canada’s tiny Prince Edward Island. Music brought from… Read More
Friday: 6 p.m. Heritage; Saturday: 5 p.m. Railroad; Sunday: 4:15 p.m. Kenduskeag Dale Watson was born to, fed on and raised with real country. “This isn’t retro-minded,” Watson asserts. “It’s hopefully a natural progression of what country music would have been if it hadn’t been… Read More
Friday: 7 p.m. parade from Heritage to Railroad; Saturday: 3 p.m. Heritage, 7 p.m. parade from Heritage to Railroad; Sunday: noon at Railroad with Robert Turner and the Silver Hearts Gospel Singers of Indianapolis “Praise him with sound of the trumpet; praise him with the… Read More
Friday: 9:15 p.m. Kenduskeag; Saturday: 4 p.m. Kenduskeag, 9:30 p.m. Railroad Louisiana-born, Texas-raised Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown has been dishing up his unique blend of blues, rhythm and blues, country, jazz and Cajun music for more than 50 years. He is an American original whose music… Read More
My boyfriend and I met at the Folk Festival. I guess the location was actually one of the best and selectively few places to meet new and different kinds of people. Rakan is an Arab, beautiful and dark-eyed and still of the Old World impression that treating a… Read More
Joe Wilson, executive director of the National Council for the Traditional Arts that produces the National Folk Festival, has a story he likes to tell about the time more than 50 years ago when he first saw legendary folk guitarist Doc Watson playing music on the street in… Read More
When Wylie Gustafson takes the stage at the 2003 National Folk Festival, you’ll probably notice a few things about his appearance. He’s a yodeling cowboy. Hence, he wears a cowboy hat, Wrangler jeans and a Western-style jacket that’s more Hollywood than home-on-the-range. What you may not notice are… Read More
The defining moment of the Folk Festival, for me, came near the end. I had been tracking the hip-hop group from Manhattan for two days, hoping to see some cool moves to report back to my sons. I was delighted to hear that a decision had been made… Read More