Festival-goers celebrate their culture with food, music and dance.
LEWISTON – Downpours and threatening thunderstorms didn’t stop Louise Stuart and Irene O’Brien from staying out past their bedtime this weekend.
Both women, along with family and friends, stayed up until 11:30 p.m. on Friday and midnight on Saturday dancing to the tunes of the La Tournee du Bonheur band under the big tent at the 11th annual Festival de Joie.
On Friday night, they danced under the tent as rain soaked the Railroad Park festival grounds.
“I got home all wet – but it was worth it,” said O’Brien. “I took a shower, a couple of aspirin and I slept like a baby.”
The 66-year-old wouldn’t let the overcast skies and rain showers hold her back from the festival on Saturday either. She was at the festival grounds early celebrating her culture and heritage with the Franco-American music, entertainment and food.
Throughout the weekend, the longtime friends reminisced, spent quality time with their loved ones and indulged on the salmon pies.
“This is where you meet schoolmates, old friends and family,” O’Brien said.
“It brings us all together,” added 60-year-old Stuart.
On Sunday, Stuart and O’Brien swayed to the music and clapped to the beat until closing ceremonies at 5 p.m.
During closing ceremonies, chairman Lionel Guay addressed hundreds of festival-goers about rumors that he had heard during the weekend.
“Several times during the day people came up to me and asked if this would be the last festival,” he said. “But I can guarantee that as long as I’m chairman, we will find a way to have the Festival de Joie.”
Guay didn’t know how the rumors had started, but he was quick to end them. After his address on Sunday evening, cheers, whistles and shouts circulated through the crowd.
Coordinators found that the crowd on Friday evening was smaller than normal – by about three-quarters – because of the weather. But on Saturday, they sold out of most of their food, including the meat pies and the beans at the bean supper, and had to reorder for Sunday.
The crowd on Saturday saw an increase over last year, said Guay.
But they won’t have the official count until Tuesday, when Guay speaks to the treasurer about the weekends’ sales. From there, they will meet again at the end of August to begin planning for next year. Already, they have plans to increase the number of games at the children’s area.
“All-in-all, I think it was a very successful festival,” said Guay.
The accordion ensemble, The Main Squeeze, which made their second appearance at the annual festival found the success of the Festival de Joie to be the non-commercial atmosphere that sets it apart from other festivals.
“It’s great that it reflects Franco-American traditions that were put down for so long,” said accordion player, Peter Blackstone. “It’s a good way to celebrate Maine’s cultural heritage.”
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