GO AND DO

WHAT: Kingfield Pops with Bangor Symphony Orchestra

WHEN: Gates open at 5 p.m. Saturday

WHERE: Kennedy Farm, Route 142, Kingfield

HOW: $20 general admission, $10 for those ages 12 to 17, free for children under 12

Tickets may be purchased at www.bangorsymphony.com or by calling 1-800-639-3221

EVENTS:

5 p.m.: Western Mountain Trash Can Band (steel drums), Instrument Petting Zoo, No Frowns Clown

6 p.m.: Edith Jones Project (jazz)

7:30 p.m.: Bangor Symphony Orchestra pops concert led by maestro Xiao-Lu Li

9 p.m.: Fireworks finale

Kingfield Pops will pop with fireworks this year

KINGFIELD – The Kingfield Pops will close an evening of music with a fireworks show Saturday night.

The concert drew about 1,000 attendees last year, and organizers are hoping for at least half as many more this year.

The concert will take place at a new venue this year. The Kennedy Farm on Route 142 in Kingfield will allow for a larger audience and is endowed with a natural amphitheater and views of nearby Mount Abraham, Sugarloaf and the Bigelow Mountain range.

Farm owners Jeff and Wendy Kennedy supported the project when they were approached with the idea, said Bill Swain, one of the event’s organizers. In addition to providing the venue, the couple have allowed TDS Telecom and Central Maine Power to bury electrical lines on the property to provide power for the event. The companies provided the electrical work free.

To make the event more family-friendly, children under 12 will be admitted free, and unlike last year, picnics will be allowed. For those who don’t want to pack their food, area civic groups will be raising money with a barbecue, and area students will be selling desserts.

Touting themselves as having 86 percent less testosterone than the average big band but with 200 percent of the swing, the Edith Jones Project – an all-female jazz ensemble – will open for the pops. The 16-piece swing band formed about a year ago when two saxophonists who enjoyed playing duets together in a Portland basement thought it would be fun to form a big band.

And fun it is, according to band leader Alison Jones. She says that the members, hailing from Saco to Bangor and ranging in age from 23 to 73, are all kindred spirits.

“For the first few months, the band members didn’t even learn each other’s names because they just wanted to play,” she said. “I was the only one who knew everyone by name at first.”

The band has already played at several indoor and outdoor venues, but this will be their largest gig, , by far.

The 55-piece Bangor Symphony Orchestra will play the “Light Cavalry Overture,” “Memory” from the show “Cats,” “Lassus Trombone,” the intermezzo from “Cavalleria Rusticana” “Clarinet Candy,” selections from “Phantom of the Opera,” selections from “Oklahoma!,” an armed forces salute, “American Patrol,” “Hoe Down,” “America the Beautiful,” “God Bless America” and “Stars and Stripes Forever.”

jhausen@sunjournal.com

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