By Scott Taylor,Staff Writer

Independence Day in the Twin Cities couldn’t have worked out better, in Midnight Blues Club owner Paul Morency’s opinion.

The annual Liberty Festival should be more intimate and family oriented this year. That festival offers food vendors on the Auburn side of the Great Falls and a mix of rock and jazz on the Lewiston side.

In a concurrent festival, Morency’s L/A Riverfront Blues Festival has drawn seven jazz, blues and rock acts from around the country to the corner of Court and Main streets in Auburn.

The two festivals complement each other, providing a range of talent that’s tough to find anywhere else.

Organizers couldn’t plan something like this, Morency said. It had to evolve on its own.

“One without the other, it’s just not as strong,” Morency said. The blues festival has started attracting attention around Maine as a great venue for live music, but it depends on the solid base it gets from the Liberty Festival.

“Without the rest, especially the fireworks, I don’t know if it would be as popular,” Morency said.

This will be the ninth year for the Liberty Festival, and the fourth year the blues festival has been included. Liberty Festival President Dick Martin said the two have worked hard to keep both events strong.

“We’ve really given the blues festival a chance to find its legs, and I think it’s done that now,” Martin said. “We’ve wanted to support it, not turn it into a competing event.”

Big events

Morency and his staff will close off Main Street between Court Street and Festival Plaza, putting up a stage and table seating for 500 people. Two acts are scheduled to perform from 2 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., when the fireworks are scheduled to begin.

Then, the festival moves inside. Morency has different acts scheduled until 1 a.m. on the three different stages in his club.

Things should be tamer on the other side of the river. Martin said focusing on family fun has been good for the Liberty Festival.

“We had to step back a bit to get our financial footing,” Martin said. Organizers focused on providing smaller, less expensive events that appealed to a wide range of festival-goers.

“Our audience is all over the place, from 5 years old to 90,” Martin said. “We are automatically more family-oriented.”

That’s paid off, and the festival is on solid financial footing now.

“We might even move forward next year, but with a better understanding of what those who support us want us to do,” he said.

This year’s celebration is clustered on either side of Longley Bridge and the Great Falls. Food and gift vendors will be on the Auburn side, in Great Falls Plaza behind Peoples Heritage Bank.

Liberty Festival performances will be on the Lewiston side, at Veterans Park.

“The stage is set up on the grass this year, as opposed to the asphalt,” said President Dick Martin. “I think that’s going to make the performances more intimate. People get can get right up in front of the performers.”

Events begin at 4 p.m. with the flag ceremony featuring local veterans and Boy Scouts displaying flags from all 50 states. They continue through 9:30 p.m., featuring local rock and swing-jazz bands, dance troupes and other performances. The festival will end with a half-hour fireworks display over the Great Falls.

Liberty Festival, July 4

Schedule of Events, Veterans Park, Lewiston

• Opening ceremony and tribute to the flag, 4-4:30 p.m.

• Specter, 4:30-5:30 p.m.

• Nick Knowlton and Bette Sanborn, 5:40-6:40 p.m.

• The Katie Baker Dancers, 6:45-6:50 p.m.

• The Kate Speer Dancers, 6:55-7:00 p.m.

• David Angel and The Memories, 7:15-8:15 p.m.

• The Mike Willette Swing Band, 8:30-9:30 p.m.

• Fireworks display, 9:30-10 p.m.

4th Annual L/A Riverfront Blues Festival, July 4

Schedule of Events, Main Street, Auburn

Gate fee is $5 for the day

Outside stage

• Kevin Kimball and the Steel Drivers, 2-5:30 p.m.

• Another World, 6-9:30 p.m.

Inside, Midnight Blues Club stage

• Johnny D, 2-5 p.m.

• Roundhouse, 5:30-9:30 p.m.

• Don Brewer Project, 10 p.m. to 1 a.m.

Cellar Door stage

• The Press, 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.

The Other Side stage

• DJ Bernard Dance Music, 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.