LEWISTON – A cartoon image of the French fleur de lis will serve as the symbol for the summer’s newest festival, the Festival FrancoFun.
The logo was unveiled Friday in a press conference at the Franco-American Heritage Center, which is sponsoring the new event.
“People wanted something fun and that’s what we’ve tried to capture,” said Karen Gilbert, who runs Gilbert Creative Designs and donated the logo design.
The French symbol – in front of a skyline of homes and churches – aimed to illustrate the aim of the planned festival, to “pass on and preserve” the French culture, Gilbert said.
The festival, scheduled for Aug. 4, 5 & 6, is meant to fill part of the hole left by the Festival de Joie. Leaders of the 13-year-old festival announced last fall it would be disbanded.
However, savings from that organization have been turned over to the Franco center, to help put on the new, smaller event.
And some of the former festival’s most popular attractions – musical acts such as La Tournee du Bonheur with Jean-Guy Piche and French foods including meat pies and crepes – will reappear.
The musical “Lewiston – A New Home,” written by Richard Martin, will be performed in Friday night and Sunday afternoon shows.
Friday and Sunday events are planned for the center. For Saturday’s events, including a bean supper, the Colisee will be the host.
Leaders are still working on the schedule. A web site will be launched in coming weeks and tickets will be sold for individual shows once the festival producers settle on the prices.
Unlike the Festival de Joie, people will be asked to buy tickets for particular events rather than day or weekend passes.
The aim is to continue the traditions of Lewiston’s Franco population, said Larry Gilbert, the center’s interim president and Lewiston’s former police chief.
During Friday’s press conference, Gilbert stood beside his daughter, logo designer Karen Gilbert.
“People worked hard here and they played hard too,” said the elder Gilbert. “We are trying to acknowledge both sides of their lives.”
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