TOPSHAM — The DownEast Country Dance Festival, featuring hours of nonstop dancing and music-making, will celebrate its 21st season on March 25-26 at Mt. Ararat Middle School and the attached Orion Performing Arts Center.

The biggest draw for folk arts fans from throughout Maine and New England is Saturday, “folk smorgasbord” day, for which the school’s cafeteria, gym and multiple classrooms will be transformed into dance halls, workshop areas and spaces for concerts and jam sessions.

Festivities will kick off at 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 25, with an evening of traditional New England country dancing in the gym to music provided by the bands Rock the Boat and Elixir. Typically called contra dancing, this style of dance has its roots in the English country dances enjoyed by American colonists more than 200 years ago. While similar to square dancing, contras are danced in a double-line formation of as many as 20 couples, allowing a great deal of intermingling and socializing. The Friday evening dance will end at midnight with a last waltz.

The festival will resume at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 26, with more contra dancing as well as workshops on everything from waltz and tango to folk dances from Israel, Ireland, Scotland, Quebec and Scandinavia. Workshops will take place simultaneously at different venues throughout the day.

A 2 p.m. variety show in the auditorium will showcase the Maine Scottish Dancers as well as demonstrations of English ritual dancing by the Highland Mary Morris ensemble. A Cajun dance party is slated for 4 p.m. in the cafeteria. An equally wide variety of activities is planned for those who want to enhance their musicianship, including instrumental workshops in fiddle, banjo, guitar, penny whistle and hammered dulcimer, and vocal sessions in yodeling, improvisation, Shape Note and round singing.

A number of miniconcerts are also scheduled in the Bistro, while the Rainbow Room will feature activities for children and families, including arts and crafts and a whimsical festival parade featuring kid-crafted instruments. To keep the event affordable, children ages 10 and younger will be admitted free with youth ages 11-21 given a substantial price break.

The Saturday night schedule, geared more to adults, offers contra dancing until midnight in addition to an international folk dance party from 7-9 p.m.

Live music will predominate throughout the festival, with appearances by more than two dozen musical groups from Maine and elsewhere, including the contra dance bands Perpetual e-Motion, T-Acadie, Playgroup, Racket Factory, the Sea Slugs, Catharsis, Nor’easter and Flowing Tide; the Maine Squeeze accordion ensemble; the Cambridge International Folk Orchestra; and the Cajun group Jimmyjo & the Jumbol’ayuhs.

Festival tickets are available for the full two-day event or portions of it, with prices ranging from $12 for the Friday night dance ($8 for age 11-21) to $35/$25 for the entire festival. Children age 10 and under are free at all times. The Orion Arts Center/Mt. Ararat Middle School is on Main Street. For a full schedule of activities, visit the festival website, www.starleft.org/decdf, or call festival director Lynn Plumb at 563-8953.