Maine Fiddlehead Festival returns to Farmington April 30

After a two-year hiatus, the Maine Fiddlehead Festival is slated for a revival from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, April 30, on the campus of the University of Maine at Farmington.

Beginning in 2012, the local food-centered festival was held annually until the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled plans in 2020 and 2021. In its ninth edition this year, the festival is held on the UMF campus, where it was originally conceived, developed and organized cooperatively by UMF faculty, students and staff, and local community members, with the support of area businesses, according to a news release from the university.

Festival attendees can experience an eclectic collection of local farmers and food producers, craft vendors, food trucks, community nonprofits, live farm animals, many children’s activities, local musicians, and a local belly dancing ensemble. Centered on local food, both farmed and foraged, the event celebrates local living and rural healthy lifestyles.

It marks the beginning of the farmers market season and is attended by many local vendors. Timing of the event usually coincides with the emergence of the Maine fiddlehead, the immature form of the ostrich fern. Dave Fuller, recently retired from the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, will again lead visitors on his walk and talk in search of the festival’s namesake.

A fiddlehead cooking demonstration has been a draw throughout the history of the festival, and UMF’s Ashley Montgomery will be back to whet the appetite of visitors for the seasonal delicacy.

The festival is free and open to the public. It is family friendly, with numerous child-oriented activities and attractions, including crafts and farm animals with which to interact.

The rain-or-shine event takes place in the courtyard between the Olsen Student Center and Roberts Learning Center buildings at the southern end of the UMF campus.

Parking is available in nearby university lots on High Street and lower Main Street near Abbott Park.

For more information, contact Mark Pires, UMF campus sustainability coordinator, at 207-778-7015 or edward.pires@maine.edu, or visit facebook.com/FarmingtonMaineFiddleheadFestival.

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