Two-year old Eva Bachelder of Salem holds on to an egg she found while attending the Fiddlehead Festival Saturday, April 30, in Farmington. Pam Harnden/Livermore Falls Advertiser
FARMINGTON — A feeling of excitement and anticipation filled the air Saturday morning, April 30, as the University of Maine Farmington parking lot on High Street burst with color and activity. The Fiddlehead Festival had returned after a two-year hiatus because of COVID-19.
Vendors could also be found in the Roberts Courtyard between the Olsen Student Center and Roberts Learning Center. Throughout the day demonstrations, tours and a fiddlehead walk with Dave Fuller of Chesterville were held. Musicians and dancers performed in the amphitheater, changing every half hour or so.
Participants and visitors from throughout the region were seen discussing or selling their wares, stopping to talk with friends, listening to the music or getting close to the various farm animals.
Two-year old Eva Bachelder of Salem was entranced by a flock of hens and was excited to find an egg that she could hold. Mom Katelyn O’Toole said it was their first time attending the festival.
Krysta West of Readfield holds a rabbit at the Fiddlehead Festival Saturday morning, April 30, in Farmington. She said so far holding the rabbit was the thing she enjoyed the most. Pam Harnden/Livermore Falls Advertiser
Krysta West of Readfield had attended the festival in the past. “So far I am enjoying this rabbit the most,” she exclaimed while cuddling a black and white bunny.
Nicholas Cole of Farmington found some herb seedlings to buy.
Farmington selectman Scott Landry was seen talking with Lisa Laflin and Justus Hillebrand at the United Way of the Tri-Valley Area booth. Laflin had supplies for visitors to create seed tapes.
Music wafted through the air as four members of the Clef Notes sang at the amphitheater.
Members of Clef Notes perform at the Fiddlehead Festival Saturday morning, April 30, in Farmington. Pam Harnden/Livermore Falls Advertiser
Three-year old John Fletcher of Wilton was all smiles as he held a bunny while his parents Katie and Kyle Fletcher looked on.
Three-year old John Fletcher of Wilton is all smiles, the bunny not so much at the Fiddlehead Festival Saturday, April 30, in Farmington. Also seen are mom Katie Fletcher and dad Kyle Fletcher. Pam Harnden/Livermore Falls Advertiser
Erin Landry and her nine-year old daughter Teagan Landry of Vienna got up close with Olivia “Livie,” a miniature horse brought from Martins Wood Farm in Starks. Farm worker Jordan Farrin from Walpole attached signs to the pens that gave the names and some information about the animals.
Cassandra Frost of Farmington had a large display of crocheted items she had made. Octopus, bunnies, bees, turtles and mermaids were among the artistically displayed items.
Sara Beech helped children at the Literacy Volunteers of Franklin and Somerset Counties booth. She was also supporting Backroad Books, an endeavor by Amber Stone to bring books to children in rural areas of Western Maine.
Sara Beech with Literacy Volunteers of Franklin and Somerset Counties stitches a cloth bookmark using a 1926 hand-crank sewing machine at the Fiddlehead Festival Saturday, April 30, in Farmington. Five-year old Theo Stone of Farmington is also seen. Pam Harnden/Livermore Falls Advertiser
Stone’s five-year old son Theo Stone, there helping his mother, showed off the bookmark Beech had made him using a 1926 hand-crank sewing machine. Theo had selected the fabrics to use and Beech cut them to size using a discarded paper cutter before stitching the bookmark.
Some visitors were also seen in the wooded area next to Roberts Learning Center. The trees were budding and the stream drew children as they explored and spoke about what they saw with family members.
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