FARMINGTON — Maine Fiddlehead Festival returns Saturday, April 29, with old favorites, expanded offerings and much more than fiddleheads.
Amy Fisher from Maine Farmland Trust will be kicking things off this year, with a talk about the importance of local food and agriculture at 10 a.m. in the amphitheater near Roberts Hall.
Greater Franklin Food Council is sponsoring the tent talks this year. Coordinator Ellie Sloane-Barton recently said Dave Fuller will be conducting the fiddlehead walk again this year. She noted Cynthia Stancioff will be giving a mushroom foraging talk, Will Bonsall will be discussing soil fertility, Paul Stancioff will be demonstrating bread making and new this year, Kate Wallace will be offering a fermentation talk/demonstration.
“The whole kids area will be back in full force this year, with some new activities,” Sloane-Barton stated. “We are really excited.”
“This year, the kids activities are all going to be located in one place, so it will be a pretty fun little corner of the festival,” organizer Amber Stone, with Backroad Books, wrote in a recent email. “Cooperative Extension will be leading a few activities all focused on STEAM practices with a sustainable/agricultural twist. They will be helping kids make solar ovens, launch off some bottle rockets, and lots of other hands-on activities.”
The reading nook will be overflowing with free books and book-related activities, Stone noted. Literacy Volunteer’s Sarah Beech will be there with her hand crank sewing machine, making bookmarks for kids, and she will also be offering the chance for kids to make their own mini magazine about their time at the festival.
“Backroad Books will be set up with free books and cozy places to sit and take a break, as well as many of the local libraries,” Stone wrote. “The Martin Woods Farm petting zoo will be set up close by, allowing kids the chance to “read to a farm animal.” The “big kids” of the Sunrise Movement will be offering a festival-wide scavenger hunt, and UMF students will be leading some pansy planting at the on-campus greenhouse.
“Last but not least, Joni of Western Maine Play Museum will be offering free face painting, and Everyone’s Resource Depot will be making crowns and instruments for a new produce parade! We’re excited to let the kids show off their fruit and veggie costumes and crowns, and make a ruckus in honor of fresh food!”
According to Maine Fiddlehead Festival’s Facebook page the parades will take place at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Children may bring their own costumes if they wish.
The children’s activities are going to be a great time, and a section of the fiddlehead festival that she hopes will continue to grow, Stone wrote.
UMF Sustainable Campus Coalition is also involved with planning this year’s festival.
“The kids’ activities area should be a hoot this year with face painting, mask making, parade, etc.,” Edward “Mark” Pires, coalition coordinator, wrote in a recent email. “We’re so happy that more tent talks are planned for this year’s event.”
Some 35-40 vendors and crafters are expected to be at the festival this year, Pires noted, adding three food trucks: Ugly Dumpling, Freedom’s Forage, and Fresh Eatz would be there.
Farmington Farmers’ Market vendors will be among those at the festival.
“We have an expanded list this year of about 15-20 community non-profit groups and agencies participating in the festival, with information about their work that ranges from environmental conservation [Farmington Conservation Commission] to community health and food security programs [[Maine Harvest for Hunger],” Pires wrote. “UMF’s Ashley Montgomery will be back with her delicious fiddlehead cooking demonstration from 10:30 to 12 noon.”
Local entertainment will be offered from 10:15 a.m. to 3 p.m. with new performers taking the stage every half hour. The line up includes Clef Notes, Stan Davis, Jonboy Nemo, Sagittarius Rising, Coleman Martin, Well Belly Dancers, Invite the Wild, Deep Treble ad Nuclear Salad.
Healthy Community Coalition of Greater Franklin County [HCC] will be at the festival with their Mobile Health Unit with Healthy Living programs, activities and prizes, Pires noted.
“HCC’s focus will be on HEAL, an acronym for Healthy Eating Active Living,” HCC’s Kathy Doyon said in a phone interview Wednesday, April 26. “We will have games for people of all ages to do. We will have physical activities, fiddlehead basil pesto to sample and the recipe will be available.”
A popup store tour will also be offered, Doyon noted. It involves a tour of different sections in a grocery store, the benefits in each and what people should look for, she said. There will be materials to help people in making wise food choices, she added.
Staff with the Mobile Health Unit will also be able to check blood pressure readings for anyone who wishes, Doyon added.
Activities will be taking place in Roberts Courtyard, the amphitheater and in the High Street parking lot.
Best parking for festival attendees will be in the Lower Roberts parking lot, accessible via Main Street, or along High Street. Handicap parking is available in the High Street lot.
Vendor listings and more information is available on the Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=657187346420087&set=pb.100063864824797.-2207520000.
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