RUMFORD — Residents will have the opportunity to celebrate their heritage after the Rumford Heritage Festival 2013 kicks off Thursday, Sept. 12, and continues at 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 14, in conjunction with the Crossroads International Celtic Festival.
According to Envision Rumford member Tammi Lyons, the group is working on “putting the finishing touches on the festival.”
“Right now, we’re just considering how many people will be attending,” Lyons said. “We’ve had a great response to the craft section so far, and the ethnic food piece that we’ve arranged has come together very well.”
The festival will officially begin at 7 p.m. Thursday at 49 Franklin, with performances by the Squid Jiggers, the Maine-based folk duo of Dave Rowe and Troy R. Bennett; magician Scot Grassette; and 19-year-old fiddle player and step dancer Kathleen Gorey-McSorley of New Brunswick, Canada.
Tickets are $15, with doors opening at 6 p.m.
The festivities will continue Saturday, Sept. 14, with a street fair featuring events in downtown Rumford. The street fair will begin at 10 a.m. with a craft fair.
Lyons said one event that the community seems to be excited about is the ethnic food fair, where Mexican, German, Cambodian and Italian dishes will be served.
“It’s a really good chance for people to get a feel for our heritage,” Lyons said.
The ethnic food fair will begin at 11 a.m. and will last until the food is gone.
Music will be offered in the form of a jam session at 2 p.m. next to Bartash Card and Gift. According to the Crossroads International Celtic Festival website, the Prince Edward Island band Ten Strings and a Goat Skin will perform with brothers Silas and Nolan Rogers of Wilton.
After the street fair, the music will continue at 7 p.m. in the Rumford Falls Auditorium, where three musicians from New Brunswick will perform in a show titled, “Our Roots Are Showing.” Twenty-one-year-old violinist Dominique Dupuis and musical groups Arseneault and the Lina Boudreau Trio are the acts set to perform.
The tickets are $15 for the Rumford Auditorium show, with the doors opening at 6 p.m.
Ink Maine will have a tent set up at the street fair, where they will offer henna tattoos and face paintings.
Lyons said it’s the first year that Rumford has held a heritage festival, though they expect it to become an annual event if the reception is good.
“We were first approached by the Crossroads International Celtic Festival about organizing some activities for the day,” Lyons said. “They have some musicians performing at the Rumford Auditorium, and they wanted to see if there was anything we could do to promote the area and our heritage.”
“Rumford is a beautiful area, and I think a lot of people forget that sometimes,” Lyons said. “We’re hoping that this event will be a good way to get more people to the area. You always hold your breath when you do an event like this and hope that you’ll get a turnout. I think it’s going to be a great time for everybody.”
The Crossroads International Celtic Festival, according to its website, is a five-day festival taking place in towns in Western Maine. Artists will travel from Nova Scotia, Cape Breton, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland, New Brunswick, Scotland and Ireland, as well as from across the United States to celebrate the “unique celebration of music and culture.”
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