BANGOR, Maine — As Bangor prepares to host its 15th folk festival, organizers on Thursday unveiled the latest lineup of performers and urged people to attend the late summer event and continue supporting it financially.
The American Folk Festival will be held Aug. 26, 27 and 28 on the Bangor Waterfront. Admission remains free, but the festival relies on corporate contributions, grants and private donations to keep it going.
Festival officials announced the first seven acts of the season during a news conference at Bangor City Hall. No performer in this first slate of acts has been on a Bangor stage before, according to festival Executive Director Heather McCarthy.
The acts are:
— Michael Mwenso and the Shakes, featuring vocalist Brianna Thomas, an acclaimed New York City-based jazz ensemble.
— The National Women’s Dance Troupe of Sri Lanka, performing traditional Sri Lankan dance.
— The Western Flyers, a Western Swing band based out of Fort Worth, Texas.
— Michael Cleveland, an award winning, Indiana-based blind American bluegrass fiddle player.
— The East Pointers, a Prince Edward Island-based folk trio.
— Gerarde Contino y Los Habaneros, a Cuban and Latin salsa band based out of New York City.
— Nathalie Pires, a New Jersey-based Portugese Fado singer.
“There are things that people are familiar with, things that people aren’t familiar with,” she said. “We’re off to a great start.”
The acts range from old favorites such as bluegrass and Western swing to newcomers such as Sri Lankan dance and oft-requested American jazz. In all, the festival expects to bring 18 performers this year, about the same as last year.
Bangor hosted the National Folk Festival from 2002 to 2004 before it moved to Richmond, Virginia for three years. After the success of those events, organizers started the American Folk Festival as a continuation.
“I don’t think anyone could have foreseen how this festival and the waterfront have transformed in the years since,” festival board Chairman Rick Fournier said Thursday.
Since its inception, more than 290 performers and 1.7 million festival-goers have descended on the waterfront for the weekend celebration of culture, music and dance, according to organizers. They said the collective economic impact on Bangor during those years is estimated at $238 million, according to studies.
The festival has received nearly $6 million in support from local and national businesses, brought in $1.2 million in grants, and its Bucket Brigade volunteers have raked in $1.3 million in donations from attendees during the event to keep the festival alive in spite of its continued commitment to not charging for admission.
“Maine is, overall, economically challenged, and access to quality traditional arts just isn’t possible for a lot of folks unless it’s presented at free admission,” McCarthy said.
Organizers hope to raise $890,000 to throw the festival this year. McCarthy didn’t have the amount raised to this point in the year immediately available.
Organizers ask attendees to consider making a donation to support the festival, the recommended amount is $10 per day per person.
“We’re just about on track,” she said. “We work on those corporate donors throughout the first and second quarter of the year. Individual contributions come a bit later.”
On Saturday, May 14, the festival will host the third Color Bangor event, a 5K run and walk where participants pass through stations where they’re doused in colored corn starch. Registration is open. All proceeds go toward funding the American Folk Festival.
For more information on the American Folk Festival on the Bangor Waterfront, visit americanfolkfestival.com.
The Bangor Daily News is a sponsor of the American Folk Festival.
Follow Nick McCrea on Twitter at @nmccrea213.