The Abbe Museum’s Dawnland Festival of Arts and Ideas will return on July 12 & 13, 2025, at the College of the Atlantic (COA) in Bar Harbor, Maine. This unique multi-day event is an evolution of our popular Abbe Museum Indian Market (AMIM) and Native American Festival that featured invitation-only Native arts markets and performances. The Dawnland Festival of Arts & Ideas includes those elements but also spotlights conversations by Wabanaki and other Indigenous leaders on some of the biggest questions of our time, including climate, democracy, and food systems.

“Native arts and cultures cannot be separated from Native ways of knowing. The Dawnland Festival of Arts & Ideas continues to celebrate the Native creative economy on Wabanaki homelands while lifting up Indigenous thought leadership vital to the conversation on a healthy planet and society for us all.”

Betsy Richards (Cherokee), Executive Director & Senior Partner with Wabanaki Nations