Hope Festival Saturday at UMaine
Contact: Ilze Petersons, Peace and Justice Center of Eastern Maine , (207) 942-9343
ORONO – The annual HOPE Festival, staged locally to celebrate Earth Day, is scheduled for Saturday, April 23 from 10 a.m. to 4: p.m. at the University of Maine Field House. The new location will provide a larger venue for the growing number of organizations that wish to participate. It will also bring all the entertainment together on one stage, so that those in attendance can enjoy more of the storytelling, music and puppetry together.
The UMaine Student Environmental Action Coalition and the UMaine Sustainability Office will co-sponsor the event, along with the Peace and Justice Center of Eastern Maine. The event is free and open to the public.
Schedule of activities:
10 a.m. Opening with Penobscot Elder Arnold Neptune
10:15 a.m. Singer and Storyteller Jennifer Armstrong
11:15 a.m. Bangor Fiddlers from Bangor High School
12:15 p.m. Storyteller and Songwriter Phil Whitehawk
1:15 p.m. Musical duo Emma’s Revolution
2:30 p.m. Juggler Zack Field
3 p.m. The Frog Mountain Puppeteers
3:45 p.m. Doug Crate and the Voices for Peace
The day will feature a variety of environmental craft and activity tables for children provided by the Maine Discovery Museum, Hudson Museum, Windover Arts Center and others. There will also be a 5K Fun Run beginning at 11 a.m, and the University of Maine’s solar vehicle team will display their cars along with a hybrid car loaned by Hope Brogunier.
Participants will be able to pick up information from more than 75 organizations working for peace, justice and a sustainable environment. Organizations will sell t-shirts, bumper stickers, pins and crafts. Delicious food, most of it organic, will also be available for purchase.
Volunteers are needed to help with set-up (Friday 12 noon – 6 p.m. and Saturday 8 a.m. – 10 a.m.), clean-up (Saturday 4 – 5:30 p.m.), for food concessions and for children’s activities (Saturday 10 a.m.-3 p.m.). Call 942-9343 to volunteer.