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At its last Street Festival of the 2006 season, Friday, October 20 from 10 to noon on Upper Main Street, the Belfast Farmers’ Market will be warmly welcoming back two of the performers – and introducing a third – who opened the market season back in May.
Jim James and Dan Wilson will be joined by Dennis LePri, together forming a string trio, to sing their songs and make wonderful music from 10 to noon. Shoppers as well as store keepers deeply appreciated their earlier performance, and will have the opportunity to enjoy their talents a second time.
The monthly Street Festival, when Upper Main Street is shut down to vehicular traffic, effectively transforming it into a pedestrian mall, has been a first for the Belfast Farmers Market. The atmosphere is festive, the sidewalks jammed with pedestrians, parents with young children – and many seniors – attend not just to shop, but to listen to and watch the many excellent local performers who have participated, in song, music, dance, and even story-telling from the traditions of Maine’s First Peoples.
Many shopkeepers have assisted in making the events a success. Belfast Music and Realty of Maine have generously offered acoustic and electronic equipment, and a source of electricity to power them. Chairs and tables have been loaned as needed by other stores. The Street Festivals have been events made possible by many, many members of the community, pulling together.
Shoppers were able to buy locally grown and prepared foods, and pop into the nearby shops and eateries just a step away. Children were seen dancing in the street, singing along with Jim, Dan, and Scot, and David and Laura, Jennifer and Hila, Helena and Seth.
They will have another opportunity to do so with Jim, Dan and Dennis on October 20.
Come and visit us at the Belfast Farmers’ Market on October 20. Buy your favorite wares at the market, visit the many nearby shops, enjoy the music and singing. Have a good ole’ time. The market will be open for business from 9 to 1, its usual business hours. See you then !
On Friday Sept 15, the Belfast Farmers' Market will be hosting Seth Werman, making sweet music with the dulcimer, an instrument sometimes described as the lap harp, played with little hammers. He will be joined in the spotlight by Helena Melone, who is returning to dance to the exotic tunes of the Orient. Patrons of the Market enjoyed seeing Helena perform belly dancing during the June Street Festival.
During the High Summer month of August, on the 25th, the Belfast Farmers’ Market's Street Festival will feature a celebration of Maine’s First Nations People. It will be presented by David Slagger and friends at the Market’s Upper Main Street location which will be closed to motor traffic during the market hours of 9 to 1 pm.
David is a Native American of the Aroostook band of the Mi’kmaq Indian Nation. He is also a student and an educator who for the past 12 years has been traveling throughout the state teaching our young adults about Maine’s First Nations People. He tells traditional stories of the Wabanaki peoples, plays the drums and sings in his native language, helping us to glimpse the ancient traditions, rich culture and artistic heritage of Maine’s First Nations. In line with his educational studies, David recently completed a prestegious internship at the Smithsonian’s Institute’s National Museum of the American Indian, an opportunity awarded him after successfully competing with candidates from all over the United States. The members of the Belfast Farmers Market are indeed pleased to be honoring the First Peoples of our state and delighted to welcome David to our August Street Festival.
David’s presentation will begin at 10 and continue to about noon. Please join the Belfast Farmers Market on its fourth Street Festival on August 25 on Upper Main Street during the hours of 9 to 1 pm. Enjoy locally grown produce, prepared foods, and handcrafts. While you are shopping at the Market, be sure to explore the offerings of nearby shops too.
Continuing its series of monthly Street Festivals, on Friday, July 21, shoppers at the Belfast Farmers’ Market will be able to enjoy the talents of Hila Shooter playing her fiddle, and Scot Cannon on instrumental guitar "with a little bit of mime", while shopping at the Market’s Upper Main Street location which will be closed to motorized traffic during the market’s hours of 9 to 1 pm.
Hila, a native of Waldo, is a budding young performer of great promise. At only 11 years of age, she is an accomplished fiddle player. She received her first fiddle on her eighth birthday and started taking lessons from Jennifer Armstrong then. A very poised young lady, who plays by ear, her style of music ranges to Celtic tunes, bluegrass and Old Tyme songs. But her talents are not limited to music, having been recently cast in the play "The Ideal Gnome Expedition" in the Belfast Playhouse. She has also performed at Belfast By The Bay and at the Bluegrass Festival in Rockland. Hila put in a cameo appearance at the Market’s second Street Festival in June, when she accompanied Jennifer. In July she will be a featured player. Hila is widely admired as an artist and the Market is delighted to have her perform at its Street Festival.
Belfast resident Scot Cannon is another exceptionally gifted performer whose accomplishments extend to music and mime – just two of his many talents. He trained at the Berklee college of Music, studied acting at the Lyric Stage of Boston, and learned pantomine with Kenyon Martin's National Mime Theatre, Master Mime Tony Montanaro and the legendary Marcel Marceau. Sharing the spotlight with Hila, he will be playing "old songs, new songs, and songs about food and stuff" on an instrumental guitar mixed with a little bit of mime. In fact, Scot will also be performing at the Belfast Boathouse on August 12, at 1 pm, a family oriented program of mime and music. Shoppers at the Belfast Farmers’ Market will be able to get a sample of his craft on July 21. Scot also has a web site, www.scotcannon.com for those wanting to learn a bit more about the many facets of his art.
Come to the Belfast Farmers’ Market’s third Street Festival on Friday, July 21, from 9 to 1 pm and shop for locally grown produce and locally prepared foods and crafts from people you know. And delight in the performance of two very gifted and skilled artists. While you’re there, be sure to visit the stores and shops on and around Main Street.
Visitors to the second Belfast Farmers’ Market "Special Friday Street Festival" on June 23 will be treated to the talents of storytelling singer and musician Jennifer Armstrong and improvisational dance artist Helena Melone. Both local women will share the stage on Upper Main Street between 10 am and noon. Young and old alike are sure to be entertained.
This season, Belfast Farmers’ Market is hosting a series of once-a-month Special Friday Street Festivals from 9 am to 1 pm on the block of Main Street between Post Office Square and High Street. With the street closed to traffic, pedestrians will be able to shop for organic foods and goods produced in the area while enjoying a range of local talents. The Market’s Special Friday Street Festivals are planned to run through October.
A Belfast resident since 2000, Jennifer Armstrong has become a regular at concerts and celebrations in the area and around the state playing the bagpipes, which she started on at age 13. For this Special Friday Street Festival she will take up her first instrument—the fiddle—as well as the banjo to spin a web of songs and stories, many reflecting her Celtic heritage.
In May Ms. Armstrong was a special guest in the debut offering of "The New Vaudeville Revue" originating at the Colonial Theatre. She often presents stories with music at school and libraries around the state, as she did just this past Monday at the Belfast Free Library. Between sets at Farmers’ Market she will sign copies of her new children’s book, The Poet’s Basket, which will be available for purchase at the Fertile Mind Book Store.
An improvisational dancer by nature, Helena Melone took up the study of flamenco among Spanish gypsies in 1994. Similarly drawn to the spontaneity of Middle Eastern belly-dancing, she incorporated that dance form into her repertoire several years later, studying under some of the foremost practitioners. Having recently relocated to Montville, she teaches both flamenco and belly dance at the Belfast Dance Studio and frequently performs at fairs and festivals in the area, including the Common Ground Fair this coming September.
The Belfast Farmers’ Market, which is open from 9 am to 1 pm every Friday from May till October, offers the finest locally grown organic produce as well as locally produced cheeses, breads, artisanal food preparations and handicrafts. On most Fridays the Market is sited in the parking area below Dudley’s Diner on Lower Main Street. Once a month the Market relocates to Upper Main Street for a Special Friday Street Festival with distinctive family-friendly entertainment. Following the upcoming Special Friday Street Festival on June 23 will be those on July 21, August 25, September 15 and October 20.
Belfast—Vocalist Laura Campbell will share the bill with bluesman Jim James at the first Special Friday of the Belfast Farmers’ Market series this coming Friday, May 26. From 9 am till 1 pm, the block of Main Street between Post Office Square and High Street will be closed to traffic to allow pedestrians to shop for organic foods and goods produced in the area. Six Special Fridays are planned to run through October.
Equally—perhaps more—organic will be entertainment for all ages offered by local artists from 10 am to noon. A mix of acoustic musicians, storytellers, dancers and who knows what else is in line to amuse and amaze patrons as they meander among the vendors’ stalls. On each Special Friday two acts will share the bill. Youngsters won’t be disappointed.
For the first Special Friday, Laura Campbell promises a range of vocal styles—folk, blues and Earth-centered toning—as well as instruments. Besides acoustic guitar, Laura accompanies her engaging tunes with rainstick, drum and Australian didgeridoo. She cites an artistic kinship with Joni Mitchell, Ani DiFranco, Neil Young and Bonnie Raitt.
Sharing the Market’s impromptu stage with Laura will be erstwhile Liverpudlian Jim James, offering his distinctive style of laid-back British blues. Dan Wilson, who crafts his own one-of-a-kind instruments, will complement Jim’s guitar and vocals with his easy bass. Main Street merchant Neal Parent has offered slithery support on harmonica.
Laura Campbell, Jim James and Dan Wilson are regular contributors to the twice-monthly Coffeehouse at the UU Church. Laura has presented her music at numerous events throughout Maine and New England including MOFGA’s Common Ground Fair. As a five-piece ensemble, Jim James and Friends were a standing-room feature of the recent New Year’s by the Bay.
Next up at the Special Friday on June 23 are fiddler, songstress and raconteur Jennifer Armstrong along with flamenco artist and belly-dancer Helena Melone. Stay tuned and get toned.
copyright 2006 Belfast Farmers Market®
