Acadian Festival in Madawaska
June 26 to July 4, 2004
Bangor Daily News
By Beurmond Banville
Last updated: Friday, June 18, 2004
MADAWASKA - Madawaska's 27th annual Acadian Festival, Maine's largest
cultural festival, has been expanded this year to nine days, from Saturday,
June 26, to Sunday, July 4.The festival, which features people singing
Acadian songs, speaking French and displaying their traditions and culture,
is highlighted by a large family reunion. This year it's the Gendreau-Jandreau
family.
During the festival and for many days before, the town flies the Acadian
tricolor red, white and blue flag, which includes the gold star of Mary.
People wear traditional dress of years gone by, and treasures of those
years are displayed.
A highlight is the re-enactment of the landing of the Acadians and their
being welcomed by American Indians at the Acadian Cross Landing Site on
the shores of the St. John River. The re-enactment, at 5 p.m. Thursday,
July 1, will occur nearly within the shadow of the St. David Catholic
Church. The church and the Acadian Cross Landing Site are both listed
in the National Register of Historic Places.
Historical sites to see while in the St. John Valley include: the Cross
on the Mountain and Tante Blanche Museum at Madawaska; the caboose and
water tower at Frenchville; Acadian Village at Van Buren; the Musee Culturelle
de Mont-Carmel at Lille Village; and the Ste. Agathe Historical House
at St. Agatha.
There also will be fun and games. Activities start with the second annual
Top of Maine Mountain Bike Race at 10 a.m. Saturday, June 26. The Acadian
Festival Pageant is held at 7 the same evening at Madawaska High School.
An Acadian Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Sunday, June 27, at St.
David Catholic Church. That is followed by a picnic at Madawaska's Bicentennial
Park.
There is a home- and business-decorating contest this year, a softball
tournament, boat rides on Long Lake, a family festival, a talent show,
a craft fair and quilt show, an antique tractor and engine display, horse-drawn
wagon rides, a pie bake-off and jam and jelly cook-off, and a cultural
display.
Blistered Fingers will be in concert Thursday, July 1, at the Madawaska
multipurpose building. The five-member band was named Maine's Bluegrass
Band of the Year by the Maine Country Music Association in 1998, 1999
and 2000.
There will be an Acadian Dinner Theater, at which an actor portraying
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow will read the poem "Evangeline,"
at 4:30 p.m. Friday, July 2, at the Gateway Motel and Restaurant. Tickets
are available in advance only.
The 20th Maine Volunteers, a Civil War re-enactment group, will hold
an encampment outside the Madawaska multipurpose building July 2-4.
The Gendreau-Jandreau family
reunion kicks off Friday, July 2, with registration at Madawaska High
School. One-hour miniworkshops will take place Friday on genealogy, culture
and history, with a talent show that night.
A golf tournament will be held Saturday, a banquet and dance that night,
and a reunion Mass Sunday, July 4.
The celebration ends with the Acadian Festival parade at 1 p.m. July
4 and fireworks at night.
For more information on the Acadian Festival and any of its activities,
call the Greater Madawaska Chamber of Commerce at 728-7000 or visit their
online schedule.
Back to Genealogy
Back to My Acadian Roots |