MADAWASKA, Maine — Madawaska’s largest annual event — the multi-day Acadian Festival — saw success this year in spite of rain during a Sunday parade.
Organizers announced on social media that the parade would be moved from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. due to the weather, which was just in time for the rain to stop.
This year’s four-day event included music at the park, an art expo at the St. John Valley Chamber of Commerce and a senior picnic. It also featured a Madawaska Maliseet First Nation cultural demonstration by Shawn Francis of Edmundston. This presentation led into the traditional Acadian tintamarre parade, which features noisemakers and pots and pans.
This was also the first year that the festival included a Miss Acadian Festival Pageant, which was set a week before the festival on Aug. 9. Pageant winners were featured in the Sunday parade.
The parade featured a plethora of entries from Madawaska and beyond. Parade entry winners were NorState Federal Credit Union for “Best Acadian Theme,” the Anah Shrine Oriental Band for “Best Non-Profit,” Tractor Supply won “Best Business,” UMFK won “Most Original,=” and the Pride of Madawaska Band received the “Most Entertaining” award.
The festivities were capped on Sunday night with a star gazing event hosted by the Upper St. John River Organization at Birch Point Beach. The organization also hosted an event on Saturday in which the Maine Solar System model received two new additions for the first time since 2008.
Madawaska Town Manager David Daigle said the event has been a part of the community since 1978 and that it is intended to bring families, friends and tourists together to experience the region’s Acadian culture and heritage.
“Madawaska, one of the four corners of the United States, is a culturally rich community and region,” Daigle said, “and the festival is intended to connect us all … whether you are from near or far, enjoy authentic cuisine, cultural crafts, music, dance and local artistry, not to mention our French-Acadian hospitality.”
The event is primarily planned by the Acadian Festival Committee, which consists of about 10 people. Committee Chair Danielle Hebert said they spend most of the year planning the festival.
In addition to the committee, the festival is made possible through sponsors, the help of several dozen volunteers and town employees from nearly every municipal department.
“We’re not a big bunch but we put our hearts into this festival,” Hebert wrote in a message posted on the festival’s Facebook page, “and to know you enjoyed it makes it worth it.”
