CARIBOU, Maine — Thursdays on Sweden, a street festival that has taken place for roughly half a decade, continues to draw relatively large crowds into the city of Caribou.
Caribou’s new marketing and events coordinator, Christina Kane-Gibson, was hired just four months ago and says it’s been “a blast” orchestrating the event.
While Kane-Gibson is primarily responsible for organizing “Thursdays,” she says it wouldn’t be possible without city-wide collaborations. Nearly every city department plays a role in ensuring the event’s success, with Public Works Director Dave Ouellette coordinating a crew to help close the roads and set up the stage, Parks and Rec Superintendent Gary Marquis and his staff helping Kane-Gibson with festivities, Library Director Anastasia Weigle preparing activities and games, and police and fire departments teaming up as “Guns and Hoses” and grilling burgers for attendants.
Kane-Gibson says organizing the July 20 event was a little easier than the first event, especially with “teamwork to fall back on.”
“These guys have been doing it for five years,” Kane-Gibson said. “We’ve gotten it down to a science. Vendors know what they’re doing at this point and know about their spots, and it’s really not that stressful. It’s a fun time, but I couldn’t do it without the team.”
Each bi-weekly event carries a theme, with this week’s being based around potatoes.
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- Thursdays on Sweden, a bi-weekly summer street festival held by the city of Caribou for roughly half a decade, continues to draw hundreds of people from both in and out of Caribou throughout the season. (Christopher Bouchard)
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- Kornerstone played covers of top 40 hits and kept the energy high during the July 20 Thursdays on Sweden street festival in Caribou. (Christopher Bouchard)
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- Caribou Library Director Anastasia Weigle (left) and Marketing and Events Coordinator Christina Kane-Gibson greeted attendants at the Thursdays on Sweden “Caribou Booth,” where kids could make their own Mr. Potato head out of real potatoes. (Christopher Bouchard)
“The library always has a fantastic booth that kids should definitely check out,” Kane-Gibson said on July 20. “Today they’re making potato heads out of real potatoes.”
The next “Thursdays” will land on Aug. 3 and will feature a “Chalk Walk,” which Kane-Gibson says will let artists of all ages show off their talents.
“Everyone will have a square (in the lot next to the post office), and all the budding artists can come out and show us their chalk masterpieces,” Kane-Gibson said, adding that she is trying to get city councilors to come out as judges.
City officials have made appearances at the festival in the past, with Mayor Gary Aiken hosting the “Caribou Booth” a few times this year.
Kane-Gibson said the last “Thursdays,” on July 6 presented some stress in that there was a high chance of rain and she had to decide whether or not to hold the event outside or at the recreation center.
“When it rains we move the event inside, but we lose half our vendors and the acoustics with the music aren’t as good as they are outside,” Kane-Gibson said . “At 4 p.m. we were considering moving inside, but decided to go ahead and keep it outside. It ended up pouring in Presque Isle but we missed all the rain. It was a close call, but it ended up being perfect with cooler weather and a nice breeze.”
The events director said “Thursdays” usually draw a crowd from outside Caribou, and that she’s spoken to many who attend “Mondays on Main,” a similar summer street festival in Presque Isle.
“I’ve been to (Mondays on Main) and have spoken to them about possibly coordinating our efforts in the future,” Kane-Gibson said, adding that the summer festivals are true Aroostook County events, bringing in people from all over northern Maine.
“It’s the most fun experience ever,” she said. “We always have a blast. There’s a great crowd, great music, and great food.”
