Maine Fiddlehead Festival celebrating the rural healthy lifestyle returns to the UMF campus April 30

FARMINGTON — After a two-year hiatus, the popular Maine Fiddlehead Festival is slated for a revival on Saturday, April 30 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., on the campus of the University of Maine at Farmington.

Beginning in 2012, the local food-centered festival was held annually until the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled plans in 2020 and again in 2021. In its ninth edition this year, the festival is held on the UMF campus, where it was originally conceived, developed, and organized cooperatively by UMF faculty, students, and staff and local community members, with the generous support of local area businesses.

Attendees at the Fiddlehead Festival experience an eclectic collection of local farmers and food producers, craft vendors, food trucks, community non-profits, live farm animals, many children’s activities, local musicians, and even a local belly dancing ensemble. Centered on local food, both farmed and foraged, the event celebrates local living and rural healthy lifestyles.

It marks the beginning of the farmers market season and as such is attended by many local vendors. Timing of the event usually coincides with the emergence of the iconic Maine fiddlehead, the immature form of the ostrich fern. Dave Fuller, recently retired from the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, will once again lead visitors on his popular walk and talk in search of the festival’s namesake. A fiddlehead cooking demonstration has been a popular draw throughout the history of the festival, and UMF’s talented Ashley Montgomery will be back again this year to whet the appetite of visitors for the seasonal delicacy.

The festival is free and open to the public. It is family-friendly, with numerous child-oriented activities and attractions, including crafts, farm animals to interact with, and more. The rain or shine event takes place in the courtyard between the Olsen Student Center and Roberts Learning Center buildings at the southern end of the UMF campus. 

Parking is available in nearby university lots located on High Street and on lower Main Street near Abbott Park.

 For more information, contact Mark Pires, UMF campus sustainability coordinator, at 207-778-7015, [email protected], or visit the Maine Fiddlehead Festival Facebook page. 

For current UMS COVID policy for visitors, go to https://www.maine.edu/together/community-guidance/everyone/.

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