Celebrate Mansfield Festival: Sunday, September 20
The Mansfield Downtown Partnership invites area residents to gather at the 12th Annual Celebrate Mansfield Festival for music, food, and fun! The excitement begins with the Celebrate Mansfield Parade at noon and continues until 4:00 pm. The Celebrate Mansfield Festival will be Sunday, September 20 on and around the Mansfield Town Square (if it rains, the event will be held inside E. O. Smith High School).
Be sure to arrive early to grab a seat on the street because Storrs Road (Route 195) will close at 11:45 AM to accommodate the Parade. The “Pride of Connecticut” UConn Marching Band will anchor an eclectic line-up of community groups, sports teams, local businesses, animals, and larger-than-life puppets from the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry.
Children are invited to ride their bicycle or tricycle with the traditional “Bikes, Tykes, and Trikes.” To be in the Parade, children and their adult(s) should meet at the corner of Storrs Road and South Eagleville Road (Route 275) at 11:00 am. Volunteers will be there to assemble the riders. Cyclists of all ages are required to wear helmets.
Follow the Celebrate Mansfield Parade from the Post Office, up Storrs Road to the Mansfield Town Square, where Mayor Betsy Paterson will welcome one and all to the Festival.
Throughout the afternoon, nearly 100 Mansfield businesses and organizations will host activity booths featuring hands-on fun for all ages. UConn’s Dining Services returns to host their popular cooking demonstrations. Mansfield restaurants will have a wide variety of food available for purchase, or visitors can take a break at one of the many restaurants found throughout Downtown Storrs.
New this year will be a second stage featuring a variety of entertainment. Local favorites Kidsville Kuckoo Revue will entertain the young and young at heart with their classic songs – everyone is invited to dance along! Their performance will begin shortly after the Parade, at approximately 1:00 PM. From 2:00 to 4:00 PM, students from UConn’s Puppet Arts Program will perform a number of family shows.
On the Town Square Stage, Tuesday Saints will be the first to perform. With their rustic harmony vocals, acoustic guitar, and fiddle, local singer/songwriters Jeff Burnham and Nanette Addesso create a sound Lonesome Noise calls “the perfect Autumn in New England on a Sunday morning music.”
At 2:30 PM, Pearl and the Beard will take to the Town Square Stage for the main performance of the afternoon. Pearl and the Beard are Brooklyn trio Jocelyn Mackenzie, Emily Hope Price, and Jeremy Styles. The three passionately intertwine three distinct voices amidst a powerfully delicate orchestra of cello, guitars, keyboard, bells, and percussion, offering songs that speak to joy and sorrow, love and loss. This indie-folk/pop trio is a “joy to listen to,” says Paste Magazine. “Pearl and the Beard make something you never thought to ask for, but find that you no longer want to live without.”
Parking for the Celebrate Mansfield Festival will be available in the E. O. Smith High School parking lots; in the Mansfield Town Hall parking lot (accessed from S. Eagleville Road); and in the Storrs Center parking garage, which will be free for the day. Following the Parade, on-street parking will be available on Storrs Road.
The Celebrate Mansfield Festival would not be possible without the generous support of the many sponsors and volunteers who contribute their time and resources to this special community event. Please be sure to visit our sponsors’ booths and thank them for their support!
The 2015 Platinum Sponsors are The Day; Gulemo, Inc Printers, Main Street Homes at Storrs Center, The Oaks on the Square, and Price Chopper. The Gold Sponsors are E. O. Smith High School; the Town of Mansfield; UConn; the Chronicle; Kahan, Kerensky & Capossela, LLP; Mansfield OB/GYN; Moe’s Southwest Grill; Mooyah Burgers & Fries; Savings Institute Bank & Trust; UConn Co-op; WILI AM and i98.3 FM; Windham Hospital; and Wingstop.
The Bronze Sponsors are Cipparone & Zaccaro, PC; Dr. Karen Calef, DMD; First Niagara; Hair Cuttery; LAZ Parking; Liberty Bank; Natchaug Hospital; Nathan Hale Inn & Conference Center; People’s United Bank; SBM Charitable Foundation; Tony’s Garage; UConn Foundation; UConn Health; Updike, Kelly, & Spellacy; Weichert Realtors Four Corners Real Estate; Wilcox & Reynolds, LLC; and Willimantic Waste Paper Co.
For more information about the 12th Annual Celebrate Mansfield Festival, please visit www.downtownstorrsfestival.org, or call the Mansfield Downtown Partnership office (860.429.2740).