Celebrate Mansfield 2023: The Guide

MANSFIELD, CT — The Mansfield Downtown Partnership is inviting area residents and visitors to gather in Downtown Storrs on Saturday for the 20th Annual Celebrate Mansfield Festival.

A day full of music, food, and fun is on tap. The festival is designed to celebrate the people, businesses and community organizations of Mansfield.

The Festival is scheduled for 2 to 8 p.m. on and around Betsy Paterson Square in Downtown Storrs. There is no admission charge.

Mansfield businesses and community organizations and UConn departments, programs, and student groups will offer a variety of hands-on fun for all ages at booths set-up along Dog Lane, Royce Circle, and Wilbur Cross Way.

Local crafters and artists will have works available for purchase in the “Craft Corner” on Dog
Lane. Activity and craft booths will be open from 2 to 6 p.m.

Music, magic, and puppetry performances will be featured throughout the day. New this year will be the Waldron’s Studio 88 Stage featuring performances by local musicians from 3 to 6 p.m. The stage is located in the Craft Corner on Dog Lane.

The Kids Zone on Wilbur Cross Way, will feature a variety of children's entertainment in addition to activities and games for kids. Performances include Kidsville Kuckoo Revue (2:30 p.m.), Pete Haddad’s Hubba Bubba Magic Show (3:45 and 5:30 p.m.), and An Hour of Clown with Anthony Sellitto-Budney (4:30 p.m.).

One of the more unique features of the Festival each year is the Community Puppet Pageant. Together with the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry, the Partnership will host a free Community Puppet-Building Workshop on Saturday, Sept. 23 and Sunday, Sept. 24. Participants will create larger-than-life puppets under the guidance of Sara Peattie of Boston's Puppeteers Cooperative. They will then perform in the Reading the Book of Mansfield puppet pageant at the Celebrate Mansfield Festival (2:30 p.m.). No puppetry experience is
needed.

Also returning this year are the popular cooking demos by award-winning chefs from UConn Dining Services. The demos will take place on Dog Lane. Production Chef Kyle Davis will prepare Sweet and Spicy Pad Thai at 2:30 p.m., while Assistant Director of Culinary Development Robert Landolphi will prepare Chili Crisp Pork Belly with Wild Mushrooms and Mascarpone Polenta at 3:30 p.m.

The Storrs Farmers Market will be open from 3 to 5 p.m. at Town Hall.

Throughout the event, food booths and food trucks will be open on Royce Circle and Bolton Road Ext.

Betsy Paterson Square will be hosting live entertainment throughout the day.

Seldom Heard will take the stage at 3 p.m. Seldom Heard is an acoustic trio based in Mansfield and features Howard Drescher (guitar, vocals), Lee Terry (mandolin, vocals), and Tom Terry (upright bass, vocals). The group's repertoire includes original tunes as well as new takes on old favorites of Americana music drawn from folk, popular, and soft rock traditions.

Following Seldom Heard will be the UConn Jazz Quintet at 5 p.m. Sarah DiMiceli, Christopher Dexter, Michael Farina, Brendan McManus and Jack Sherman are students in the School of Fine Arts at UConn.

The Mansfield Downtown Partnership will offer limited-edition t-shirts for sale to commemorate the 20th Annual celebration of Mansfield T-shirts will be available for purchase while supplies last at the Partnership’s booth, which will be on Royce Circle. The shirts will cost $20, cash only.

Another new attraction in recognition of the20th anniversary is the "What We Love About Mansfield" oral history project, for which residents and friends are invited to lend their voices. The project video will be unveiled at the Partnership's Winter Welcome on
Saturday, Dec. 2. Interviews will take place indoors at Celebrate Mansfield at 40 Wilbur Cross Way, in the Kids Zone. Residents can sign up for a short interview spot (15-min max) on the Festival website (downtownstorrsfestival.org/ oralhistory).

Taking place in the same building, an art exhibition comprised of works by University of Connecticut students celebrates themes of community, identity, and personal narratives. Visitors are invited to partake in an interactive, collaborative drawing piece led by students in the space from 2 to 6 p.m. All of the materials will be provided.

At 5 p.m., a performance by Zikina is set for the main stage at Betsy Paterson Square. Mansfield resident Gideon Ampeire has been performing internationally for almost 20 years as a bandleader,
instrumentalist, singer, dancer, educator, and master instrument maker. For over a decade, he has been the leader of Echo Uganda, a group that has spread traditional Ugandan folk music throughout the northeast US and beyond, including an appearance at the United Nations. In 2015, Gideon met up with Western MA producer and guitarist Mike Cardozo, who has performed and recorded for nearly a decade in a variety of acts. Gideon and Mike shared the bond of having studied West African drumming at Wesleyan University under legendary professor Abraham Adzenyah. Berklee School of Music graduate Roston Kirk and drummer Kurt Eisele-Dyrli rounded out the group, and what began as a casual set of jam sessions started to progress into something special that stretched musical boundaries in a unique way. Today, Zikina forges ahead,
continuing to imaginatively blend Gideon's musical and cultural heritage with the wide palette of sounds and ideas that each member brings to the table.

At 6 p.m. at Betsy Paterson Square, a closing performance by The Wolff Sisters is on tap.
The Wolff Sisters is fronted by three sisters – Rebecca on acoustic guitar, Kat on the keys, Rachael on electric guitar, and all three on lead vocals and harmonies. Raised on Bob Dylan, The Band, and Little Feat, the sisters crafted their sound around a honky tonk piano in the living room of their childhood home. With a talented cast of rotating drummers and bass players, The Wolff Sisters are a rag tag group of hardworking individuals that bring a big sound and timeless songs. Their music is honest and genre defying, but still rooted in traditional rock and Americana storytelling. New England Music Award winner for Americana Artist of the Year (2021), the band’s electrifying live performance and unique sound continues to gain momentum and recognition from
their hometown of Boston and beyond. The band is on tour promoting their fourth studio album Dark River.

Alcohol and smoking/vaping are prohibited on the Square. The Mansfield Downtown Partnership produces the Celebrate Mansfield Festival each fall with the support of sponsors. The 2023 Platinum Sponsors are Barnes & Noble UConn; Gulemo Printers, Inc.; The Oaks on the Square; and Wilcox & Reynolds.