Arootsakoostik celebrates nine years
NEW SWEDEN, Maine — The Arootsakoostik Music Festival celebrated its ninth installment this past weekend. Travis Cyr, the founder of the event, says that this is one of the better turn-outs he has seen since the event first took place.
“I know we sold upwards of 300 tickets, but I’m sure there’s a little more than that at this point,” Cyr said.
With the weather working in everyone’s favor, people filled up the benches and got comfortable on blankets and lawn chairs at Thomas Park in New Sweden. There was certainly no shortage of food, vendors and activities, as Market Street Co-op was there along with Pasco Grove Art Work, KTC’s Brain Freeze, Sally Bateau Hound Dogs, Van Buren Class of 2016 Project Grad and more.
“I think that we definitely have a little something for everyone, and if you’re looking around you see newborn children here to the elderly,” Cyr said.
People of all ages attended the event, as well as people living outside of Aroostook County. Craig Terrell of Connecticut says he and his wife truly enjoy the event and try not to miss out.
“We have summer camps up here in Aroostook County and we’ve made a point of coming to Arootsakoostik festival as man y years as we can possibly fit it into our schedule,” Terrell said. “It’s been a main stay of our summer.”
While many people such as Terrell make it a point to attend Arootsakoostik, the event wouldn’t be possible without the efforts of Cyr and his team of about 10 to 12 people. Cyr says there is a great deal of communication that must take place in order for things to work. Many emails are sent back and forth, and there is a lot of physical work the day of the event.
“It doesn’t seem like work though, it’s a lot of fun for us and we feel honored to do it,” Cyr said.
This year’s lineup included a variety of musicians including, The Ghost of Paul Revere, The Box Tiger, Micromasse, Gunther Brown, Theodore Treehouse, Muddy Ruckus, Max Garcia Conover, Jacob Augustine, GK and the Right of Way, Sorcha, Putnam Smith, The Worrisome Hearts and Travis Cyr and Strings of Calamity.
While Arootsakoostik allows many local people to get out for a day and enjoy themselves, it also gives visitors to the area much more than that. It gives them the opportunity to grasp what Aroostook County has to offer and become familiar with the roots of this area through music, festivities and good company.
“We just want to say that we are very thankful to everybody that supports this event and we feel blessed to be able to do it,” Cyr said.
