CARIBOU, Maine — The city’s popular “Thursdays on Sweden” street festival kicked off on June 8, with music from the Rock Dox, artisanal crafts and treats, and a respectable community turnout.
Organized by Caribou’s newly hired Marketing and Events Coordinator Christina Kane-Gibson, and city department heads, Thursday’s event offered something for guests of all ages and tastes.
Among the varied vendors and booths was Sweet Delight Confections, a local business that specializes in creating a variety of sweet treats that owner Brian Bickford says will rival the mass-produced candies found in brick and mortar stores.
“The fudge you get today is all pre-measured in a factory. It’s all automated, the machine does everything, and it’s not as edible,” Bickford said.
Bickford previously owned a candy store on Water Street, where he made marshmallow and toasted coconut, which led to the creation of flavored marshmallows. While the store closed after one year, Bickford’s love of candy making did not end with the shop, and he continues to put his own spin on confection creation.
Standing behind several large jars of handmade flavored marshmallows that he was offering free samples of on Thursday, Bickford said he can make 64 marshmallows in about one hour.
Brian Bickford, owner of Sweet Delight Confections, offered free samples of flavored marshmallows at his booth during Caribou’s June 8 “Thursdays on Sweden” street festival. (Christopher Bouchard)
Flavors include bubblegum, candy apple, grape, and cherry. Additionally, he offered a fudge covered treat, similar to a fudgesicle in appearance, which has green apple marshmallow in the middle, covered in graham cracker and caramel.
June 8 was Bickford’s first time at Thursday’s on Sweden, and he says the experience has been positive so far.
“It’s exciting,” Bickford said. “There’s a good crowd, and it’s fun to be here.”
Lisa Grondin was another newcomer to the street festival, and offered dozens of paintings via Black Cat Art Studio.
Grondin has two years of experience as a painter, and said the inspiration came from working a stressful job (that she has since left) and painting to relieve stress.
“I found that I fell in love with painting,” Grondin said, adding that she also does tarot card readings at her booth, and that she has nearly 30 years of cartomancy experience.
Grondin’s paintings range from $2 to $8, and she says this is the first time her “babies have been out in public,” adding that 20 percent of the proceeds from each painting sold would go to a fundraiser for Teen Challenge, an organization that helps teens with substance abuse recovery.
She said she uses “cardboard, tin foil, and any kind of paint I can get my hands on” to make her creations.
Grondin said she was excited to be a part of Thursdays on Sweden, and that the only difficulty she had was fitting all her paintings in her car.
“My paintings range from gothic to flowers to animals to alternative abstract art,” Grondin said. “I try to make my paintings as diverse as I am.”
-
- The Rock Dox, an established local band, performed several chart-topping cover tracks during Caribou’s first “Thursdays on Sweden” event on June 8. (Christopher Bouchard)
