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Celebrate New Hampshire Festival

June 7 - 11, 2000
Hopkinton State Fairgrounds, Contoocook, NH

Celebrate New Hampshire festival was an expanded recreation of the New Hampshire program of the 1999 Smithsonian Folklife Festival. The program was called Celebrating New Hampshire Stories and was developed from research carried out by folklorists and community scholars during the winter, spring, summer, and fall of 1998. Over two dozen folklorists and community scholars helped to interview, photograph, and learn from over 500 individuals. Over 200 individuals and 30 organizations participated in the 4-day event. Another 100 or so people joined in for Saturday workshops, special celebrations and evening concerts.

The Celebrate New Hampshire festival occupied the entire Hopkinton State Fairgrounds.

The festival site was organized around themes and had a wide range of built structures.

Click here to learn more about the themes and the festival site.

Click here to view images from the New Hampshire program "Celebrating New Hampshire Stories"

There were six scheduled venues:

• Town Hall Music Stage - music performances and social dances

• Grange Hall Music Stage - music performances and social dances

• Front Porch Stage - music performances

• New Hampshire Kitchen - traditional food demonstrations

• Summer Camp - family and children's craft activities

• Camp Adventure - family and children's performances

• Mill Stage - narratives and discussions on a range of topics

• Political Traditions Stage - narratives and discussions on a range of topics

• Agricultural Arena - demonstrations with border collies & sheep, draft horses and oxen

Each day of the event featured a different theme. Performances, discussions and special activities were planned to focus upon each theme. They were:

• Wednesday, June 7th - Yankee Ingenuity

• Thursday, June 8th - Natural Resources in New Hampshire

• Friday, June 9th - Celebrate the Old Ways

• Saturday, June 10th - Celebrate Franco-American Heritage in New Hampshire

• Sunday, June 11th - Old Home Days in New Hampshire

Three evening concerts were held:

• Thursday, June 8th - "Celebrating New Hampshire's Cultural Diversity Through Music" At the Summer Camp Stage and the Town Hall Music Stage

• Friday, June 9th - "Celebrating New Hampshire Country Dancing" At the Summer Camp Stage and the Town Hall Music Stage

• Saturday, June 10th - "Celebrating Our Franco-American Heritage" At the Town Hall Music Stage

Here's a typical day at the Festival from the program book schedule of events: