HOLY COW! IT'S THE CHURCH STREET FESTIVAL
Belfast's last weird street party needs you!
Children invited to participate in parade, ideas of all stripes encouraged
Fri, 10/05/2012 - 2:30pm
Mary Weaver opens the door to the attic stairs of her barn in Belfast where hundreds of costumes and props for the annual Church Street Festival parade reside. This year's festival is this Saturday, Oct. 6. Weaver seeks children and their parents to participate and put the props to good use. (Photo illustration by Ethan Andrews)
The attic of Mary Weaver's barn in Belfast is crowded with racks of costumes and other theater props, some of which will be available for children who wish to be in the Church Street Festival parade this Saturday.
An assortment of props in Weaver's attic.
The lower level of Weaver's barn is filled with some of the larger props used for her theater productions and the annual Church Street Festival.
Mary Weaver opens the door to the attic stairs of her barn in Belfast where hundreds of costumes and props for the annual Church Street Festival parade reside. This year's festival is this Saturday, Oct. 6. Weaver seeks children and their parents to participate and put the props to good use. (Photo illustration by Ethan Andrews)
The attic of Mary Weaver's barn in Belfast is crowded with racks of costumes and other theater props, some of which will be available for children who wish to be in the Church Street Festival parade this Saturday.
An assortment of props in Weaver's attic.
The lower level of Weaver's barn is filled with some of the larger props used for her theater productions and the annual Church Street Festival.
BELFAST – Bella the Big Pink Elephant, icon of the annual Church Street Festival, is in her second incarnation. So maybe it's fitting that the theme of the 2012 festival parade, happening this Saturday, is Holy Cow! Gifts from the Land of Milk and Honey.
Mary Weaver started the famously motley parade in 1980 as a street theater add-on to what was originally a showcase for craftspeople. Over the years, some of the artisans moved on bigger shows and the organization dissolved, but there were still plenty of creative people around ready to show up with extravagant costumes and some eccentric good cheer. As such, the parade became the de facto attraction of the Church Street Festival, and over time a reminder of a time when Belfast's art scene was a little more homespun and weird.
This week Weaver was in her barn sorting through the material legacy of three decades of unfettered creativity — mountains of costumes, floats and props accumulated over the years — in preparation for Saturday's festival and parade.
The festival, she said, is now an open event. Weaver runs the parade as she always has, starting this year at her home and ending in front of First Church. There are several organized events planned — a poetry contest and a theatrical skit — but the rest, she said, depends on who shows up.
Weaver listed a few attractions she thought might be there: a hotdog and hamburger vendor, a bounce house. Maybe. Community organizations are invited, but not political groups, she said. Other additions can be as big or small as the imagination, time or cause allows.
"People can make three or four trays of brownies to sell for the Girl Scouts, or sell them for themselves," she said. "Set up a lemonade stand. Bring a thermos of hot coffee."
In essence, it is what you make it. But back to the theme, and what to bring or wear to the Festival.
"It's Holy Cow! Gifts from the Land of Milk and Honey," Weaver said, "So the emphasis is on cows, milk, bees, honey, flowers, apples, anything you can think of."
She glanced back into the open door of her garage.
Bella was in there, wrapped in plastic, along with an old calliope that might not make it to this year's parade. A large dragon made by local artists for a 1999 production of The Hobbit at Weaver's Playhouse Theater stood near the door, its mouth able to be opened and closed by a puppeteer. In the attic were racks and racks of costumes. There were scepters, kites, hula hoops, sculptures of animals. And on table near the door, several tall stacks of cowboy hats.
"Cowboys!" Weaver said, as though she'd forgotten the most important part. "And cowgirls. Definitely cowboys and cowgirls. I have a lot of hats."
The Church Street Festival parade leaves Weaver's house at 49 High Street at 11 a.m. Children who want to be in the parade should come at 10 a.m., or 9:30 to pick out a costume from Weaver's barn. Fathers and mothers are needed to help and Weaver suggests calling in advance (338-5777) if you have big plans or need special help with a costume.
Penobscot Bay Pilot reporter Ethan Andrews can be reached at ethanandrews@penbaypilot.com
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