CONWAY — Mark your calendars: The town is gearing up for its much-anticipated week-long 250th anniversary celebration featuring live music, original short plays, a Lester Stevens art show, parade and fireworks.
“There will be something for everyone. It’s a big task. A huge undertaking,” said festival Volunteer Richard Pollet. “A lot of history coming into play.”
Festivities begin June 9 and 10, Saturday and Sunday, with a few short plays at the Sportsman’s Club on Elmer Road.
One short play, titled “Betty Baker’s Buttermilk Biscuit Barn,” is directed by local resident Michael Haley, an assistant director of many popular movies, including “Groundhog Day.”
The following week, from Thursday to Sunday, June 16 to 18, other events will be held through the weekend in the town’s center.
Admission will be free, but food and other amenities will cost money.
“Friday night we’re going to kick off with live music. At the culmination, we’ll have a fireworks display, which will be about a half-hour long,” said festival organizer Heidi Flanders, noting the festival’s theme is “past, present and future.”
The festival will be the result of five years of work by the town’s 250th Anniversary Committee. It’s intended to celebrate the town’s history, honor the present and look to the future.
Saturday morning, festivities will begin with a pancake breakfast at 7:30 a.m. and family fun run stepping off at 9 a.m.
During the weekend, there will be a historic “living history” re-enactment in Pumpkin Hollow, a tractor and engine show, magic show, teamster challenge, car show, an agricultural show and other multi-day activities including an art show in the Field Memorial Library.
The Conway Historical Society is organizing an exhibition of rarely seen works of American artist W. Lester Stevens, who spent the second half of his life in Conway, according to Historical Society Member Judith Wermuth-Atkinson.
“Some of the paintings at the exhibition may never be seen again since we have borrowed them from private collections,” she said.
The exhibit will also feature “artists who are participating with their own paintings of Stevens’ house or the surrounding area, which they have just created to celebrate a beloved master,” Wermuth-Atkinson said.
Flanders said shuttle parking will be available nearby, and all events, with the exception of those at the Grammar School, will be within walking distance of the town’s center. The event will be fully accessible.
On the ballfield, event-goers will be able to hang out at a beer garden featuring People’s Pint, Berkshire Brewing Company and other local breweries, and order food from various vendors.
“You can map out what you want to do, or come and spend the day, or weekend,” Flanders said.
Sunday’s main event is a parade from the covered bridge to Pumpkin Hollow, starting at 1 p.m. A few hours before, at 10 a.m., there will a historic Cricket Hill walk.
Flanders said the planning committee doesn’t know how many people are expected to attend. Based on how many people come to the town’s annual Festival of the Hills, though, it could be a lot.
“That usually draws a couple thousand on a good year. This event will be going on rain or shine. I would imagine we’re going to have at least that,” Flanders said.
You can reach Andy Castillo
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On Twitter: @AndyCCastillo