High-caliber global music, hands-on art exhibits and a local community resource fair will collide at Unity Park in Turners Falls on Saturday, May 30, as Música Franklin hosts its eighth annual Fun Fest. Running from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., the free, all-ages festival highlights the talents of area youth alongside legendary global performers.
The festival kicks off with an hour-long performance by the students of Música Franklin, a free after-school music and social justice program based in Franklin County. The afternoon lineup also features the string duo John Hughes and Stephen Katz, alongside The Lost Tribe — a group that “researches, remixes and redefines the musical traditions of the African Diaspora,” according to the organization’s website. The Expandable Brass Band will close out the event.
“Every [Fun Fest] has different artists,” Annierose Klingbeil, the Development and Communications Manager at Música Franklin said. “That’s the big change from year-to-year.”
In between the music from the students of Música Franklin and the rest of the performers, a pair of mimes, My My Mime, will perform on the main stage.
“At the heart of it, it’s a lot of fun,” Klingbeil said of Fun Fest. “This type of music festival [featuring] musicians of really high-caliber, you typically can’t go and see without some kind of entry ticket and aren’t often performing in Franklin County. It’s this big musical experience with no price point.”
While music is the driving force behind the event, there will also be events occurring around Unity Park. Artspace Greenfield will be leading an arts-and-crafts activity, and Música Franklin will have a make-your-own-instrument activity at the same time. Also on the docket is an instrument petting zoo where those at Fun Fest can try out a variety of instruments, ranging from drums to the violin. A water and sound exhibit will also be on display, which according to Klingbeil allows children the opportunity to “explore how water changes different sounds.”
“It’s always a delight to see our kids mixed in with the kids in the rest of the community,” Executive Director of Música Franklin Orice Jenkins said. “We still have the same activities … that’s something I love because we don’t have visual art at Música Franklin, but a lot of our students are very talented visually.”
At the same time, a community resource fair will be taking place, with different nonprofits from Franklin County showing the community what options and resources are available to them. Local craft vendors will also have their products available, and those looking for food can stop by Stone Soup Cafe, which will be on site.
“There are activities for kids, there are activities for adults who want to be there but don’t necessarily want to sit and listen to music for a couple of hours,” Klingbeil said. “Being at a park also gives kids a great space to run around and parents can participate in a way that they can’t if they had to be concerned about keeping a kid quiet.”
While the students open the event, their performance remains the main highlight of Fun Fest. Now in its 11th year, the organization features several children who have participated for more than five years, while more than half have been students for at least two years.
The students range in age from kindergarteners to sophomores in high school, though the organization serves students up until their senior year.
“Performing in this sort of capacity has been shown in so many ways to really give students a sense of pride and build their self-esteem, build their confidence,” Klingbeil said. “It’s so important for students of any age, and especially [because] a lot of our students are primarily low-income, and that just makes it so much more important that they have that experience … to be able to be seen in the community as performers, that’s really big.”
For the full event line-up and information, visit musicafranklin.org/fun-fest. In the case of rain, Fun Fest will be held at Greenfield Middle School at 195 Federal St. in Greenfield.
“It’s really a continuous culmination of all of their past experiences with music,” Jenkins said of the Música Franklin students. “They get some experience sharing a stage with these people who are legendary performers who have come from all over the world. There’s a sense of pride they feel, and accomplishment.”
