What's Happening at the Lebanon Festival?

In only a few weeks the 4th annual Lebanon Festival will happen, in conjunction with the Celebration of Learning at the Hanson and Lebanon Elementary Schools. Why do we love that these two events are happening at the same time?

                                                

1. People who normally would not have taken the time to attend the Lebanon Festival now have the opportunity to come to the field after visiting in their child's classroom and participating in the games available to their children, see the animals, listen to live music, eat lunch from our selection of vendors and support local business! 

2. People who normally wouldn't have any idea what goes on at our elementary schools have an opportunity to see just how great our school, staff and families who make up the schools really are! The Celebration of Learning is a day for students and teachers to showcase all the learning that has happened throughout the year. 

We have a rare opportunity to merge a large demographic of this community on this one day. There is a lot of fun to be had from being a part of the Pancake Breakfast being served 7-10 am to listening to the live music we have booked for this day! You can walk around and see all the vendors who will be there, many selling items that would make perfect gifts for birthday's, Father's Day even Christmas if you like to plan ahead! Supporting local business is a big part of community and we hope you will consider supporting some of the one's that will be there. 

Do you like to read? As parents we are always encouraging our kids to read. Our elementary schools do an awesome job of encouraging reading and at the Lebanon Festival we will have two local author's, both who published books recently and will have them for sale at their booths. One author is even planning a book signing at 1:30! Her book, Tea for a Sweep, is a charming book for the young and old alike! Our other Author will be signing copies of her book all day for those who purchase it, The Weathering of Sea Glass. The Martha Sawyer Community Library will also be having a Book Fair in the library all day. Books make awesome gifts! 

We have a variety of direct sale vendors like LulaRoe, Thirty-One Gifts, Damsel in Distress, Paparrazi Jewelry and Younique. Many, if not all, will have cash and carry items and some accept debit/credit cards. We also have many local crafters who will have their handmade items for sale! 

If you have any interest in soccer then you will want to head on down to the field because the Lebanon Youth Soccer Association will have their snack shack open and will also be having soccer sign-ups. If your child wants to play this fall, find Georgie at the snack shack and get them signed up! We will also have Noble Youth Travel Soccer available to answer any questions you have about travel soccer and you'll have the opportunity to sign your child up if this interests them. 

Do you enjoy supporting the youth in our community? Colby Amidon is a student raising money for his Eagle Scout project and will be offering children's games and face painting! What a great way to support a great cause. We've also been told there is a good possibility that the 2nd graders celebration of learning project will happen on the field of the festival...more details to come on that! 

Do you run? Do your children like to run? For the first time we are having a 5K/Fun Run. You can register right here on the blog by clicking on the RaceWire link. This race is open to anyone who wants to participate and there will be an awards ceremony and prizes directly following the races! 

If you like Scavenger Hunts then you're in luck! We are putting together a fun hunt for your family to participate in. Anyone who completes the hunt is entered into our raffle to win one of the several gift cards we have for prizes! 

Do you like Magic? Do your kids like Magic? Well if so you are NOT going to want to miss our Magician, BJ Hickman who will be putting on a 45 minute show from 11:15-12. Then at 12:00 you will want to head over to the Lebanon Fire/EMS because they have a pretty incredible demo planned for you from 12-1! 

There is so much do at the Lebanon Festival that you are going to want to set aside a few hours to be there. Everything that the Lebanon Festival provides for the community by way of entertainment is FREE! Invite your friends and family and make a day of it. The blog is being updated daily as vendor registration forms continue to come and the community continues to express an interest in being involved so keep checking back here for all the info you need about the festival. You will find the pancake breakfast menu here, the schedule of events and all the vendors coming. If you have any questions or if you would like to be a part of the day you can contact us as lebanonfestival1@yahoo.com. 

Schedule of Events, Entertainment and Vendors

The time is approaching for the 4th Annual Lebanon Festival and we are getting excited! So many volunteer hours are required to make an event like this happen and we are so thankful to each community member who has donated valuable time and money to help make this day possible. Here is a tentative Schedule of Events, subject to chance as we continue to confirm vendors and entertainment.

Lebanon Festival 2017 Schedule of Events

7-10 am: Pancake Breakfast Fundraiser (hosted by the Lebanon Academy)

 Cost: $3-6 depending on what you get
See Menu on the Blog!

9:00 am: National Anthem sung by Miss Acton Fair Adrienne Hebert (stage on soccer field)

9-11 am: Hanson & LES schools Celebration of Learning (inside schools)

ALL DAY: Book Fair in the Martha Sawyer Community Library

 9-9:30 am: Miss Acton Fair- Vocals (stage on soccer field)

10-11 am- Vocalist & Guitarist Brian Callaghan (stage on soccer field)

Website

11:15-12:00- Magician BJ Hickman (stage on soccer field)

Website

11:00 am- 5K begins behind Hanson School Gym

(Register Here)

12:00 pm- Fun Run- Directly following the 5K in the Upper Playground
behind the Hanson School

(Register Here)

1-3 pm- Hilton Park Band (stage on soccer field)

(Website)

Vendor registration forms are still coming in, but here is a list of our vendors to date with their websites, when applicable. We have some really great local businesses and organizations coming so come prepared to purchase some gifts or items for your family and support local business!!! There are also going to be vendors providing Free items and activities for your children so be sure to visit every table. We have a Scavenger Hunt planned with gift certificates/card to win so make your way to the soccer field after participating in the Celebration of Learning and earn yourself and/or your children a chance to win!!!

Vendors

Lebanon Lady Runners

Paparazzi by Kristen Penley: https://paparazziaccessories.com/kristenpenley/

Lularoe by Beckie Smith: https://www.facebook.com/groups/LuLaRoebeckiesmith/

Melissa Wentworth Crafts: https://www.facebook.com/madebymelissacrafts/

Riverside Grange #475:handmade crafts, baked goods & a FREE planting craft for kids

www.riversidegrange475.com

Karri Moser, Author of The Weathering of Sea Glass

Purchase Here

Sommer Thompson, Author of Tea for a Sweep

Purchase Here

Lebanon Historical Society:Promoting 250th Anniversary Celebration

American Legion Post 214: Lunch Wagon

North Lebanon 2nd Baptist Church: Free balloon animals, popcorn and gift bags for children

http://nlsbchurch.org/

Younique by Melissa Cyr: Will accept cash and/or CC for items. Raffle for Free Products

www.youniqueproducts.com/MelissaAlbertCyr

Damsel in Defense by Nicole Marcin: simplystunningsafety.com

Representative Karen Gerrish

****VIEW BLOG FOR FULL LIST OF VENDORS*****

There is still time and there is still room to be involved so reach out to us at: lebanonfestival1@yahoo.com and tell us how you want to be involved!

We Still Need Help

The Lebanon Festival committee needs your help in getting the word out about our May 20th event! If you are a vendor or you know someone who could be please reach out to them and let them know we still have spots.

We are also inviting groups who are doing fundraising to come, free of charge! This event is all about bringing the community together and we want to support your group or organization any way we can. Any questions or concerns can be addressed by emailing us at lebanonfestival1@yahoo.com.

Registration forms can be emailed to you by request or they can be picked up at the Town Office.

We would love to have you at the Lebanon Festival if you have a talent you want to share. Does your group want to showcase a dance routine? Do you sing? What ever your talent is we want to hear from you and fit you into our festival. Please share this with anyone you think might be interested. Reach out to us at our email above, here on the blog or on our Facebook page!

Making a Festival run smoothly the day of is no easy feat! We are a small committee and we would love it if some of you in the community would be willing to give us some of your time on May 20th to help out! If you are interested, or if you know someone, like a student in need of community service hours perhaps, please contact us via this blog, our email or through our Facebook page! We would appreciate any help you are willing to offer!

The Academy Committee is still looking for donations for their Pancake Breakfast Fundraiser. We are so thankful to those of you who have already donated, but they still need more! If you can donate pancake mix, syrup, styrofoam plates and cups, plastic utensils and napkins please let us know and we will let you know where you can drop them off or we will collect the items for you!

As you can see there is plenty that the community can do to get involved with this day! We would love to have many hands contribute to make this day light work. Will you get involved? If so, please reach out and let us know what you are willing to do and we will put you to work! Please like and share so we can get the word out.

Sincerely,
Your Festival Committee

How You Can Help!

Hello Lebanon Community! We have been quiet on our blog and Facebook page but that is only because we are SUPER busy with our home/work lives AND planning this amazing day for you all. One exciting thing happening at this year's Lebanon Festival is a Pancake Breakfast, being held by the Lebanon Academy. As many of you are aware, they have been raising money to fix the steeple on the Academy and this is just one way for them to be out in the community making people aware of their need while also holding a Pancake Breakfast Fundraiser.

They could use your help! The Hanson School is graciously allowing them to use the gym/cafeteria facility to host this breakfast, which will make it much easier production and seating wise. One thing they could really use are donations of pancake mix, syrup, paper plates and plastic utensils. Below I will itemize their needs and if you or your company/organization can help by making a donation, please reach out to the Lebanon Festival Committee at lebanonfestival1@yahoo.com and we will tell you where you can drop off your donation.

There is still time to register to be a vendor at our May Festival! Reach out to us if you have any questions!


The Lebanon Academy Needs:

- Pancake Mix (for example: Pancake Mix; bulk sizes welcome, but not necessary)

- Maple Syrup (for example: Maple Syrup) or Real Maple Syrup

- Disposable plates (for example: foam plates)

- Plastic Cutlery (for example: plastic cutlery)

- Napkins (for example: napkins)

- Foam Cups (for example foam cups)

Things are coming together!

The Lebanon Festival just wanted to reach out to the community and let you know that we are still busy planning and have a lot of fun things planned that we want you to be on the lookout for! 

What's happening on May 20th?

* As we have mentioned before, we have the band Hilton Park booked and we are excited to have them. They will be playing from 3-5 so plan to be there, bring a blanket or chairs to sit on and enjoy the great, family friendly music! 

* We have our 5K happening first thing in the morning. We have had runners register already but for those of you who have not registered yet, the link is here on our website and it's easy to do. Just click on the RaceWire link and follow the instructions! 

* The Lebanon Academy will be hosting a pancake breakfast at the Hanson School Gym. We are still finalizing the details and will let the public know the time as soon as we have it all figured out!

* Miss Acton Fair will kick off our Festival with the National Anthem!

* Steve Wanager will bring his cannon and fire it to begin the Festival as well as to end the Festival. He will have the cannon for children to look at as part of his Living History display!

* The Noble Middle School Jazz band will be playing at 9:15! They are a great band, you won't want to miss them play! 

* Did you know that the Celebration of Learning at the LES schools will be happening at the same time as the Lebanon Festival? This is exciting news and we have been so thankful for the support of the administration. 

What are we working on?

* A Car Show: We have a group interested and are waiting till they have their meeting to confirm they can be there on May 20! 

* Recruiting local talent! If you are looking for a way to showcase your individual or groups talent please reach out to us at lebanonfestival1@yahoo.com. We will have a stage for performers and would love to fit you in. 

*Are you a SAD 60 group looking to raise money for your organization? We are looking for groups who want to come and do bake sales, candy sales, product sales,etc. We would love to give you an opportunity to raise money for your sport or club so reach out to us and let's see what we can come up with!

*Getting more vendors! We have had some registrations come in already but we need more! Registration forms are available by emailing or stopping in the town office to pick one up!

* Reaching out to our community to get them involved! We want anyone who wants to participate to be given the opportunity to be here. We are a small group who not only volunteer to put on the Lebanon Festival but we work and we are raising families. It is not possible for us to personally visit everyone in the community. We will reach out to as many as we can. If you haven't heard from us but want to participate, contact us! 

What's coming up?

* The Lebanon Festival will be requesting to be put on the ballot to receive a $1500 subsidy. The town of Lebanon has been so generous in its support of the Festival by allowing the subsidy to pass both times it's been on the ballot. We are asking for the same support this year so we can continue to bring a Festival to the community that brings us all together and gets better each year! The subsidy money is used to pay for entertainment, purchase tents and staging, purchase signs and fliers to advertise our event, and the materials needed to rope off vendor spots, etc. 

* The Historical Society's 250th Anniversary event in July! They are busy planning a great weekend for the town of Lebanon so we hope you are setting aside time on your calendar to participate in their events! They are also requesting to receive a subsidy of $1500 and the Lebanon Festival hopes you all will show them the same support and generosity you have shown us by allowing it to pass. It is costly to put on events for the town and $1500 goes a long way to allow volunteers like us put on events for the community! 

We welcome questions and comments! You can reach out to us on our Facebook page, our website or by emailing us at lebanonfestival1@yahoo.com. Share this event with your friends and families! 

Pancake Breakfast!

The Lebanon Academy has agreed to host a pancake breakfast the morning of the Lebanon Festival. As some of you know they have been very busy raising money to make repairs to the bell tower that the historic academy building needs. This pancake breakfast is another way to raise the funds they desperately need. Things such as raising the bell from it's cradle and replacing rotten cradle beams are just a couple of the things that need to be repaired and all of these repairs are very costly.

We are encouraging our community to come out and show their support of this effort by attending the pancake breakfast, which will take place in the Hanson School cafeteria. The time is still to be determined as are a few more details we are working on. One thing the Academy committee has generously agreed to do is offer a free breakfast to the first 20 finishers of the 5K race, also taking place the morning of the festival! 

We will continue to keep our community posted as events are coordinated, confirmed and details are finalized. We are so excited for this day and hope you have already marked your calendar! 

To follow the Lebanon Academy and it's progress you can find them on Facebook: Lebanon Academy

The Lebanon Festival Committee is excited to let our community know that we will be having our first ever 5K event the morning of the Festival on Saturday, May 20th! Geneva Nice and the Lebanon Lady Runners group have been working very hard to put all the details in place in order to make this happen. They have spent a lot of hours researching in order to provide a fun and safe event! More details about time and how to register will be available here on our website as well as on our Facebook page shortly so be sure to check back in. We are also asking our community to spread the word to any runners you know. 

As you may know, anytime a group attempts to host an event like this many needs and costs are associated with it. We will be looking to our community for help and we will let you know what the needs are as the date nears. If you have an interest in helping and can offer a skill please contact us at lebanonfestival1@yahoo.com! 

Hilton Park is coming to the Lebanon Festival!

The Lebanon Festival Committee is happy to announce that we have booked the band, Hilton Park for May 20th! Native to Southern Maine, this band has received accolades such as "Roots Act of the Year" in 2016 at the New England Music Awards. According to their official website, www.hiltonparkband.com:

"HILTON PARK is known in the Northeastern U.S. for earthy, emotionally expressive and superbly crafted Americana, Folk & Blues. Every song tells a story, and there’s a story behind every song. The HILTON PARK sound is authentic and endearingly classic, with enough modern grit to captivate today’s audience."

We are very excited they will be with us and we hope you can make plans to be there with your family to hear them! The Lebanon Festival voted at the last meeting to extend the day of the Festival by 2 hours. The community will be allowed into the Festival at 9am, following our first ever 5K event (more details to come!) and we will close our doors at 5pm. Hilton Park will play at the festival from 3pm-5pm. Take some time to visit their website, listed above, and listen to their music!

Who Are We?

The Lebanon Festival is fairly new to our little community. Four years ago the Lebanon Festival was started by Rebekah Thompson out of a desire to provide something that would bring the community together for one day! Back then she was basically a committee of one and worked very hard to bring people out. She continued her efforts for three years! Rebekah has since stepped down as the Festival chair and we were all sorry to see her go. It is because of her that we have the Festival today;  it is because of the foundation she laid and the fundraising she did that those of us following in her steps can bring you a bigger and better Festival in 2017!

It is our understanding that there is possibly some confusion in the community as to who we are and what our purpose is so we want to take some time and fill you in! One misunderstanding is that The Lebanon Festival and the Historical Society are one in the same. Though the Lebanon Festival feels it has a very good working relationship with the Historical Society and both groups have agreed to help one another out on their respective events, they are not the same. The goal of the Lebanon Festival has been and will continue to be to bring the community together. It's a day where local residents can showcase their talents, abilities and missions to the community. It's a place where new families can come and meet other families. It's a place where moms and dads can bring their kids for a day of fun and it's hopefully a day where people can leave feeling good about where they live! The purpose of the Historical Society, as we understand it, is to keep the heritage of Lebanon alive! Their work is so important in order for the future of Lebanon to know how our town was founded and all that took place 250 years ago! As one member shared with us, "If we don't tell the younger generation then when we are all gone, no one will know the history and there wont' be anyone to pass it on."

Lebanon is celebrating it's 250th Anniversary in 2017! The Lebanon Festival met with the Historical Society back in January of 2016 to talk about what each committee's plans were to honor the year. Each group is planning their own event, the Lebanon Festival in May and the Historical Society in July. We have been and will continue to be in touch about what each of us is planning so that we don't overstep one another but it's important to know that we are united in our efforts and are doing all we can to support each other's events. The Lebanon Festival is using "250 Years" on it's advertising this year, not to cause confusion but rather to remind the town of this very important milestone for Lebanon.

We are asking the community to get behind both of these events and support the efforts of both committees in bringing the community together and recognizing our town and it's history! The Lebanon Festival plans to keep the community abreast of all we are planning as we finalize things right here on our website, as well as on our Facebook page! We welcome any questions or comments you have for us and you can leave us a message here, on Facebook or by emailing us at lebanonfestival1@yahoo.com.

Over the years Lebanon has had a lot of negative press; so much fighting, backbiting and slandering. We believe Lebanon is ready to move past those days into a future that shows surrounding communities that we are united and we support each other! Won't you join us?

Planning for 2017 in Full Swing!

The date has been set! May 20th, 2017 will be the next Lebanon Festival! Are you interested in helping? Contact us at lebanonfestival1@yahoo.com. Our next meeting will be Thursday, Sept. 15 at 6:00 at the Martha Sawyer Community Library. If you have ideas and want to help please consider attending this meeting.

Do you know of a musical group looking for a venue to play? Do you know people who are looking for opportunities to share their talents with the community? Please contact us! We are looking for several performers to fill out the day and we encourage local talent to contact us.

If you are someone interested in being a vendor at our May festival it is not too soon to sign up! We just redid our registration forms for 2017 and can get one out to you. We will also be making the registration forms available at the Lebanon Town Office. Our prices remain the same. $25 for a 10X10 foot space and $40 for a 10X20 foot space. Lebanon residents do not need to pay this registration fee. We are adding a late fee this year. Any registration forms received AFTER May 1st will be charged a $10 late fee; this fee WILL apply to Lebanon residents.

We look forward to hearing from you! Don't forget to to help us get the word out by "liking" us on Facebook and sharing our posts!

Planning for next year!

The Lebanon Festival Committee would like to thank every person who supported this year's festival. From the volunteer who mowed the soccer field to each vendor who set up a booth and especially to each community member who attended and supported the day by attending the activities we planned for you and purchasing from our vendors! For a better feel for the day, take a look at the article Harrison Thorpe of the Lebanon Voice wrote: Picture Perfect Lebanon Festival. (click on the link)

The planning does not stop just because the Festival is over! Are you aware that next year marks Lebanon's 250th Anniversary! The Lebanon Festival committee as well as your Lebanon Historical Society has a lot of great plans in store to celebrate Lebanon in 2017 with three events planned so far. These things take a lot of time and effort however so we are reaching out to our community and asking you to consider getting involved and volunteering your time to help pull off these events. We were very encouraged that several approached us at the Festival this past Saturday, expressing interest in helping! As a committee of three we are hoping that more in the community will want to be involved, even if it is just the day of the event to help set up! The more hands involved the better these events will be. Please contact us at lebanonfestival1@yahoo.com for more information if you are willing to help us out!

In closing I would like to make those of you reading aware of another great event taking place in Lebanon. On September 10th the the Lebanon Academy committee is having a Founder's Day Celebration at the Lebanon Academy from 9-3. There will be all sorts of activities from a silent auction to a tour of the Academy and lots of good food and local vendors! Please mark your calendar and take some time to stop in and support their renovation efforts! You can learn more on their Facebook Page! (click on the link)

Thank you again from the Lebanon Festival for another great year! We look forward to hearing from you with any suggestions you have to make next year bigger and better and we encourage those of you wanting to help to reach out to us!

***Don't forget to "like" us on Facebook and share our posts so we can get the word out to as many people we can about the great things happening in Lebanon!***

Who's Who at the Lebanon Festival!

We are just a few short weeks away from our 2016 Lebanon Festival and we are so excited to share with you all the awesome vendors we have coming!

Lebanon and the surrounding area is filled with talented people who make jewelry, like Beth Goody, a Lebanon resident who will be selling the silver jewelry she makes! As a satisfied customer myself, I can testify to the quality and beauty of her craftsmanship! You can also stop by Melissa Wentworth's booth to check out her hand-sewn and embroidered crafts. She comes to us from North Berwick and we are so anxious to see her creations! We also have vendors who will provide our guests with fun and entertainment like Back to Basics Childcare who will have a craft that the children can do and the North Lebanon Second Baptist Church who will once again provide free balloon animals to all the children! And don't worry if you get hungry we are prepared for that too! We are so thrilled to have the Ripcord Cafe back with us this year. Be sure to stop by a new vendor to the Lebanon Festival, Dough You Didn't, who will be selling pizza! Representative Karen Gerrish will be back again this year and her booth is always a lot of fun for the family! Deb Wilson with the Lebanon Truth Seekers will be holding a photo contest at her booth so be sure to check it out! Have you been looking for an Usborn or Tupperware consultant...you can find one at the Lebanon Festival! I know I personally can't wait to see the Henna Tatoo Art by Cammie Waterhouse!

We have a lot of great vendor's and to see the complete list and what will be offered, visit the website. We still have some space left if you want to get in on the fun and register! For $25 you can get a 10X10 space and remember: we are waiving the fee for Lebanon taxpayer's!

Be sure to mark your calendar's and join us August 20th! There will be fun for the whole family!

Scavenger Hunt!

We are excited to share with you a fun game we will have going on throughout the day of the Lebanon Festival! In an effort to get our vendors and our guests connected we will be having a scavenger hunt where our guests must visit different vendors in order to win prizes! The Lebanon Festival will provide the vendors with everything they need...stamps, prizes, etc. As a guest, upon arrival you will receive instructions on how to participate...young and old are encouraged to join in the fun. At the Lebanon Festival we are so thankful for each vendor that chooses to participate in our event and we want to do all we can to help them have a successful day! Our hope is by drawing our guests to the vendor tables we will not only provide fun for our guests, but networking opportunities for our vendors.

We hope you are planning to attend our festival this year. It's a great way to bring the community together. We have several vendors who reside right here in Lebanon so let's show them our support by coming out and visiting them...and maybe even plan to make a purchase or two!

Your Lebanon Festival is Coming Together!

Photo Credit: Wildlife
Encounters

The Lebanon festival committee has a great day of fun planned for our August 20th festival! From live music to exotic animals presented by Wildlife Encounters to the bounce house for the kids and a martial arts demonstration (with audience participation) from Master Richard Smith's Martial Arts Center. We also have a real cannon that will fire throughout the day and a historical corner featuring our own Fire Chief Dan Meehan and Master Cooper Ron Raiselis. There are still many activities in the works and we will update this blog with events and times once we have confirmed everything.

While we have received several vendor registration forms, we are still

Master Cooper Ron Raiselis

looking for more! Do you have a business you'd like to promote? A skill you'd like to share? Are you a group who would like to share your mission with the community? We would love to have you! Keep in mind that Lebanon residents may have a vendor booth at no cost! All other's may purchase a space for $25 or $40 depending on the size space you choose. If you are interested in more information or would like us to get you a registration form email us at lebanonfestival1@yahoo.com. 

We are excited that  The Ripcord Cafe from Skydive New England will be at the festival selling food from their cafe! If you have not yet made it out to Skydive New England to eat at their cafe we encourage you to do so! It's such a fun experience for the family. Click on the link we provided and watch the video clip and view their menu! We would love to be able to offer more food at the festival so if you or someone you know would be interested in this, please contact us at the email above.

Your festival committee is working hard to make this a fun day for the whole family and we appreciate so much those of you who have made donations to the Festival, who have offered your help, kind words and support. It means so much to us. We would like to give a special shout out to Carroll and Grace Leone who sent the committee a donation to be used towards this years festival! This was an unexpected gift and came with no return address for us to send a thank you to them. If you are reading this and you know this couple, please extend our sincere thanks to them!

Lebanon Festival 2016

Your Lebanon Festival committee has begun planning this year's event and things are really shaping up! The date is set for Saturday, August 20th from 9am-3pm, rain or shine! We are always in need of more help in the planning process. If you are interested in helping or if you have any ideas or suggestions you would like to share with us you can reach out to the committee here on the blog, through our Facebook page or you can email us at lebanonfestival1@yahoo.com. We'd love to hear from you! We had some activities and entertainment that were very well-received by the community last year, which we hope to bring back this year. We are always looking to make things better and more fun for everyone so if you have a talent you would be interested in sharing, reach out to us!

If you or someone you know would be interested in having a vendor or informational table at the Festival this year please let us know and we will get the information out to you. Lebanon residents will receive a FREE table this year!

We will continue updating the blog as we finalize details of the Festival so be sure to check in with us often and please help us get the word out and share our blog posts! Also, if you haven't already, "like" us on Facebook!

Just a Few More Days!

We are days away from the Lebanon Festival and we hope you are planning to be there. We have worked hard to bring you a day that your whole family can enjoy so please stop by! We will start off the day at 8:45 am with the National Anthem and a Flag Ceremony lead by the Cub Scouts!

We want to remind everyone about the Bike Decorating Contest/Parade for the kids. For more details and information, click on the flier. We have some great prizes for the winners and can't wait to see all the "Lebanon Pride"!

Take a look around this website for times of each event and to get a glimpse at all the great vendors we have coming. One change in our day is that there will not be a Chili Cook-Off due to a lack of participation, but the Fire Dept. will be serving up hamburgers and hot dogs so we hope you will show them your support and stop by their booth!

Can't wait to see you all on Saturday!

The Montsweagers!

We are excited to have with us this year The Montsweagers! They will fill the 11:30 - 1:30 time slot and we hope you will plan to be there. The Montsweagers are are a group of musicians from Midcoast Maine who play traditional music, including Celtic, folk, sea shanties, and originals. As one fan says on their Facebook page:

"It's well worth your time to catch the heartfelt/authentic music of the Montsweagers wherever and whenever they play. 

They are FOR REAL !!"

To see more pictures or view some videos of their music click on the link:

The Montsweagers!

We hope you will plan to join us! 

The Cooper is in Town!

The Lebanon Festival Committee is excited to announce that we will be having Ron Raiselis, the cooper for Strawberry Banke in Portsmouth, NH with us all day at the Lebanon Festival! Ron is one of the few active cooper's in New England and is a wonderful addition to our festival.

"Ron started his journey as a cooper in Sturbridge Village in the 1970's and trained with cooper Lenny Julian. Ron has gone on to become a master cooper himself and is an expert at making barrels for dry goods and barrels that can hold liquids, called tight kegs or wet cooperage." ~NH State Council on the Arts

We hope you will plan to bring your family to this fun demonstration! For more information on Ron and his work visit him on Facebook!

Chili Cook-Off!

We are excited to add to the Festival this year, a Chili Cook-Off. We are thankful to the Lebanon Fire Dept. for hosting this event; We know it's going to be a fun addition to the day!

Do you know someone who makes "the best" chili? Send them our way. All community members are welcome to enter, for a small entry fee of $20. Don't cook? Stop by anyway and join in on the fun!

For more information or for an application to enter, visit the

Lebanon Fire Department website at:

http://www.lebanonmefire.org/

Why YES on Question 1?

It was brought to our attention last night at our planning committee meeting that an article was recently published, which encourages voters to vote "NO" on a referendum that would allow $1500.00 of town appropriated funds to be used for the Lebanon Festival.

The article, which you can read HERE, was written by someone who did not take the time to speak to a committee member to find out why we are asking for these funds. The author instead accuses us of not understanding "volunteerism" and not utilizing our community teens in need of community service. Unfortunately, some of you may have read that article and taken his advice and voted "no" on referendum 1.

If you have not yet voted, I ask you to listen for a moment, and understand why we are asking for the funds. The committee is made up of a very small group of residents in Lebanon who are VOLUNTEERING their time to put together a family-friendly festival that will provide fun for the community. We do not get paid, nor do we expect to be paid. We have been, from the beginning of planning for the 2015 festival (which began back in February), in the process of coordinating with the high school to get students to come and volunteer their time while earning some community service hours. Since February we have been working very hard to bring in donations from our community businesses and have been very successful. We are so thankful to live in such a generous community. We are also working very hard to bring in vendors and help local business owners promote their businesses.

Our reason for asking the town to set aside money is so that we can begin lining up our entertainment early, before they become booked up for the season. If we wait on the money from donors to come in, we run the risk of not being able to book people. For instance, we would love to reserve a band for next year's festival but without the money for a down payment, we can't do that. If we had $1500 in the account we would be able to reserve them. We have lots of ideas to make the day a day that the community looks forward to but entertainment is rarely cheap and almost never free. As it stands, what we are able to raise in a year, goes toward the cost of that current year's expenses, leaving us with very little in reserve for the following year.

We want the Lebanon Festival to be a day that is positive for our community; please join with us in spreading that message! Help us out by voting YES on 1 if you have not voted already.

Sincerely,
Your Lebanon Festival Committee

*** While you are reading, I want to take a moment and clear up a lie that has been going around. Recently we received an email from a vendor attending this year's festival that she was not pleased to hear we were charging ALL vendor's $40 to come to the festival. This is just not accurate at all and whoever is spreading this around is not linked to the festival or it's planning. What is accurate is that vendors can reserve space for the festival at a cost of either $25 or $40, depending on the size space they choose. All Lebanon municipalities are FREE. It's unfortunate that our vendors are reading things about the festival on Facebook sites that are not linked at all with the Lebanon Festival. We are asking you, our community, to please come to this website to get your factual information about the Lebanon Festival. You can reach any of the committee members by using the email address at the top of the page. We will respond and answer any of your questions and clear up any misconceptions. ***