Large attendance expected at Family Festival

By Colleen Gundlach

The Economic Development Commission’s (EDC) charge is, according to the town’s Web site, to “conduct research into economic trends of the town and make recommendations to improve the (economic) conditions.”  One of the conditions that needs improvement, according to commission member Bella Erder, is the knowledge the outside world has about Norfolk. 

“The reality is that many outside people don’t know that the Station Place merchants exist,” she says. 

While looking at a map of the Litchfield Hills a couple of years ago in Travel and Leisure magazine, Erder said she was shocked to see that, while Canaan, Salisbury and most of the other northwest corner towns had a notation listing the attractions of each town, all there was to lure visitors to Norfolk was an arrow saying, “To Norfolk.” 

“We wanted a way to put Norfolk back on the map….literally,” she says.

One of the ways the EDC is planning to improve economic conditions is by throwing a party — and what a party it is going to be. 

Back in 2009, the commission decided that a summer festival was just the thing to not only encourage tourism and economic development, but to bring the town together as well.  The resulting 2010 event was ArtsWave! which celebrated the town’s abundance of incredibly talented musicians, craftspersons, resident writers, thinkers, conservationists, historians and civic-minded people, who all came together to make the celebration a success.

Now, two years later, the original ArtsWave! has evolved into the Norfolk Family Festival, expected to draw crowds from throughout the tri-state area.  “Our aim is to hit a wide variety of people,” says organizer Marie Lowe.  “We have something for everyone, from children to seniors.”

Planned for Sunday, July 8 from noon to 5 p.m. at Station Place, the festival will feature, according to Lowe, “an eclectic mix of talented crafters and artists who will be displaying their works.  There will also be plenty of activities for children, including a juggler, topped off by free balloons courtesy of Salisbury Bank and Trust.”

Festival-goers will enjoy live music with Jude Co as well as The Spurs, free historic horse-drawn carriage rides with Loon Meadow Farm Livery sponsored by M.I. Integrated Media, and ice cream at Infinity Hall.

The Station Place area will be closed to vehicle traffic during the event, to allow unimpeded movement throughout the village proper and to make room for the vendors.  Local merchants have been encouraged to open their shops for the afternoon to take part in the festivities.

The Norfolk Family Festival coincides with the Yale Music School’s Family Day.  The school will present a free Young Artists Concert at 2 p.m., an ice cream social at 3 p.m. and a bluegrass concert at 4.  These three events will take place on the Yale grounds at the Ellen Battell Stoeckel estate.

“We believe the Family Festival will help to focus attention on the good points of the town,” says Erder, “It promises to be a very exciting day.”