Springfield May Festival featured sunshine, artworks

The “May Festival,” an ancient Celtic celebration of spring, is mentioned in some of the earliest Irish literature and it is associated with important events in Irish mythology. It marked the beginning of summer and the time when cattle were driven out to the summer pastures.

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Springfield May Festival featured sunshine, artworks BY KAREN ENGDAHL, The ShopperMay 23, 2017 SPRINGFIELD, Vt. – The “May Festival,” an ancient Celtic celebration of spring, is mentioned in some of the earliest Irish literature and it is associated with important events in Irish mythology. It marked the beginning of summer and the time when cattle were driven out to the summer pastures. Rituals were performed to protect the cattle, crops and people, and to encourage growth. These gatherings would be accompanied by a feast; doors, windows, byres and the cattle themselves would be decorated with yellow May flowers. As years went by, May festivals became popular throughout the British Isles and farther abroad. Springfield celebrated its seventh annual May Festival at the Unitarian Universalist Meetinghouse recently. Although no decorated cattle strolled the grounds there was plenty of feasting, music, art, and general merriment as visitors celebrated the end of winter and the return of lovely spring weather. The celebration included an outdoor flea market where shoppers could choose from a variety of treasures as they listened to the music of the Stringfield Springers, a bluegrass combo. festival Springfield May Festival vendors. Photo by Karen Engstrom. “It’s a gorgeous day!” said Lynne Wolf as she served snacks to a hungry shopper. Wolf and her coworker, Melissa MacKenzie, could hardly help but dance a wee gig in the bright sunshine. Strolling beyond the outdoor stalls and vendors, visitors entered the meetinghouse building to find an art gallery where nine local artists displayed their work. “The artists were invited to show for this event,” explained Festival organizer Jo-Ann Gaffron-Hargrove. “They weren’t charged an entry fee and the commission fee is donated to the Unitarian Church for its work in the community.” Rebecca Tucker, an artist who works in oils, pointed out the local landscapes she captured in her paintings. At the bottom of the display was a small 5×7 inch notebook, propped open to a painted landscape labeled “WET PAINT.” “My daughter and I send the notebook back and forth,” Tucker explained, “and we take turns painting for one another.” Other artists represented in the show were Gaffron-Hargrove, Richard Cofrancesco, Nancy Lanoue, Joanna Alix, Sandra Silva, Junalene Gould, Bruce Johnson, Dan Keebler, and Sloane Dawson, who is in her eighties and still producing stunning mixed-media pieces.