BANGOR -- More than 70 organizations plan to participate in the l3th annual HOPE (Help Organize Peace Earthwide) Festival on April 21st from l0-4 p.m. at the University of Maine Fieldhouse. The first HOPE Festival was held in l995 and featured Helen Nearing, who with her husband Scott were leaders in the back-to-the-earth homesteading movement. A standing room only crowd listened to then 91 year old Helen Nearing urge "Live simply and frugally with an eye to the needs of the others to come." The HOPE Festival was designed to celebrate Earth Day and to honor those who care for the environment, but broadened to include honoring and celebrating the variety of ways groups are working to meet the needs of their communities.
According to Ilze Petersons, program coordinator for the Peace & Justice Center of Eastern Maine, which is sponsoring the HOPE Festival, celebrating the caring work and making connections is one of the purposes of the festival. "Organizing peace earthwide may seem ambitious, but we see each day how interconnected we are in the clothes we wear and the food we eat," said Petersons. "We see that actions and decisions made here do have worldwide impact and decisions made thousands of miles away impact us. Sometimes as individuals we can feel powerless, but at the HOPE Festival, we can affirm the power of positive change efforts." Petersons says the Festival is a celebration, but also a great way for people to find out how they can become involved. Sandy Tardiff , a coordinator of the HOPE Festival points out that people need to get involved to make democracy work. "The HOPE Festival is a fun way to support the caring work being done and to learn about the many ways you can participate. There's something for everyone. And thanks to volunteer efforts and sponsorships its free." said Tardiff.
At the HOPE Festival people will be able to check out organizations dealing with the environment, such as the Sierra Club and the Maine Solar Energy Association ; organizations such as Spruce Run and Rape Response Services working for domestic non-violence as well as organizations working for global peace and justice such as Peace Action, the Veterans for Peace and PICA (Peace through Interamerican Action). There will be groups working for human rights such as the NAACP, Amnesty International and the Greater Bangor National Organization for Women, as well as groups working for low income Mainers and those promoting alternatives such as the Good Life Center, home of the Nearings now dedicated to promoting sustainable living.
As people browse among the information tables, pick up buttons, bumper stickers and t-shirts, they will also be entertained with live music featuring Kim and Reggie Harris performing folk/gospel/jazz and songs from he civil rights movement and others. Since the first festival, speakers such as award winning novelist Carolyn Chute and nationally acclaimed singer/songwrite Dave Mallet have donated their time to the Festival. They have joined dancers, jazz musicians, steel drum bands, klezmer, folk, bluegrass, and storytellers in entertaining more than l000 who attend the festival each year. Many families have attended the festival bringing their children to enjoy a wide variety of environmental, nature and peace activities and entertainment and to sample the delicious healthy food on sale. Each year there has been a 5K fun run beginning at the Brewer Auditorium, with fun rather than winning being the goal.
Each spring the HOPE Festival renews the hope we all have for a peaceful and sustainable future.
