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Arts & Entertainment

Hammonasset Festival To Feature Music, Art, Crafts, Native American Culture, And Fun

2011 Hammonassett Festival To Bring
Native American Culture to the Shoreline

Click Here to View Full Schedule
 
Oct. 1 and 2 filled with music, art, crafts and museum demonstrations

Grammy-award winning Native American flutist Joseph Fire Crow is among the many musicians, artisans and exhibitors scheduled to participate in the Hammonassett Festival on Saturday and Sunday, October 1st and 2nd, from 10am to 5pm both days, rain or shine at Hammonasset Beach State Park.

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The biennial event is produced and hosted by the nonprofit Friends of Hammonasset.

The Hammonassett Festival is as educational as it is entertaining. Admission is only $5 per person per day; children 10 and under are admitted free. Pets are not permitted. All proceeds benefit the nature projects and restoration work of the Friends of Hammonasset.

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Each day, the festival will begin with a Native American opening blessing called a smudging ceremony led by Alan Saunders, a member of the Mohegan tribe. The festival features a variety of activities that families, archeology buffs, and people interested in Native American culture can enjoy.

Highlights include:

  • Joseph Fire Crow
  • The Erin Meeches Dance Troupe
  • Atlatl (an ancient tool and weapon) demonstration and competition
  • A Place Called Hope, live birds of prey exhibit
  • Ranger Russ from Meigs Point Nature Center with a live reptile demonstration
  • Exotic animals from the Beardsley Zoo
  • Archeologist Jim Dina demonstrating ancient technologies
  • Yale Peabody Museum
  • Trout Unlimited
  • A premier collection of crafts and Native vendors
  • The Institute for American Indian Studies 

For more details and to receive updates about the Hammonassett Festival become a fan of the Hammonassett Festival facebook page. (Click Here)

About The Hammonassett Festival
Madison, Connecticut residents Dale Carson, a writer and artist of Abenaki descent, and Donald Rankin, M.D., who has an avid interest in local geology and history, created the Hammonassett Festival in 2005. The event is presented by Friends of Hammonasset, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing environmental awareness programs and preserving the natural resources and integrity of Hammonasset Beach State Park and supporting the activities of Meigs Point Nature Center. For more information visit www.friendsofhammonasset.org

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