15th New World Festival
A Tremendous Hit

The New World Festival specializes in adult performers, but there is an active Family Tent that gives young performers a chance to shine. Above, Miles Ames and Katherine Fortier perform with the Fiddleheads, trained by Mark Sustic. (Herald / Tim Calabro)

On Labor Day Sunday, between noon and midnight, Randolph’s New World Festival was its normal self—a tremendous hit!
Dopzens of musicians, foreign and domestic, transformed the downtown into a 12-0hour wave of Celtic and French-Canadian inspired tunes. A full day of dances filled a dance tent with energy.

Bethany Church, UCC, and St John’s Episcopal Church both served as beautiful venues for the music, and Chandler Music Hall rang far into the night with the final performance by April Verch, Canadian fiddler, singer, and step-dancer extraordinaire.

Some 2000 people flooded into Randolph from as far as New York City for the 15th annual event. It is sponsored by Randolph’s Chandler Center for the Arts. Kevin Dunwoody of Brookfield is the music director, and more than 100 volunteers from the community spend at least three hours of their time to make the Festival click.

For more information on the festival go to www.newworldfestival.com.