Just when you thought February nights in Maine were long, dark and quiet, here comes Carnaval ME.
The 10-day winter festival on Portland’s Eastern Promenade opens Thursday. It will light up the night sky with a fireworks show and fill the winter air with live music. It will also feature food, craft beers, ice sculpting, skiing and snowboarding demonstrations, and live theater performances. Country music star Scotty McCreery will close out the festival with a nighttime concert Feb. 26.
This will be the second Carnaval ME and will be a considerable expansion over the two-day event held on the Eastern Promenade the last weekend of January 2020, before the pandemic. The event will be held mostly outdoors and is expected to draw 25,000 people during its run, according to Shamrock Sports and Entertainment, the event organizer.
Ignatius Bidwell, 7, left, of Portland watches as Janoah Bailin of The Way We Move juggles in the Carnaval ME igloo in 2020. Staff photo by Jill Brady
The festival is offering so much more this year to try to meet a demand for things to do in the winter in Greater Portland, said Brian Corcoran, CEO of Shamrock Sports & Entertainment. In the summer, families can find outdoor concerts and fireworks shows pretty easily, but not so much in winter. The fact that the pandemic has been limiting people’s entertainment options and activities for the past two years was a factor in the festival’s planning as well.
“I think there’s a pent-up demand for things to do, for entertainment,” said Corcoran. “We’ve tried to come up with a festival that appeals to a broad audience. The market is really underserved with entertainment during the shoulder seasons, during the darker days.”
Corcoran says that about “90 percent” of the festival’s activities – including the concerts and fireworks – will be outside. Some events, like performances by Maddy’s Theatre group and the Bites & Brews food and craft beer pairings, will be in a giant, inflatable igloo. The igloo holds 500 people but capacity will be limited to 300, Corcoran said.
Anyone entering the festival grounds must show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test. Carnaval ME organizers are following Portland policies for city-owned venues – which the Eastern Promenade park is, said Andrew Downs, the city’s director of public assembly facilities. At press time, that meant anyone inside the igloo or tents would be required to wear a mask while not eating, though that policy could change or be updated once the festival begins.
The festival kicks off with a gala event Thursday night in the igloo, featuring food, drink and music from ’80s cover band The Time Pilots. The gala, which costs $100, is a fundraiser to benefit Maine’s WinterKids activities program.
Ice sculpting demonstrations will be part of Carnaval ME, Feb. 17-26. The demonstration pictured is from the 2020 event. Photo by Tim Greenway
The full slate of festival activities kicks off Friday and a schedule of all events and related information can be found online at carnavalme.com. Most days there will be two sessions, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. General admission tickets are $15 and $25 in advance, $20 and $30 starting Thursday. The festival’s grounds and stage will be set up mostly along Cutter Street, which leads from the top of the Eastern Promenade down to the boat launch on Casco Bay.
Friday’s daytime activities will include ice sculpting, a performance by Maddy’s Theatre in the igloo, and practice sessions for skiers and snowboarders competing in the USASA Rail Jam event later Friday. A course for competitors will be set up on the Eastern Promenade’s hill.
Friday night there will be a fireworks show at 7 p.m., put on by Central Maine Pyrotechnics, the company that has handled Portland’s Fourth of July fireworks in recent years. Unlike on July 4, no through streets in the Munjoy Hill neighborhood will be shut down for the show, said Jessica Grondin, spokesperson for the city of Portland.
Also Friday night, there will be a concert by the Maine band The Ghost of Paul Revere, a Bites & Brews session and competitive runs of the USASA Rail Jam. The number of people at any festival session – afternoon or evening – is limited to 2,500, festival organizers have said.
Country singer Scotty McCreery will play Carnaval ME in Portland Feb. 26. Photo by Jeff Ray
On Saturday, the day session includes ice sculpting, Maddy’s Theatre, a Bites & Brews session and a concert by the band Girls Just Want to Have Fun. The night session Saturday includes the Sunday River Rail Jam, music by Firefly, a Bites & Brews session and a concert by Maine funk band Motor Booty Affair.
Some of the Bites & Brews pairings of restaurants and brewers the first weekend include Luke’s Lobster with Allagash Brewing, Eighty8 Donuts with Coffee By Design, Navis Cafe with Shipyard Brewing, and Nighthawk’s Kitchen with Mast Landing Brewing. Bites & Brews tickets, which include festival admission, are $65 in advance, $70 once the festival starts.
Some of the other musicians and groups scheduled to perform during the festival include Pete Kilpatrick at noon on Feb. 20, Viva & The Reinforcements at 8 p.m. on Feb. 24, Jason Spooner Band at 2 p.m. on Feb. 25, Hello Newman at 8 p.m. on Feb. 25 and nationally known country star Scotty McCreery at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 26.
There’s free parking for festival ticket holders at the city’s Ocean Gateway lot along with free shuttle rides to the festival. There are two days during the festival’s run – Feb. 22 and 23 – when no public events will be held.
Corcoran hopes Carnaval ME can become Portland’s version of the famous winter carnival in Quebec City – five hours north in Canada. That event began in 1894 and has been held annually since 1955, according to the Quebec City website. Corcoran thinks that Mainers are hardy enough to embrace a winter festival, as their Canadian neighbors have.
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