First Town Downtown Windsor CT

Windsor CT Main Street Program
Phone: 860-247-8982

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September, 2024show full yearClose
Event:Connecticut River & Roots Festival
Date:September 1st, 2024.
Time:12:00 PM to 6:00 PM
Location:Windsor Town Green
Contact:info@windsorartcenter.org
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The Windsor Town Green will come alive from 12-6 PM on Sunday, September 1, for the inaugural CT River and Roots Festival! Headliner Jake Blount, an award-winning interpreter of Black folk music, will join a lineup of other performers on the main stage for an afternoon of music, dance, culture, food, crafts, and more. Admission is FREE with a suggested donation of $10.

The CT River and Roots Festival presents internationally recognized musicians alongside regional CT performers and storytellers, highlighting the origins of shared cultures and exploring the deep history of roots music. This inaugural event features headliner Jake Blount, an internationally recognized and award-winning musician and scholar, who merges centuries-old traditional songs with modern Black genres. His work has been celebrated by outlets including Bandcamp, The New Yorker, NPR, The Guardian, and Rolling Stone.

Hosted on the Town Green under a saddlespan tent, staged performances will showcase a diverse array of roots music, ranging from bluegrass and folk to soul roots and indigenous voices. Performances include soul roots with Tang Sauce & TTQM Band; bluegrass with J.M. Clifford Band; vocalist Jennifer Kreisberg, a member of the critically acclaimed Native women's trio ULALI; and Creole and Zydeco (Louisiana French) music by Cedric Watson Trio, among others. Dance performances will highlight Island Reflections Dance Theatre, an organization dedicated to cross-cultural education through diverse dance styles, including Caribbean Folk, Ballet, Modern/Contemporary, and African dance.

The festival will feature vendors, including artisans, food trucks, and local brews by Dudleytown Brewery (access to the Beer & Wine Tent is restricted to those 21+).

Engaging storytelling, coordinated by the Windsor Historical Society, will be interwoven into staged performances, featuring storyteller Robert Peters, a Mashpee Wampanoag Artist, Poet, and Author with musical accompaniment by Mixashawn. Windsor Historical Society’s traveling Windsor Black history exhibition display will connect this cultural celebration to historical roots. A wampum crafting demo by Justin Scott, a traditional artist from the Mohegan nation, can be found next to the Windsor Historical Society Exhibition tent.





Mission Statement
The mission of First Town Downtown is to position and promote Windsor Center as a premier New England town center that protects and utilizes its proud heritage as the basis for developing vibrant recreational, economic and cultural activity.

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  • Address:161 Broad St, Windsor, CT

  • Phone: 860-247-8982

  • Email: info@ftdt.org