MUMFEST has Scalawags and Pirates, Puppets, Magicians, Trains and Rides for Kids of All Ages!

With two days of free entertainment including live bands, dance troupes, magicians, roving street performers and face painters it’s no wonder over 100,000 festival goers attend MUMFEST every year. 

Everyone’s favorites will be back this year!  The amazing Alex Clark in Project Dynamite will make you laugh while he performs jaw dropping stunts. Also back is the Purina Incredible Dog Team with the talented canines that make amazing aerial disc catches. The Silver Drummer Girl, a Model Train Show and NBPD’s K-9s will also be back along with Weller Retriever demonstrations.

The Carolina Puppet Theatre with Ms. Poly and Ms. Ester, the wacky Gabardine sisters are bringing Puddles the Duck, Bartlet, the super-duper star and other unusual puppet friends. Steve Myott, a master storyteller, will also be entertaining everyone with wonderful tales and striking masks.

New this year! Pirates in training take heed! The Scalawag Skool for Aspiring Pirates can be found at Union Point Park. Lads and lassies ages 6-12 will be schooled in pirate vocabulary and cutlass skills on how not to lose your head. All Scalawags are furnished with a plastic cutlass, paper pirate hat, eye patch and earring. Upon graduation they are presented with a copy of the Krew Rules before being sent off to plunder the towne. 

The Twin Rivers Artist Assoc. will feature “Building Creative Minds” on Sunday at  the Bank of the Arts for children ages 5 and up. They will make clay ornaments, paintings, sculptures and charm bracelets. This free project is led by Arts Council Volunteers. Donations are accepted for art supplies in the Craven County Schools.

Many Mumfesters will choose to kick off the day with a waterfront ferry boat ride from Lawson Creek; others will arrive downtown by trolley. Arriving at MUMFEST on foot also works well. Come to MUMFEST by water, trolley or park downtown – however you get here – come join in the fun because there really is something for everyone!

Title Sponsor: Joe Alcoke Auto & Truck Center
MUMFEST is produced by Swiss Bear Downtown Development Corp. – 252-638-5781
swissbear@swissbear.org

Mumfest adds acts to October lineup

Aerial pogo team, daring juggler come on board for outdoor festival October 11-12. Organizers of New Bern's largest outdoor festival have added two familiar acts to the talent pool for October's Mumfest.

The XPOGO team each heights of 10 feet on next
generation pogo sticks.

Signora Bella juggles knives and swords
while walking a slack rope.

     








The XPOGO team and Signora Bella, the great Italian equilibrist will perform during the October 11 and 12 festival in downtown New Bern.

     The XOGO team currently holds 15 world records and several Guinness records, It is touted as "the most talented and experienced extreme pogo team in the world."

     Their past performances range from Rio to Beijing to Hong Kong and later this year, they will entertain in Sweden and France.

     Extreme Pogo, or Xpogo, is an action sport performed on next-generation pogo sticks that have the potential o bounce more than 10 feet in the air, measuring from the ground to the bottom of the tip of the pogo stick.

     Signora Bella juggles flaming swords while balancing on the slack rope.  She has entertained audiences of all ages since her arrival on the eastern seaboard several years ago. She has performed on the streets of Williamsburg, Mount Vernon and at Poplar Forest, retreat home of President Thomas Jefferson. She also has performed locally at Tryon Palace.

     Bella brings to life the tradition of the traveling performers of the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. She traces her roots to the Italian theatrical style of Commedia Dell'Arte.

     Mumfest is two days of free entertainment, including live bands with music from beach to rock, dance troupes, magicians, roving street performers and face painters, along with hundreds of vendors and craftsmen.

     It will also feature the 13th annual Boat Show.  

     Times for all performances will be on the web at mumfest.com prior to the October event.

Sun Journal, July 3, 2014

MUMFEST is non-stop free family fun!

       

MUMFEST will fill New Bern’s historic downtown with free family entertainment this coming October 11-12. Non-stop entertainment includes the 2014 Corvette Show, the 13-time world champion X-POGO Stunt Team, the Incredible Purina Dog Show, Signora Bella, (the great Italian equilibrist who juggles knives and balances on the orb of doom), and Alex Clark in Project Dynamite is simply amazing, JuggleStuff with Rick Hubbard, Poly and Ester, the Gabardine Sisters and the master storyteller and mask maker, Steve Myott!  

Festival goers will also enjoy climbing aboard the trailerable boats found at the Boat Show at Union Point Park.

MUMFEST fits everyone’s budget with two days of free entertainment including a wide variety of music from several new and exciting bands, dance troupes, magicians, roving street performers, puppeteers, face painters and clowns.

MUMFEST weekend in New Bern, NC attracts festival goers from across the southeast to experience this award winning festival located in the beautiful historic downtown and along the waterfront. Mumfesters can spend a little or spend a lot with over 300 commercial and nonprofit exhibitors to choose from including pottery, crafts, art, and a tasty variety of savory food. 

Take a free ride on the trolley car or park downtown, however you get here, come join the fun because there really is something for everyone! Check frequently on the MUMFEST website to learn all about this year’s festival:  www.mumfest.com 

MUMFEST Title Sponsor: Joe Alcoke Auto & Truck Center

MUMFEST is produced by Swiss Bear Downtown Development Corp. www.swissbear@swissbear.org

Media contact: Nancy Hawley   nancy.hawley.nh@gmail.com  252-349-4741

Artist creates 2014 Mumfest logo with bubbly shapes, vivid color

Lisa Bisbee-Lentz, a talented local artist and designer, has created a vibrant new look for Mumfest ’14.

Swiss Bear Downtown Development Corp., the producer of New Bern’s largest outdoor festival each October, invited her back this year to create the new poster design.

“Lisa’s design last year was so popular we couldn’t wait to see where her creativity would lead her in 2014,” said Susan Moffat-Thomas, executive director of Swiss Bear. “To say we are thrilled with the new design would be an understatement. This is hard for me to believe, but 2014 marks our 34th Mumfest. We strive to make every Mumfest special and showcase exciting new entertainment sure to please everyone.”

Bisbee-Lentz, whose arts involvement includes the Greater Good Gallery and ArtCRAWL, said she is always amazed with the festival’s assortment of entertainment downtown.

“I believe design is a visual language, a story or an invitation,” she said. “In this year’s design of Swiss Bear’s Mumfest poster, I wanted to speak of family fun and joyful activity. To tell the story of Mumfest in a visual design, I overlapped bubbly shapes with vivid colors of the mum flower in bloom. The multi-colored geometric circles offer an invitation for all to enjoy the tremendous amount of festivities presented.”

To see more of her art and design, on the web: greatergoodgallery.com or on exhibit at Greater Good Gallery at 228 Craven St. in New Bern.

Mumfest weekend in New Bern attracts upwards of 100,000 festival-goers from across the Southeast.

“Visitors can spend a little or spend a lot with over 300 commercial and nonprofit exhibitors to choose from, including pottery, crafts, art and a tasty variety of savory food,” said Moffat-Thomas. “It fits everyone’s budget with two days of free entertainment, including a wide variety of music from new and exciting bands, dance troupes, magicians, roving street performers, face painters and clowns.”

On the web: mumfest.com  For information, call 638-5781.

MUMFEST ... a bit of history!

In 1980, as one of the strategies to attract people downtown, Swiss organized and held many activities and events in the downtown area including antique car shows, 4^th of July festivities, reenactments, Easter Egg Hunts, Flag Day Ceremonies and  the Swiss Bear Festival. The Swiss Bear Festival was held on several blocks of Middle Street. Vacant buildings (Belk and Kress) were used for some of the activities such as elementary school art work displays, quilt displays etc. In 1983, the committee invited Tryon Palace to participate as a featured attraction with the fall gardens being opened free to the public. Since the fall gardens displayed thousands of mums, the festival was promoted as the Swiss Bear Chrysanthemum Festival. The gardens were a huge hit. In 1984, the decision was made to drop Swiss Bear from the name and call it the Chrysanthemum Festival. The name remained  until the early 1990’s. As the revitalization effort was moving forward, the festival grew in size, expanding to take in two blocks of Pollock, two blocks of South Front and vacant property on those streets. We continued to hear people commenting they had trouble pronouncing the name, spelling it and men were reluctant to attend as they thought it was primarily a flower show. Even though posters and other promotional material still carried the name Chrysanthemum Festival, it was referred to more and more, simply as the MUMfest. By the mid-1990’s, that name was adopted and the festival is officially known as MUMfest.

As the festival attendance continued to grow, there were serious concerns for the safety of festival-goers due to the intense density. The completion of the new Neuse River Bridge and removal of the old bridge from the foot of Broad Street, led to the City’s request to NC DOT for permission to close Broad from Hancock Street and East Front from Broad to the Cunningham Bridge for the two day event. With their approval, the festival midway area was moved to Broad, East Front and Union Point in 2000.

What began as a modest one day, two-block event is now widely recognized as one of the finest award-winning festivals in the state. It attracts more than 80,000 festival-goers to our historic downtown and waterfront. MUMfest is a city sponsored event produced by Swiss Bear in cooperation with area businesses and nonprofits. This partnership made it possible to expand the festival throughout downtown and along the waterfront. Sponsorships, concession and vendor fees fund the festival. Festival proceeds are used to assist Swiss Bear with downtown revitalization projects.

Swiss Bear greatly appreciates all the support extended by the City, area businesses, volunteers and the community-at-large whose participation make MUMfest possible.

Susan Moffat Thomas                

Executive Director