The Mansfield Downtown Partnership invites you to join in the fun at our 20th Annual Celebrate Mansfield Festival, which will take place on Saturday, September 30 from 2:00 PM to 8:00 PM in Downtown Storrs.
Mansfield’s largest community event is free and open to everyone! Over 80 booths will feature hands-on activities for all ages, arts and crafts to do and to purchase, tasty treats, and more.
There will be performances of music, magic, puppetry and more throughout the day, including on the main stage:
- 2:30 PM: Reading the Book of Mansfield, a Community Puppet Pageant by the Ballard Institute & Museum of Puppetry
- 3:00 PM: Seldom Heard, an acoustic folk trio from Mansfield
- 4:00 PM: UConn Jazz Quintet featuring UConn students DiMiceli, Christopher Dexter, Michael Farina, Brendan McManus, and Jack Sherman
- 5:00 PM: Zikina, a band with Mansfield and UConn connections that performs a unique blend of Ugandan folk instruments with funk and jazz
Wilbur Cross Way will become the “Kids’ Zone” with activities and entertainment especially for children, including “An Hour of Clown” by UConn Puppet Arts BFA candidate Anthony Sellitto-Budney (4:30 PM).
A fan favorite, cooking demos by chefs from UConn Dining will take place in the “Craft Corner” on Dog Lane. Check out the demos and sample the dishes:
- 2:30 PM: Production Chef Kyle Davis will prepare "Sweet and Spicy Pad Thai"
- 3:30 PM: Assistant Director of Culinary Development Robert Landolphi will prepare “Chili Crisp Pork Belly with Wild Mushrooms and Mascarpone Polenta”
In honor of the 20th anniversary of the Celebrate Mansfield Festival, the Mansfield Downtown Partnership invites residents and friends to add their voice to an oral history project. Share what makes this community special to you as part of a video that will be unveiled at our Winter Welcome on Saturday, December 2, 2023. Interviews will take place indoors at 40 Wilbur Cross Way, in the Kids’ Zone section of the Festival. Sign up for a short interview spot (15-minute max) here: downtownstorrsfestival.org/oralhistory
Activity and Craft Booths will be open from 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM. Then, everyone is invited to grab some dinner from one of our Festival Food Booths or our great Downtown Storrs restaurants and head to Betsy Paterson Square for a closing concert by The Wolff Sisters!
Winners of the New England Music Awards Americana Artist of the Year (2021), The Wolff Sisters will perform from 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM on the stage of the Jeffrey P. Ossen Family Foundation Pavilion on Betsy Paterson Square.
For more information, including transportation options and road closure notices please visit downtownstorrsfestival.org.
For more information, contact: Kathleen Paterson at Patersonkm@mansfieldct.org