FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 3, 2004
Contact: Suki Casanave
603.659.5588

IRISH DANCERS GEAR UP FOR PREMIER PERFORMANCE AT
NEWMARKET HERITAGE FESTIVAL: September 17, 18, 19

NEWMARKET, - The seventh annual Newmarket Heritage Festival (www.heritage-festival.org) on September 17, 18, 19 features a slew of great performances, including a return appearance by celebrated Irish harper, singer, and dancer Regina Delaney‹joined this year by a troupe of  Newmarket Elementary School Ceili dancers for a premier performance.
≥Sharing diverse cultures and passing on tradition is what the Heritage Festival is all about,≤ says Nancy Jablonski, childrenπs programming coordinator for the festival, who worked with festival committee grant writer Margaret Crowley to bring the program to the school. ≥We are delighted to be partnering with the Elementary School and the Linked Together after-school program to make this special performance possible.≤  
An artist with the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts, Delaney will present a lively program for the entire Newmarket Elementary School on September 8, including traditional Irish music, hard- and soft-shoe stepping, and ceili dancing. Following the assembly, students in grades 2-5 will have the opportunity to study dance with Delaney in a series of three after-school workshops at the Elementary School (September 13, 14, 15). The program culminates in a performance under the main tent at the Newmarket Heritage Festival on Sunday, September 19, 2:30-3:30 pm.
Other festival highlights include West African drumming and Latin rhythms, French Canadian clogging and barbershop harmonies, Polish music and Gospel sounds, sea shanties, bluegrass tunes, and barbershop harmonies‹itπs all on the festival stage! The Saturday night dance party features the Amazing Mambo Combo, complete with salsa and cha-cha dance workshops. The festival also offers great activities for kids, artisans at work, boat tours, kayaking on the river, a model railway, talks on Black history, and more.
Admission to the entire festival is $5 (excluding meals); children under 12 are free. For more info: 603.659.5588 and www.heritage-festival.org.
Location and hours: Location: The festival will be held rain or shine (there are lots of tents!), in downtown Newmarket (across from the Post Office and by the river). Hours: Friday: 5-9:30; Saturday: 10-10; Sunday: 11-8.
Sponsors: The Irish dance program is made possible thanks to the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts and support from the Newmarket PTA. Produced by the Newmarket Main Street Corporation, the Heritage Festival is made possible thanks to our Festival Partners: Greater Piscataqua Community Foundation, New Hampshire State Council on the Arts, Town of Newmarket; and our Program Partners: Anonymous, Bottomline Technologies, Chinburg Builders, Develco, Doucet Survey, Fleet Bank, Hutchinson Sealing Systems, Newmarket Polish Club, and the Stone Church. Thanks also to our Festival Supporters, Festival Friends, and Community Partners, including local businesses, organizations, and individuals.###

PHOTO CAPTION: Celebrated Irish dancer Regina Delaney (shown above with daughter, Alanna Lee Callendrello) will perform September 8 at the Newmarket Elementary School in preparation for her appearance at the Newmarket Heritage Festival on September 19. Admission to the entire festival is $5 (excluding meals); children under 12 are free. For more info: 603.659.5588 or www.heritage-festival.org. (Photo: Jan Galloway)

Click here for photo.

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