FARMINGTON — Hundreds of people took advantage of a better than expected day weather-wise and visited the 12th annual Maine Fiddlehead Festival on Saturday, May 3, held at the University of Maine at Farmington.

More than 70 vendors were set up on campus offering demonstrations, discussions, free samples of locally produced foods and scores of items to purchase. Some brought animals to admire and pet while others offered hands-on activities to enjoy or shared information about their organization’s purpose.

Popular tent talks were scheduled throughout the day and local chef Ashley Montgomery offered samples from her cooking demonstrations.

John and Darnel Nadeau of Bangor attended with their daughter, UMF Freshman Elyse Nadeau and their dog, Tracker. “What a beautiful day, isn’t it,” Darnel exclaimed as they lounged on the grass near the High St. parking lot.

10-year old Cassidy Banner was seen blowing bubbles from a homemade bubble wand. The wands and jars of homemade bubble mix were just a few of the items sold by her family’s Hopwood Farm of Farmington.

“Food waste is an important thing to think about,” Dominick Breton, a UMF sophomore and Sustainable Campus Coalition member said at the Farmington Compost Cooperative booth. “More than 50% of waste in the United States comes from food. FCC works with Sodexo, which does the food at UMF. After each meal, food waste is collected, taken to the composting site and mixed with other materials.”

People in the community help to sell the compost, he noted. Their efforts and the proceeds support sustainability, he stated.

Breton was at the coalition’s booth last year, has worked at the food pantry. “I am proud of all the things people in the coalition and FCC do,” he said. “They all work exceptionally hard. I am proud to be able to take things that otherwise would be wasted and help turn them into useful products.”

“I am blown away by how much is going on today,” he noted. “I love the community we have here in Farmington.”

Tara Moyle, who just moved to Wilton was sharing information about a tree with Bill Haslam at the Farmington Conservation Commission booth. He was able to identify it from a photo she had on her cellphone and provided additional information while Sally Speich looked on.

The area outside a pen housing four alpacas from Happy Snowman Alpaca Farm of Farmington was filled with folks getting a closer look and petting the fluffy animals. Ellen Desper, sister of owner Janice Ciszkowski used a tool to remove straw from the coat of Justice, a black alpaca. Masquerade, Teddy and Sparky – who was born on the Fourth of July – were the names of the other alpacas, she said. “Last year it was toasty, the year before it was freezing,” she noted. “I am just delighted that it’s nice this year.”

Rich Robinson of Farmington was seen sampling pure birch syrup and a 50/50 blend of apple birch syrup provided by Michael Romanyshyn of Temple Tappers Pure Birch Syrup in Temple. “Nice,” he told Romanyshyn. “I liked the pure birch syrup,” he said when asked which he preferred. “The apple birch was good, too.”

Scores of people relaxed on the bank overlooking the amphitheater as the Franklin County Fiddlers performed. They were just one of the many local musical groups performing throughout the festival.

The aromatic fragrance from a variety of herb plants filled the air while walking past the Hide and Go Peep Farm from Madison. They were among several items the farm had for sale.

“I just got here,” Farmington Town Manager Erica LaCroix said. “I think it’s a wonderful community event. It is great to see so many people here. I am glad we got some good weather for it.”

The weather at the time was in the low 70s. It began sprinkling about 1:30 p.m. just before the festival was scheduled to close at 2 p.m.