nothin New Haven Independent | Backstage at the Branford Festival

Backstage at the Branford Festival

Mary Johnson Photo

It’s been a month since the annual Branford Festival drew thousands of people to the Branford Green.

Mary Johnson Photo

Much of what the public sees is out front: the road race, the hundreds of vendors on the town Green, the performers on stage and a happy audience.

Bill O’Brien Photo

But there is also the backstage.

Mary Johnson Photo

Backstage is an area near the Academy on the Green and behind Town Hall. Here is a different perspective on the festival. And our photographer Mary Johnson captured the event.

Mary Johnson Photo

Here’s where you find the kids.

Kids mean walls.

Mary Johnson Photo

Starting up.

Mary Johnson Photo

And reaching for the top.

Mary Johnson Photo

There were kids side-by-side.

Mary Johnson Photo

Or on a bike.

Mary Johnson Photo

And parents with their kids on Father’s Day.

Mary Johnson Photo

This may be this little boy’s first festival. 

Mary Johnson Photo

Here’s Fire Captain Joe Petrosino and his daughter, Bella.

Mary Johnson Photo

Kids gathered in groups.

Bill O’Brien Photo

The animal kingdom was represented, of course. There are dogs, of course. Here are Giorgio and Giuliana. Giorgio is 10 years old and Giuliana was ten weeks old when photographed sitting side-by-side in their stroller. They were a big hit.

Bill O’Brien Photo

We checked the animal shelter booth on the other side of the Green just to see what might reside in their midst. Voila! Here is shelter director Laura Burban holding an iguana. 

Marcia Chambers Photo

And Trevor Cser, 7, of Branford, learned about a horse shoe crab when he and his family visited the Branford Land Trust tent at the festival.

Marcia Chambers Photo

So what’s next by way of exploration? Try a trip to Outer Island, one of the Thimbles and an ecological preserve and refuge for migratory birds. The island is part of the Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Connecticut State University System. They and the Friends of Outer Island are partners in research projects. Here is photographer Kelley Fryer and her daughter overseeing the Outer Island tent at the festival.
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