With an August music festival already gone from idea to reality, Eastport's EDGE committee, formerly the city's downtown committee, isn't letting the grass grow under its feet since meeting with over 30 community members on the evening of February 21.
     Ideas for reinvigorating the downtown and the city as a whole flew fast and furious, ranging from bringing back the outdoor flea market, creating pop‑ups or window displays in empty storefronts to longer-term campaigns to grow day‑trippers from the Bangor, Ellsworth and Saint John regions and marine tourists. EDGE members Jeanne Peacock and Anne Stanley wrote down all the ideas on flip charts and had one end of the Eastport Welcome Center's walls papered with lists by the end of the rapid‑fire meeting. Co‑chair Michael Morse kept to his word that the meeting would last no more than one hour.
     Since then EDGE members have been collating the raft of ideas into categories of long‑ and short‑term, downtown and city‑wide and a few others to help with prioritizing and action planning. Morse explains that the short‑term goals, to be accomplished by the end of the 2019 summer season, are: to fill the few empty storefronts with pop‑up shops or window displays; reactivate the downtown flea market and work with the farmers' market to find a more user‑friendly location; follow up with the city's new directional signage, to be installed at the intersection of Water and Washington streets, and create a city directory map graphic of stores, institutions and city amenities to display in a downtown window; establish Eastport as a music destination by building on already existing music offerings and creating a music festival; and work on media marketing efforts.
     Some of the longer‑term goals were defined as: create a destination development and branding plan; work with other resources such as Downeast Acadia Regional Tourism (DART), Main Street Maine and the Maine Office of Tourism; develop an accurate list of "beds" located in the city; attract more events like BikeMaine; work with the Eastport Port Authority on waterfront activities and marine tourism; develop local tours for cruise ships; and improve waterfront access for divers.
Different committee members have taken on specific areas. Morse notes that Coleman Brice is the music festival project manager; Mary Repole has taken on the farmers' and flea markets; Tessa Chaffey Ftorek is working with Don Dunbar on media project management; and Diane Parsloe and Cynthia Morse have taken on the research of specialized and targeted marketing campaigns, with funding for such efforts the big question mark.
     Eastport City Manager Ross Argir notes that the city has approximately $1,400 left in the current fiscal year's budget for economic development. "However, this funding is not designated specifically for EDGE. If EDGE voted to request use of this funding for a specific project, it would be given due consideration by the city, as EDGE is an official city committee." He points to the city's microloan program as another potential source of funds for the committee.
     Morse has been working on window display and pop‑up ideas and agreements. He has already garnered an agreement between the Eastport Gallery and the owners of the former Dancing Dogs Pottery store, which is right next to the gallery. The gallery will display artworks in the empty storefront's windows. He is in conversation with other building and business owners and hopes to have some additional agreements in place before the summer season starts.

Music festival set for August
     Brice reports that as of early March over a dozen original acts have signed up so far for the Eastport Music Festival, set for the weekend of August 9‑11. "All genres from avant‑garde to zydeco are welcome, but this festival is focused on highlighting original music, songs, compositions or live improvisations." 
     Brice is no slouch when it comes to music chops. He's been employed in the music industry for over 30 years from "DIY indie efforts to running a label distributed nationally by a major label," he explains. Before moving to Eastport with his family, he was heavily involved in the Asbury Park, N.J., and Hollywood, Calif., music scenes.
     The August festival will use the Peavey Memorial Library gazebo as the main stage. Brice says, "Admissions are free but donations to the Peavey library are heartily encouraged." Artists will be encouraged to sell merchandise, and the festival coordinators will try to shepherd other performance opportunities throughout the event at galleries, eateries and other venues interested in hosting performance space and willing to allow acts to collect tips.
     Prospective participants, or those interested in hosting performance space, can inquire via email to  <eastportmusicfestival@gmail.com>. A website will soon be available at <http://eastportmusicfestival.org>.
     Brice adds, "I'm doing this because I was invited to try and match my skills and experience with a need to contribute to Eastport's downtown revival and because I have a lifelong passion for helping original artists come of the herd and be heard." If the February 21 meeting was any indication, many others share in his enthusiasm for the island city.
     EDGE meets on the third Tuesday of the month at 6 p.m. at the Tides Institute & Museum of Art. The public is welcome.