July 11 & 12, 2026
on the College of the Atlantic campus
Bar Harbor, Maine
The Abbe Museum’s Dawnland Festival of Arts & Ideas will return July 11-12, 2026, hosted on the campus of College of the Atlantic, continuing its tradition as a multi-day summer festival that centers Wabanaki and Native thought leadership through panels, performances, and a Northeastern Native arts market.
This year’s Dawnland festival also marks a new moment of national connection through a collaboration with The Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage’s 2026 Of the People: Smithsonian Festival of Festivals.
“This collaboration places the Abbe Museum’s Dawnland Festival of Arts & Ideas within a broader national conversation about ongoing cultural practice, while remaining grounded in Wabanaki leadership and place-based knowledge,” stated Betsy Richards, executive director at the Abbe Museum. “Being the only New England-based festival participating reflects the importance of Indigenous-led platforms that support cultural continuity and cross-cultural dialogue in this region.”
Smithsonian Folklife will collaborate with the Abbe on select panel conversations and performance programming, while Dawnland remains fully grounded in Wabanaki voices, perspectives, and shared authority.
Your registration helps us plan better. Please note that seating at panels and performances is limited and is on a "first-come, first-served" basis.
2026 Festival Schedule & Map
Saturday, July 11
9:00 a.m. Market Opens
9:20-10:00 a.m. Market Opening: Newell Lewey leading a prayer and honoring our elders, Carolyn Rapekevian giving a land acknowledgment and Betsy Richards with opening words from the Abbe Museum and Cliff Murphy from Smithsonian Folklife and the College of the Atlantic’s Lynn Boulger
10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. - Jeremy Frey Book Signing
10:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. Market Performance #1: Tania Morey (Mi’kmaq)
11:00 a.m. - 11:45 a.m. Market Performance #2: Burnurwubskek Drum (Penobscot)
Noon: Food Trucks Market Performance #3 Theresa Bear + Kontiwennenha:Wi
1:00 p.m. - 1:45 p.m. Featured Performance: Daniel French (Mohawk)
2:30 p.m. - 3:20 p.m. Panel #1 Water is Life
4:00 p.m. - 4:50 p.m. - Panel #2 Native Freedom of Expression
5:00 p.m. Festival Close
Sunday, July 12
9:00 a.m. Market Opens:
10:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. Market Performance #4: Geo Neptune (Passamaquoddy)
11:00 a.m. - 11:45 p.m. Panel #3: Native Photography as Self-Determination
Noon: Food Trucks Market Performance #5 Hawk Henries (Nipmuc)
1:00 p.m. - 1:45 p.m. Featured Performance #2 Jennifer Pictou (Mi’kmaq) & Puppets
2:30 p.m. - 3:20 p.m. Panel #4 Honoring 250 Years of Wabanaki Veterans
3:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. Wabanaki Veterans Honoring
4:00 p.m. Festival Close
The festival is located on the campus of the
College of the Atlantic
105 Eden Street
Bar Harbor, Maine 04609
THE DAWNLAND FESTIVAL IS ORGANIZED BY THE ABBE MUSEUM
The Abbe Museum in Bar Harbor, Maine, is dedicated to advancing understanding of Wabanaki Nations’ heritage, living cultures, and homelands. Guided by a Wabanaki-majority Board of Trustees, the Museum centers Indigenous voices in its exhibitions and programs. Founded in 1928, the Abbe now includes a year-round downtown location and a historic site in Acadia National Park.
Learn more at the Abbe Museum website | Support
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
2026 Marquee Funders
2026 Festival Sponsors
Performer Sponsors
Bar Harbor Bank and Trust
Machias Savings Bank
Versant Power
Demonstrator Sponsors
Cafe This Way
Drummond Woodsum
E.L. Shea Inc.
Joanne & Richard Fuerst
Maine Community Foundation
Momentum Conservation
State of Maine Permanent Commission on Racial, Indigenous, and Tribal Populations
Panel Sponsors
Maine Coast Heritage Trust
Maine Humanities Council
Friends of the Festival
Rooster Brother Inc.
This project received funding from the Smithsonian’s “Our Shared Future: 250,” a Smithsonian-wide initiative supported by private philanthropy and created to commemorate the nation’s 250th anniversary and advance the Smithsonian vision for the next 250 years.