September 22, 2025: The Mansfield Downtown Partnership invites area residents and visitors to gather in Downtown Storrs on Saturday, September 27 for the 22nd Annual Celebrate Mansfield Festival!
Enjoy a day full of music, food, and fun as we celebrate the people, businesses, and community organizations that make Mansfield a special place. The Festival will take place from 2:00 PM to 8:00 PM on and around Betsy Paterson Square in Downtown Storrs. This event is free and open to everyone!
Activity, craft, and food booths will line the streets of Downtown Storrs (Photo by Laura Stone)
Mansfield businesses and community organizations and UConn departments, programs, and student groups will offer a variety of hands-on fun for all ages at booths set-up along Dog Lane, Royce Circle, and Wilbur Cross Way. Local crafters and artists will have original works available for purchase in the “Craft Corner” on Dog Lane. Activity and craft booths will be open from 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM.
There will be music, magic, and puppetry performances throughout the day. Look for the Waldron’s Studio 88 Stage featuring performances by local musicians from 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM in the “Craft Corner” on Dog Lane.
In the “Kids’ Zone” on Wilbur Cross Way, there will be a variety of children’s entertainment in addition to activities and games for kids. Performances include Kidsville Kuckoo Revue (2:30 PM), Mansfield Academy of Dance (3:30 PM), Bob Hale Magic Show (3:45 PM and 5:30 PM), and skills demos by students from Villlari’s Martial Arts (4:30 PM).
One of the more unique features of the Festival each year is our Community Puppet Pageant! Together with the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry, the Partnership hosted a free Community Puppet-Building Workshop during which participants created larger-than-life puppets under the guidance of Sara Peattie of Boston’s Puppeteers Cooperative. They will perform in the puppet pageant entitled Prehistoric Mansfield on Betsy Paterson Square during the Celebrate Mansfield Festival (2:30 PM).
Community members perform in “The Conference of the Birds” Community Puppet Pageant at the 2024 Celebrate Mansfield Festival (Photo by Laura Stone)
Also returning this year are the popular cooking demos by award-winning chefs from UConn Dining Services. The demos will take place on Dog Lane. At 2:00 PM, Executive Chef Kyle Davis will prepare Hummus Bowl with Black Garlic Labneh and Roasted Tomatoes. Then at 3:00 PM, Assistant Director of Culinary Development Robert Landolphi will prepare Gochujang Cauliflower Taco with Cilantro Lime Slaw and Avocado Crema.
With your fresh inspiration from the demos, head over to Storrs Farmers Market to stock up on late summer produce and early fall favorites. Or, pick up some ready-to-eat treats and enjoy a locally-sourced picnic on the Square. The Market will be open from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM at the Town Hall (4 S. Eagleville Road).
Executive Chef Kyle Davis (left) and Assistant Director of Culinary Development Robert Landolphi of UConn Dining return with their popular cooking demonstrations on Dog Lane. (Photo by Laura Stone)
Throughout the full event, food booths will be open on Royce Circle and Bolton Road Ext., with a variety of tasty treats to keep you fueled up for fun. Additionally, there are over twenty downtown restaurants featuring a variety of cuisines from around the globe, all within a five-minute walk of Betsy Paterson Square.
New this year will be the Hops 44 Beer Garden! Located on Bolton Road Ext, the beer garden will be open from 2:00 PM to 8:00 PM for Festival attendees age 21 and over. Hops 44 will offer a variety of craft beers on tap to enjoy alongside their signature pretzels from their food truck! Hops 44 has been serving up creative foods and craft beers at their restaurant in the Four Corners neighborhood of Mansfield for six years. In that time, they have gained not only local fans, they’ve also gained regional recognition, having won “Best of Hartford” for Best Wings (2023) and Best Neighborhood Bar (2022). Hops 44 was named the Tolland County favorite for Best American Restaurant, Best Family Friendly Restaurant, and Best BBQ in Connecticut Magazine’s Best of Readers’ Poll.
On Betsy Paterson Square, there will be live entertainment throughout the day, starting with a performance by the E. O. Smith Drumline at 2:15 PM, followed by the Community Puppet Pageant at 2:30 PM.
UConn Jazz Students perform at the 2024 Celebrate Mansfield Festival. (Photo by Laura Stone)
UConn Jazz Students will follow at 3:00 PM. The UConn Jazz Students are a performing sextet drawn from the University of Connecticut’s vibrant jazz program. With the recent expansion to include a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies alongside the Bachelor of Arts with an Emphasis in Jazz, the program offers pathways for both aspiring performers and future music educators. Today, UConn Jazz supports five small combos and two full 20-piece big bands, providing students with rich performance opportunities. The program’s distinguished faculty—some of the finest jazz musicians in the region—offer instruction on voice, trumpet, saxophone, trombone, piano, guitar, bass, and drums, preparing students to thrive as the next generation of jazz artists and educators.
Enjoy a performance by Ruby Leftstep at 5:00 PM on the main stage at Betsy Paterson Square! Ruby Leftstep are, on the surface, a frantic, emotionally-driven rock and roll band from New Hartford, Connecticut, and at their core they are three best friends exploring the world together. Ruby Leftstep will be followed by a performance by the UConn Drum Line at 6:00 PM on Betsy Paterson Square.
Then, everyone is invited to grab some dinner at a Festival food booth or Downtown Storrs restaurant and head to Betsy Paterson Square for our closing performance by All Night Boogie Band!
All Night Boogie Band is a blues, rock & roll, and soul-inspired band hailing from the Green Mountains of Burlington, Vermont. Formed in late 2021, the young yet experienced quintet expresses a unique sound full of originality, vigor, and dedication to the resonance of great American music.
All Night Boogie Band won “Vermont Rising Stars” in the 2023 New England Music Awards and were nominated for “Best Blues Artist” in the 2023 Seven Daysies Awards. They were featured as a Relix Magazine “Artist on the Rise” in their July 2022 Edition, won Vermont’s 2023 Blues Challenge, and were Semifinalists at the Blues Foundation’s International Blues Challenge in Memphis, Tennessee in January 2023.
All Night Boogie Band will perform from 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM on the stage of the Jeffrey P. Ossen Family Foundation Pavilion on Betsy Paterson Square.
All Night Boogie Band will perform from 6:30 to 8:00 PM at the 22nd Annual Celebrate Mansfield Festival. (Image courtesy of All Night Boogie Band)
Visitors are invited to bring a blanket or lawn chair. Refreshments will be available for purchase from the
Festival food booths and at Downtown Storrs restaurants.
Please note: Alcohol is prohibited on the Square. Smoking and vaping are also prohibited on the Square.
The Celebrate Mansfield Festival is free and open to everyone.
The Mansfield Downtown Partnership produces the Celebrate Mansfield Festival with the generous support of local sponsors. The 2025 Platinum Sponsors are Gulemo Printers, Inc.; National Institute for the Clinical Application of Behavioral Medicine (NICABM); The Oaks on the Square; Price Chopper; UConn Bookstore; Urban Lodge Brewing Co.; and Wilcox & Reynolds.
The 2025 Gold Sponsors are the Town of Mansfield; University of Connecticut; E. O. Smith High School; Mansfield Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation; LAZ Parking; M&T Bank; and WILI.
The 2025 Silver Sponsors are The Adventure Park at Storrs; BrightPath Mansfield; Casella Waste System; Holiday Hill Day Camp; Kelsey Rictor - AnnieMac Home Mortgage; Mansfield Orthodontics; OBGYN and
Midwifery of CT; and Renewal by Andersen.
The Partnership thanks these businesses and organizations for their support of our community!
For more information, please visit downtownstorrsfestival.org or call the Mansfield Downtown Partnership (860.429.2740).
