New Canaan Commission Approves First Annual Music Festival
Parks and Recreation · Meeting of July 8, 2026
New Canaan parks panel approves the town's first annual music festival for September. The Parks and Recreation Commission unanimously backed musician Michael Smith's proposal for a September 19 festival at the New Canaan Nature Center, featuring about 10 bands on two stages from noon to 10 p.m., with no alcohol sales. The commission also renewed the Waveny ice rink's 2026-27 season after a brownout knocked out a pump for "eight or nine days" this past winter, and approved new paint colors for the Mary B cabin at Waveny Park.
Independence Day festival attendance fell to an estimated 2,000 to 3,000, down from about 8,000 in 2025, organizers said, blaming heat. Resident Betty Lavastic told the commission Kuanis Park has "no drinking fountain and no bottle refill" amid a recent heat wave with the heat index over 100, and asked for interim bottled-water deliveries. The Waveny Park Conservancy reported spending about $250,000 on design and planning over 18 months and is seeking a state grant of up to $150,000 for woodland restoration.
In the full story:
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Source: the Parks and Recreation meeting of July 8, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.
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