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The Resurgam Festival: Where Maine Musicians Shall Rise
ARTS ENGAGEMENT
Photo credit: Luke Madden and the Maine Academy of Modern Music
“I shall rise again.” It’s the meaning behind the Maine motto “resurgam” and the inspiration for the Maine Academy of Modern Music’s (MAMM) festival that takes over Portland’s Old Port each summer.
“The name is about rising out of the pandemic and celebrating these arts that are still at the heart of what makes Portland cool and weird,” says Jeff Shaw, MAMM’s founder and executive director.
Bringing in close to 10,000 people at last year’s event and likely more at this year’s, the Resurgam Festival has become the largest free music and arts festival in all of Maine. Offering a lineup of food trucks, a robust maker’s mall, and two entire days of performances, this year’s festival promises to be one for the books.
An Academy for Rock and Rollers
MAMM’s goal is straightforward: Help people take their next musical step, whatever that might look like to them. While the team’s interests lean toward rock and roll, there’s no set musical focus or course structure. Instead, Shaw and his team follow each student’s lead, whether that’s helping them learn to play their favorite song, prepare for a stage performance, or get ready for a college audition.
It’s all about expanding students’ opportunities to fall in love with music. “MAMM found me more than I found it,” says Shaw. “I grew up Downeast, so I know what it’s like to be a kid from rural Maine without access to the arts.”
MAMM seeks to provide that access by offering:
- Lessons for students in upper elementary to high school grade levels that run from September to June each school year
- Workshops for adults
- A Preschool of Rock program for children up to age five
- Opportunities for students of all ages to form and practice with bands
- Summer programs in collaboration with the YMCA
Throughout the program, students can choose their own musical adventures, following their interests to learn the songs they’re passionate about. Shaw and his team of instructors teach the theory behind the music and help connect students’ interests to other musical forms. The program is vibrant and energizing, which is likely why a third of the faculty are former MAMM students themselves.
Additionally, MAMM student bands participate in dozens of public concerts each year, including the Back Cove Festival and WMPG radio’s Local Motives show. MAMM has also served more than 375 students through the Boys and Girls Club of Southern Maine and offers a one-week music education program with Portland Public Schools.
A Festival Built on Connections
The guiding principle of the festival is to celebrate everything that’s cool in Portland. There’s magic here.”
— Jeff Shaw, Founder and Executive Director
When Portland’s Old Port Festival ended in 2019, a gap emerged that Shaw thought MAMM could fill. A few years later, the first Resurgam Festival emerged, bringing musicians and performers from across the city together for a celebration of Maine’s lively arts sector.
This year’s event, held on June 13 and 14, will feature headlining acts from Coyote Island and King Kyote as well as performances from MAMM student bands, the Hearts of Pine house band The Valentine Band, and local groups including The Grassholes, Raging Brass, and Forget, Forget.
Festival goers can also enjoy various bands along the event’s Rock Walk, inspired by the city’s First Friday Art Walk. Bands will perform at Portland staples, including the Portland Lobster Company, Gritty’s, the Portland House of Music, and the Porthole.
What makes the Resurgam Festival so special is that it’s an amalgamation of organizations, businesses, and groups, all coming together to produce one special event. “You’d be hard-pressed to find a city the size of Portland that has as many amazing offerings for the arts as we do,” says Shaw. “Let’s put everybody together in a room and have a blast.”
At the 2026 festival, visitors can head to:
- SPACE Gallery to make their own music videos
- Love Lab Studio to participate in various art projects
- SailMaine to enjoy free boat rides along the Portland Waterfront
- WMPG’s sponsored stage to see music performances
- The Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad to experience narrated train rides around the city
- The pop-up skate park to watch skaters on the half-pipes
“We want to be the container for this event,” says Shaw. “We create the infrastructure and host our students, but we encourage other folks to team up. We’re in it to win it together and cheer each other on.”
Letting the Community Lead the Way
Both MAMM and its Resurgam Festival have exemplified what it means to be driven by the community’s needs.
In fact, Shaw and his team recently conducted a listening tour through rural communities throughout Maine to hear directly what they need and want from arts programming. When a rural elementary school mentioned they’d lacked a music teacher for more than a decade, MAMM stepped in to offer music lessons and workshops. The same goes for the festival itself: As the community shares its enthusiasm for the dynamic event, MAMM grows the festival in kind, partnering with a broader range of Portland organizations.
What will the festival look like years down the road? According to Shaw, that question is still up in the air. “I think part of being a good musician is being a good listener,” he says. “So when I think about five years from now, I don’t know what we’re going to look like. We’re going to continue to listen to the community and find out what it wants the festival to be.”