Make your house look as festive and eye-catching as possible, and you just may win yourself a visit with the boys from Mumford & Sons.
That’s the offer being put out to homeowners on Portland’s Eastern Promenade, right across the street from where the British folk rock group will be headlining one of their day-long “Gentlemen of the Road Stopovers” on Aug. 4.
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The contest is fairly informal. The event’s local promoter, Lauren Wayne of the State Theatre in Portland, said today she had been waiting to announce it until more details could be worked out.
But the idea for the contest was shared with area homeowners Tuesday night at a meeting to go over specifics of the event and its impact on the neighborhood. Some 16,000 people are expected at the event, which will feature several other bands and last from about 2 p.m. to 9 p.m., with several after-hours shows likely to take place in downtown Portland.
Wayne said she’s still not sure what the prize for the best-decorated house will be, but that it will “probably be some sort of meet and greet” with the band. She wasn’t sure if that meeting would take place backstage at the event in the Eastern Promenade park, or at the winning home.
“All we know is the band will be doing something awesome for the winner,” said Wayne. “They’ll be judging the houses themselves.”
There are no firm rules for the contest, except that the house must be on the Eastern Promenade between Fort Allen Park and Turner Street, which is basically the area the band will be facing while performing.
Wayne said she will likely have her staff go around the neighborhood to tell people about the contest.
There is no theme for how the houses should be decorated, either, Wayne said. So people should feel free to be as creative as possible.
Wayne said this contest is not being held at the band’s three other “Stopover” festival events this summer. The contest idea came from the band’s representatives who have been to the waterfront site and noticed all the stately old homes, including many Victorians, along the Eastern Promenade, Wayne said.
“They thought it would be a way to get people in the area involved in the show,” said Wayne. “Those are the houses the band will be looking at anyway, so it seemed like a natural thing to do.”
For more information on the Aug. 4 event, go to Gentlemenoftheroad.com
Staff Writer Ray Routhier can be contacted at 791-6454 or at:
rrouthier@pressherald.com
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