Northern Light & Downtown Bangor Partnership brings ‘Umbrella Sky Launch’ downtown

BANGOR, Maine (WABI) - A colorful and intriguing display of art inspired by Mary Poppins made its mark in many parts of the world, and now, locals will get to soak up the scene right here in Bangor.

The Umbrella Sky project was launched by Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center and the Downtown Bangor Partnership.

They’re bringing the project to Cross Street in Downtown Bangor for locals and visitors to embrace.

There’s 170 installations of the project worldwide.

Those involved say in order for this to feel authentic to the city, they had to go back to where the project originally started.

“We actually partnered with the group in Portugal where this originated in order to put this all together and get the umbrellas here,” said Ali Worster, vice president of human resources and community benefits for Northern Light Easter Maine Medical Center.

“Because we have snow, it will be May to October, but we’re excited to have it up.”

Officials from the Downtown Bangor partnership said they started this effort three years ago, are beyond pleased with it coming into fruition.

“I love that this is an international project,” said Betsy Lundy, executive director of Downtown Bangor partnership.

“I think sometimes it can feel like Bangor is really far away from everything else, and it’s just like this strand of connectivity with the rest of the world. We are a part of something bigger, we share a commonality, but at the same time, each of these projects are different in each place, and it’s brought in and means something different for each of the groups.”

On July 31st, the collaboration is offering the community a free launch party for visitors to enjoy the scenery and ask themselves “How are you, Bangor?”

The hope is the umbrella sky can bring a refreshing reminder of positivity.

To keep up with the launch, you can go to their website.

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