Somerville Ready To Host What The Fluff? Festival In Union Square

SOMERVILLE, MA —Somerville is gearing up to host its 18th annual What the Fluff? Festival this weekend in Union Square.

The event — celebrating Marshmallow Fluff, which supposedly was invented in Somerville — is scheduled for 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday and will feature music, food, games and craft vendors.

The theme of this year's What The Fluff? Festival is "A Tribute to Union Square Innovation." The event is sponsored by Union Square Main Streets and the Somerville Arts Council.

Live entertainment on the Fluff'n Jam Stage will include: FM Collective (3:15 p.m.), Oom Yung Doe (4 p.m.), Samba Cisse & Silimbo D'Adeane (4:20 p.m.), Grace Givertz (4:45 p.m.), Villari's Martial Arts (5:25 p.m.), Samba Cisse & Silimbo D'Adeane (5:45 p.m.) and The White Owls (6:15 p.m.).

The day at the Fluff'n Jam Stage will start with a welcome by Somerville Mayor Katjana Ballantyne at 3 p.m., and there also will be a Mayor Joe Flufftastic Innovation for Impact Award Presentation at 6 p.m.

Meanwhile, fluff-themed games will take place on the Shenanigan's Stage. These games include: Marshmallow Toss (3 p.m.), Fluff Jousting (3:20 p.m.), Fluff on the Nose (3:50 p.m.), Fluff Musical Chairs (4 p.m.), Fluff Limbo (4:30 p.m.), Fluff Jousting (5 p.m.), Fluff Musical Chairs (5:30 p.m.), Fluff limbo (6:15 p.m.) and Fluff Hairdos (6:45 p.m.).

The games will be hosted by the festival's longtime Archibald Query impersonator. Query supposedly invented marshmallow fluff in his Somerville kitchen in 1917 and sold it door-to-door.

The festival also will feature midway games, including fluff bowling and fluff ring toss, Innovation Alley, which will showcase the work of local inventors, and Parkour — an athletic discipline that involves traversing obstacles in a man-made or natural environment through the use of running, vaulting, jumping and climbing — sponsored by Parkour Generations Boston.

Organizers are reminding attendees that due to the current shutdown of Green Line service to Union Square Station, the MBTA has agreed to provide shuttles on Saturday from East Somerville Station to the festival. The shuttles will be 10 to 15 minutes apart, according to officials.