Each season in Mid-Coast Maine has a number of festivals to celebrate our Maine Heritage and way of life.  From Arts and crafts, to antique shows, musical concerts, antique and specialty transportation, house and garden tours…there is something for everyone!

February welcomes the National Toboggan Championships.  Here in Camden we celebrate a unique tradition in Maine , and the only official traditional wooden toboggan race in the country!  Camden is also home to the Camden Conference.  Focusing on Global leadership and the U.S. role in world affairs.

March offers the Resonance Arts and the 2009 International Film Festival of the Spirit, “Illuminating cinema in which our common humanity is revealed.”  Held at our Camden opera house featuring lectures and film clips and discussion.  March 29^th Bay Chamber Concerts presents “Ancient Mariners Pub Sing,” at Gilbert’s Publick House, you too can raise your voice and your glass with the Ancient Mariners chantey-men.  These songs will bring out the sea dog in everyone!

April brings in performance venues such as King Lear presented by the Camden Civic Theater on April 3, 4, 10, & 11^th, and “ABT II” on April 19^th, where you can experience the passion, power and movement of one of the nation’s foremost ballet companies presented at the Camden Hills Regional High School Strom Auditorium brought to you by Bay Chamber Concerts.

May heralds thoughts of spring with a Warbler Weekend at Merry Spring Nature Center.  A talk and slide show presentation will be followed by various nature walks for hands on identification.  Bay Chamber Concerts will present Doo Wop & Oldies Spectacular where you can welcome back the days of saddle shoes and poodle skirts with a doo wop supergroup.  The look, sound & feel will bring you back to the 50s & 60s when music was fun!

June begins our numerous fairs and festivals beginning with 19^th up in Stonington & Deer Isle the annual Lupine Festival featuring craft fair, music concert, art & sculpture show, boat excursions, airplane rides, quilt show, garden tours, children’s activities, and much more!  On June 21^st, Rockland will host a Summer Solstice night featuring live music, street dancing, food and special events.  June 28^th the Big 3 Car Meet & Antique Aeroplane Show will be hosted by the Owls Head Transportation Museum.  The Show will celebrate America at its best.  Antique and classic autos from an era when Detroit was king!  Guided tours, demonstrations, biplane rides, free model-T rides, children’s activities and more!  During the week of June 30^th, Rockland will host the 31^st Annual Great Schooner Race (1-800-807-WIND) where more than 2 dozen tall ships will gather for an all-day race in which guests may participate!

July kicks off with “Camden Rotary Cares” benefit concert on July 5^th in our Harbor Park in Camden featuring live American March and Jazz music, a local fundraiser for scholarships for local students.  Two venues offer festivals on July 11^th.  In Belfast , the Arts in the Park festival will be going with over 80 artists presenting their work for display and sale.  In Rockland , you can experience the Annual North Atlantic Blues Festival a two-day even featuring world famous blues musicians, street dancing, and a club crawl.  July 18 & 19^th is Camden’s annual and very well attended Harbor Arts, Juried Arts & Craft Show where over 100 artists and crafts people display and sell their work in the downtown amphitheater and harbor park overlooking the harbor.  Also on the 18 & 19^th, is the Annual Antique Show and Sale located at Camden Hills Regional High School .  July 25^th hosts the 8^th annual Maine Lobster Ride and Roll where the State’s tastiest bicycle ride, fully supported, includes 16-100 mile distance options.  Cyclists look forward to a fresh lobster roll lunch and live Tour de France coverage at the end.  July 25 & 26^th also offers the Wings & Wheels Spectacular & Aerobatics Aero show.  All Things Wings and Wheels!  Show, tours, demonstrations, biplane rides, model-T rides, and activities for the children abound!  Not to be missed is the annual Lobster Festival in Rockland beginning July 29^th to August 2^nd featuring a parade, lobster crate races, US Navy ship tours, Maine heritage, road races, kids events, carnival rides, Sea Goddess Crowning, and over 20,000 pounds of Maine Lobster!  Lobster Festival will give your all the details!

August 5^th is the Mid-Coast’s Kitchen Tour, where you can visit 8 uniquely designed homes in Camden , Rockport, and Lincolnville and watch demos and tastings from specialty growers and chefs.  August 7 & 8^th brings a much anticipated Maine Boats, Homes, and Harbors Show.  This is Maine ’s only in-water boat and home show that will feature the finest state’s artists, architects, boat builders, craftsmen, designers, furniture makers, marine gear vendors, and musicians.  August 7-9^th also offers the annual Maine Antiques Festival, the largest in Maine featuring hundreds of dealers and a wide assortment of antiques for sale.  August 23-29^th Union will host the Union Fair & State of Maine Wild Blueberry Festival.  Experience a large agricultural fair, midway, crafts, animal pull events, and harness racing.  On August 26 & 27^th Bay Chamber Concerts presents the 1^st Chair All-Stars musical performance.  A first class, and first chair evening of Treasures and Masterworks.  August 28-30^th Bangor hosts the American Folk Festival, featuring the traditional arts-music and dance of many American cultures today and hosting exhibits, demonstrations, and discussions of Maine Folk Art traditions.

September 4-6^th Camden ’s celebratory Windjammer Weekend.  Members of Maine ’s windjammer fleet arrival in Camden Harbor to celebrate!  Enjoy live music, performances and demonstrations, a boat parade, fireworks, and more!  September 12^th Freeport offers the 11^th annual Fall in the Village Art Festival.  Over 100 artists from New England will display and sell their wares in Discover Park of the LL Bean Campus.  September 25-27^th is MOFGA’s annual Common Ground Fair.  This fair is a celebration of rural life, hosting demonstrations, Maine organic produced foods, locally made arts & crafts, farmer’s market, riveting speakers on public policy, and livestock exhibition.  September 24-27^th Camden hosts the Camden International Film Festival.    The annual festival presents a snapshot of the cultural landscape through the year’s best non-fiction storytelling, connecting filmmakers with eager audiences and industry representatives to discuss documentary film as an art form, a catalyst for change and as an outlet for the independent voice.

October 3^rd offers the Cellardoor Winery Vinfest, www.mainewine.com.  Gourmet food samplings, tethered balloon rides, and much more at Cellardoor’s Vineyard in Lincolnville.  October 3 & 4^th also presents the second Camden Harbor Arts, Juried Arts & Crafts Show of the season featuring 100 plus artists and craftsmen displaying and selling their wares in our harbor park & amphitheater overlooking Camden Harbor.  October 21-24^th Camden will host POP!Tech a one of a kind conference, a community of remarkable people, and an ongoing conversation about science, technology and the future of ideas.

November  6-8^th Camden is proud to host the Maine Authors Series & Literary Festival. This year’s topic: Cross/Cultural Experience: Literature of New Voices in America.

December 4-6^th Camden will host it’s 23^rd annual Christmas by the Sea featuring shopping, music, a parade with Santa arriving by boat, community tree lighting, horse drawn carriage rides, live Nativity and a “Walk through Bethlehem,” visits from Santa and much more!

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