| 40th Annual Fisherman’s Festival April 26-28, 2013
Help celebrate the Maine fishing season with trap hauling, codfish relay races, fish fry, lobster crate racing and much, much more! Even though it seems like this festival is really reserved for Mainers themselves, the tourist love it!! One of those is the annual Fishermen’s Festival in Boothbay Harbor, the 40th of which is held this year from April 26- April 28, 2013. The Fishermen’s Festival celebrates working fishermen and their heritage. There’s no glitz, no glamour, and no souvenirs, although you could buy a cup of coffee or a tee-shirt from seniors at Boothbay Region High School raising money for their graduation party. Most people attending live in Boothbay or one of the surrounding towns.
The festival starts Friday night with a haddock dinner, followed by the Shrimp Princess Pageant, in which a dozen young ladies between the ages of 9 and 12 demonstrated their talents. After the pageant those so inclined could adjourn to a local restaurant where Jehovah and the Holy Mackerels were playing until 1 a.m.
Saturday there is food, beginning at 6 a.m. with a pancake breakfast at the Lions Club, and moving on to a fish fry and a lobster bake that basically went on all day, and ending with a church supper at the Congregational Church (2 seating’s, one at 5 and one at 6 p.m.). It is usually cold, so layer, layer, layer!! 8 a.m. starts the Codfish Relay Races — the streets are full of excitement! The Codfish Relay Races were followed by the Bait Shoveling Race, the Head-to-Head Lobster Trap Hauling Competition, and my favorite, the Lobster Crate Race - in which participants must run along the tops of lobster crates strung between two town docks is particularly daring. A fall means a dunking in 40 degree water. There was also Dory Bailing Competitions, a bubble gum blowing contest, Burnt Island Lighthouse Tour and the Miss Shrimp Princess Pageant and Oyster Shucking. All spectator events take place on t |
