HOULTON, Maine — Organizers are busy preparing for the 64th annual Potato Feast Days in Houlton this Friday and Saturday.
The Greater Houlton Chamber of Commerce expects approximately 3,000 people at the weekend event featuring lobster feast dinners, baked potato bar, the Houlton Fire Department’s chicken barbecue, a pie and ice cream social, live music, the nostalgic doll and wagon wrangler parade, the big touch a truck and candy drop for kids.
“The doll parade is historic. It’s been going on since the 1940s,” said Jane Torres, executive director of the chamber. “They decorate their doll carriages or wagons.”
Each year, the August festival marks the transition from summer into a new school year and the upcoming September potato harvest. Last year, the traditional events drew thousands of people, the chamber sold 275 lobster dinners and the doll and wagon parade was the biggest it’s ever been.
If the weather cooperates, this year could be even bigger, according to organizers.
Friday’s lobster feast, cooked by the Chamber of Commerce, includes a 1 to 1.25 pound whole lobster, corn, baked potato, Houlton Farms Dairy butter and homemade cookies that Torres is actually famous for making. The feast with one lobster is $22 or $35 for two lobsters. The chamber is taking pre-orders at 207-532-4216, but the lobster dinner is also available during the festival in Monument Park, starting at 4:30 p.m. The dinners can be take-out or eaten in the park.
“There are about 150 orders ahead,” Torres said. “There will be an extra 100 to 125 for sale in the park on Friday afternoon. “
The Doll and Wagon Wrangler Parade starts at 5:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 18, in front of the Chamber at 109 Main St., followed by the candy drop. Also on Friday, kids can experience the Touch-a-Truck from 4 to 6 p.m.
The Friends and Needle Quilt Guild’s annual Quilt show with more than 100 quilts at the Houlton Higher Education Center, 18 Main St., runs Friday and Saturday.
On Saturday, Aug.19, there’s a craft show in Monument Park, a baked potato bar at the Community Market in Market Square from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., and a pie and ice cream social from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., at Church of the Good Shepherd, and rounding out the day is the Fireman’s Chicken Barbecue at 5 p.m. in Monument Park.
