FORT FAIRFIELD, Maine — Much like its namesake crop, the Maine Potato Blossom Festival continues to grow in size, style and substance. With more than 100 events spread out over 10 days, this year’s event drew crowds of all ages.
“We are thrilled with the turnout for this year’s Festival, which featured an expanded lineup of musical performances, new events and crowd-pleasing favorites,” stated Tim Goff, festival director. “Our goal has been to use this great summertime tradition to draw more people from throughout the region to come explore Aroostook County, visit Fort Fairfield and provide a boost to our local businesses, and we have certainly seen the results of our efforts blossom with people from the Northeast and Maritimes making the drive to the Crown of Maine.”
The festival featured 16 musical performances, including nine at the bandstand on Main Street and four nights of acts on the Festival Main Stage. Highlights included performances by traditional fiddlers from both sides of the border, Rick Charette at the Community Health Center on Friday, as well as the folk antics of The Half Moon Jug Band and country band Chris Ross and the North. Saturday’s double feature included Aroostook County’s own Travis Cyr and the Strings of Calamity, followed by the Jason Spooner Band and a reunion of Unlucky Joe, who played as the fireworks finale lit up the night sky over the Aroostook River.
“It certainly is rewarding to see so many people come to our community and enjoy themselves given the immense investment of town staff and resources it takes to host the Maine Potato Blossom Festival,” said Jim Risner, Fort Fairfield’s town manager. “While the festival has always been a homecoming for folks from Fort Fairfield, it is also growing into an event that draws more and more families from throughout the region to spend some time in our community.”
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Contributed photo/Maine Potato Blossom Festival – Tim Goff Popular children’s performer Rick Charette makes an appearance on the musical stage at this year’s Potato Blossom Festival. |
Saturday’s Maine Potato Blossom Festival Parade was among the largest in recent history, with more than 150 entries including a pre-parade of classic cars, antique trucks and revved-up rides. The parade, one of the largest in northern New England, featured agricultural themed entries, floats, tractors and everything in between. Queens representing communities throughout The County, central Maine, New Brunswick and even Rhode Island waved to the thousands lining the 1.2-mile route
Pines Health Services won the prize for best overall entry, Aroostook County Queens for best theme and Tater Pickin’ Kids took home the prize for most original.
After the parade, the first-ever International Tater Tot Eating Competition, sponsored by McCain Foods USA, Boondock’s Grille and the Maine Agri-Women, drew a large crowd to watch as contestants attempted to consume two pounds of tater tots the fastest. WAGM TV’s Joey Prechtl, winner of the Media Competition held earlier this month, took home the title in the men’s division by cleaning his plate in 2:32. Jodi Nickerson won the women’s division with a time of 4:18, and Jonathan Gorman won the youth division by milliseconds, eating the smaller, one-pound portion in 3:48! All received gift cards from Boondock’s Grille in Fort Fairfield for their efforts.
Many new food vendors, including Waldoboro-based Maine Dish, New Hampshire-based Canon Old Fashioned Sodas and the Coca Bongos Mobile Sports Bar, featuring a wide variety of frozen drinks, helped create culinary variety. Volunteers who staffed the American Society of Military Comptrollers (ASMC) booth, which raises money to provide scholarships to students and to support veterans, reported they had their best week of sales in at least the past eight years and will be able to increase the amount of money they give back to the community as a result.
“The Maine Potato Blossom Festival Organizing Committee would like to thank the many sponsors and volunteers who make the Festival possible, as well as the Town of Fort Fairfield for organizing and hosting the massive event,” Goff said.
Plans are already being made for next year’s festival. Check out www.facebook.com/MainePotatoBlossomFestival/ for photos and videos, and for more information contact Goff at 472-3802 or email tgoff@fortfairfield.org.
