More than 2,300 people turned out for the Gray Blueberry Festival last August. Organizers are awaiting word on the status of the event for this year. Courtesy of Heather Benotti
A typical summer brings festivals, fireworks and family fun to the Lakes Region, but this year won’t be a typical season.
Several summer festivals in the Lakes Region will be canceled or have been postponed indefinitely, including the popular Maine Blues Festival in Naples, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, and more are likely to follow suit.
Nolan Cyr received the “Hometown Hero Award” at last year’s Windham Summerfest. Courtesy of Linda Brooks
Gov. Janet Mills’ timeline to reopen the state, released Tuesday, prohibits any public events of more than 50 people into August.
Speaking before the timeline was announced, several parks and recreation directors said they were waiting for a clear directive from the state before making any decisions on their events.
Windham, as of Wednesday, is the only town to move to a “virtual event.” Windham Parks and Recreation will host the annual Summerfest on June 20 virtually event for the first time in its more than 21-year history.
“That’s a date that people are used to celebrating Windham. This year’s theme was to celebrate the state’s bicentennial. So we didn’t want to just have that date come and go without at least acknowledging something,” said Parks and Recreation Director Linda Brooks.
Vendors sell their wares during a previous Windham Summerfest. File photo
Details of the virtual event are still being worked out.
The Summerfest, which used to be called “Old Home Days,” attracts over 4,000 people every year, according to its website. Brooks said that last year, there were about 65 booths, a mix of local businesses, non-profits and vendors. The annual parade that goes along Route 202 drew more than 25 group entries.
For other towns, the future of this summer’s events remains uncertain.
Standish has not made a formal decision about its Summer Spectacular planned for the first weekend in August, according to Jen DeRice, the Standish Parks and Recreation director. But, she said Monday, “the writing’s on the wall as far as what most communities are going to do (and) we will certainly follow suit.”
DeRice added that the committee in charge of the festival had consolidated it into a one-day event at one location in an effort to draw a larger crowd.
“For those reasons alone, I just think that this year likely won’t be happening,” she said.
Contestants crowd the starting line at a previous 4 on the Fourth road race in Bridgton. Portland Press Herald file photo
The annual event brings in anywhere from 500 to 1,000 people, DeRice said. Like Windham’s Summerfest, the Standish Summer Spectacular isn’t a fundraiser, but a way for residents to celebrate with each other.
“I think that it is kind of our one big event that touches a lot of different people (in) all aspects of their lives as far as from kids to adults and senior citizens. Although I think that people will understand why we (may cancel or postpone) … (it’s) one of many disappointments that people are going to be experiencing in the next year.”
The Maine Blues Festival, which brings about 5,000 to Naples on Father’s Day weekend, has been postponed indefinitely. While the festival, co-founded by Kevin Kimball and Michael Bray in 2006, is an independent, for-profit event, organizers work closely with the town and local businesses, Kimball said.
“The businesses report to us that it is the single biggest sales weekend of the year,” Kimball said. “We thought long and hard about postponing it because … we feel a certain responsibility to (them) and we know how important it is to them.”
But Kimball and Bray, a retired science professor and engineer-turned-brewer, respectively, looked to the science.
“We just can’t in good conscience risk having a single attendee or musician get ill,” Kimball said.
Naples Town Manager John Hawley said that although he can’t put an exact number on how much revenue the Maine Blues Festival generates for the town, “if people come to visit here, they’re likely to spend money here. And of course, that’s good for all of us.”
Bridgton, like Standish, was also waiting for the state directive before deciding whether to cancel its Fourth of July celebration that is attended by about 1,000 people.
“That day is probably the busiest day of the year for the town,” said Parks and Recreation Director Gary Colello.
In addition to holiday events, the town of Bridgton also hosts recreation programs, like summer camps and softball/baseball tournaments.
That programming, especially the sports tournaments, brings in a lot of people to the town, which generates revenue for the recreation department and local businesses like restaurants and lodging.
“For a rec department to bring in $70,000 for a weekend, that’s huge for a little town,” Colello said.
The Gray Blueberry Festival, which is hosted in August by the town and run by a committee of volunteers, was hoping to go forward with the August event. But after the governor’s reopening timeline was released Tuesday afternoon, organizers are awaiting word from the town on how to proceed, said Committee Chair Lacy Antonson.
According to Antonson, more than 2,300 attendees turned out for the Gray festival last year. The number of attendees has risen every year since the first festival in 2016, she said, and this year they expected about 3,000.
The festival is not a fundraiser for the town either, but Antonson said that the committee tracks how much money is raised for the non-profit organizations that have booths at the festival. Last year the festival brought in just over $5,000 for various groups, such as the high school senior class and the local little league.
Prior to Tuesday’s announcement, Antonson maintained that postponing the festival until September would be “worse-case scenario.” But now, “I’m sort of speechless.”
Organizers of Casco Days, scheduled for July 23-25, could not be reached for comment.
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