The Town of Rockport is bringing back the Donut Festival for its second year on June 7 and 8. While paying homage to the history of the doughnut, the summer kickoff event will be jam-packed with family-friendly activities in downtown Rockport and the Harbor Marine Park, music, food trucks, craft vendors, a beer/wine garden and parade, and thousands of doughnuts from popular vendors from the Midcoast and beyond.
Kam Ali stops at Eighty 8 Donuts while leading a dougnut tour in the Old Port in June 2022. Eighty 8 Donuts will be one of the vendors at the Rockport Donut Festival on June 8, 2024. Derek Davis / Portland Press Herald file photo
Doughnut vendors for June 7 include School House Farm, Moody’s Diner, Ricker Hill Farm and Beth’s Farm Market; June 8’s lineup includes Ruckus Donuts, Old Time Donuts, The Only Doughnut, Eighty 8 Donuts, The Gluten Free Kitchen and The Holy Donut (now with a new location in Brunswick at 145 Pleasant St.). Rock City Coffee will be pouring coffee to complement the doughnut experience.
Admission to this volunteer-supported event is free thanks to the generous support of individual and business sponsors, on-site donations from the community, and revenue from select ticketed events scheduled throughout the weekend. Ticketed events include the limited-capacity Dinner on the Bridge experience, brought to you by E. Wales Catering; and Main Stage performances by The Right Track, The Hot Suppers, and Johnny Hoy and the Bluefish.
The weekend will also have a 5K Donut Dash Fun Run, the Anything That Floats Race, the “Donut Dip” into Rockport Harbor, the Homemade Donut Contest and a parade on Saturday morning.
A box of doughnuts from The Holy Donut. The Holy Donut — which now has a location in Brunswick — will be at the Rockport Donut Festival on June 8. Courtesy photo
The MaineStay Media Kids Tent will be bustling with non-stop activities, including cookie decorating, face painting, hula hooping, coloring contest, doughnut-themed games and a kids-only gift card raffle.
“It has been said that the esteemed Captain Hanson Crockett Gregory of Clam Cove, Rockport, invented the doughnut with a hole in the center in 1847,” Rockport Town Manager Jon Duke said in a prepared release. “We are looking forward to celebrating that legacy with our neighbors — and with people from all over Maine and beyond — with an outrageous amount of fun and doughnuts!”
Savory and alternative food options will be offered by a variety of vendors and food trucks, including Flat Bread, Stone Fox Farm Creamery, Vintage Dogs, Brother Shucker, Portable Pie Place, Crepe Elizabeth, The Ugly Dumpling, Cheese the Day and the West Bay Rotary.
A multitude of craft vendors and local artists will be on-site, including Katydid Bows, Old School Crafting, Sampo Silver Studio, Ancestral French Soaps, Two Daughters, Whimsies & Bljux, Walking Wool Studio, Repurposing Mimi, Be Hivin, Jesse Mixer Metalsmith, Campground Critters, Turtlecraft Shack, Fermanagh Farm, CreativeCreations4U and Fantasy Designs Maine.
Volunteer and sponsorship opportunities, along with a full list of vendors and the schedule of events, directions and parking information, can be found at rockportmaine.gov/rockportdonutfestival.
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