Festival Season Celebrates All Aspects
of Wild Blues
For those who live in and visit the communities of Down East Maine and Canada, the month of August means the Wild Blueberry harvest is on. There’s no better way to celebrate the pride these communities have in their crop than pie eating contests, winnowing demos and the passing of the coveted Blueberry Queen crown. Each region considers the Wild Blueberry its very own, and the fairs and festivals that celebrate it are as unique as the fruit itself.
Upcoming Wild Blueberry events include:
Machias Wild Blueberry Festival
August 14, 15 & 16
Downtown Machias
Machias, Maine
Once a one-day event, the Machias Wild Blueberry Festival now spans three full days and brings approximately 15,000 people to the town of 2500. Sending the message that there’s more than meets the eye when it comes a blueberry pie or muffin, Lisa Hanscom provides tours of her family farm, giving visitors a historical perspective and first-hand look at a blueberry operation. Attendees can see a mechanical harvester, and even try their hand at raking. “It puts a face on the industry,” said Laurel Robinson, spokesperson for the festival. “It gives a sense of place and of how unique this corner of the world is.”
In addition to the food court, a fish fry, crafts, and the popular Pie Eating Contest and Black Fly Ball, the schedule includes the Blueberry Musical — a must-see theatrical event that is locally written and directed, and performed for a five-day run. This year presents a twist on the Andy Griffith Show with “Randy of Blueberry,” Robinson said. “Often there is some crisis with the blueberry industry and how we have to save it that creates the drama,” she divulged.
New additions this season include a Roaming Railroad, which will provide tours of the town, and Gifford’s Ice Cream where Wild Blueberry flavor assumes a prominent spot.
Maine Wild Blueberry Festival
August 23 - 29
Union Fairgrounds
Union, Maine
This year, the Maine Wild Blueberry Festival, part of the historic Union Fair, celebrates its 50th anniversary. Events collude at Blueberry Acres, the center of the action, where visitors will find an assortment of information and souvenirs to commemorate the occasion, and videos that display cultivating and harvesting methods.
As part of his effort to focus on education, festival coordinator Bill Gould invites grower Molly Sholes from Spruce Mountain Blueberries, who will bring baskets, hand rakes, and a winnowing machine for display. “I hope this will have an impact on understanding the difference between wild berries and cultivated berries,” he said. “There’s a huge difference in size and nutrition. And they taste better.”
The Wild Blueberry Hut will offer miles of muffins, coffee cakes, and pastries, and on Friday, designated as Wild Blueberry Festival Day, the hut will cook and serve thousands of individual Wild Blueberry pies, free to fair patrons. Other highlights include the coronation of this year’s Wild Blueberry Queen, a centerpiece of the fair, as well as many activities for kids and families, including the Kid's Wild Blueberry Pie Eating Contest and the energetic Wild Blueberry Kid’s Spitting Contest.
To ease travel, golf car transportation to the fair grounds and back is available from the parking lot.
Wild Blueberry Harvest Festival
Various Locations throughout Nova Scotia
August 14 - 29
Last year, the Wild Blueberry Harvest Festival featured over 75 events in 22 communities throughout central Nova Scotia, and 2009 will attempt to exceed this past success. Nova Scotia is known for the abundance of its Wild Blueberry crop, and to celebrate its role in the industry, several communities that hold festivals throughout the region join forces to collectively create the Wild Blueberry Harvest Festival. The festival extends from Amherst to Truro, Parrsboro to Tatamagouche, Wentworth Valley to the Stewiacke Valley, and to communities throughout Central Nova Scotia.
No fair is complete without a Wild Blueberry pancake breakfast, and you’ll find plenty here, in addition to live music, theatre, art exhibits, dances, farmers markets, teas, community suppers, crafts and competitions. “Nova Scotia’s Wild Blueberry Harvest Festival is full of good old fashioned family fun with a huge variety of events, not to mention a huge variety of Wild Blueberry treats,” said Marketing Coordinator Devin Trefry.
Trefy suggests investigating Farmers Gone Wild, a showcase for area markets, Community Wild Blueberry Dining, which consist of dessert parties and church suppers, and Industry Insights, which includes a Wild Blueberry processing tour, for a few great ways to get a taste of the local culture and cuisine. In addition, Masstown’s Masstown Market will be piled high with baked goods, jams and edibles, and Malagash will feature the Blueberry Wine Fest, offering a taste from the area’s own vineyard. The BLUEgrass and Old-time Music Festival provides the appropriately titled entertainment at Kemp Shore, and Musquodoboit conducts a Wild Blueberry processing tour courtesy of Glenmore Farms for a look at their cleaning and packing facility.
You can put the Wild Blueberry Motorcycle Tour on your list as well, where fellow bikers enjoy a ride through the very Wild Blueberry country prompting all the fuss.
