Solstice fete attracts crowds to Rockland

ROCKLAND – A brilliant sunset and warm winds off one of the finest harbors in the state made for a perfect Summer Solstice celebration that drew thousands on Saturday to the city’s downtown.

Main Street was closed to traffic for the annual solstice celebration, and the pleasant atmosphere attracted a large crowd of children, teens and adults to the live music on every other corner, food booths, street painting and games.

Parents pushed baby carriages, older kids wheeled by on bicycles, and couples and singles took in the multiblock scene from Park to Summer streets.

“It’s quite a night,” Carolyn May of the Rockland Downtown Association noted while being jostled by passers-by. “This is the sixth year, and it keeps getting better. It’s grown from having a few hundred show up to the more than 2,000 here tonight.”

Downtown strollers had the choice of listening to blues, jazz, steel drum, folk, traditional, bluegrass and acoustic music from a number of acts, each of which donated their performance to the event. Passers-by dropped coins and bills into tip jars and open guitar cases to show their appreciation for the live sounds.

At one end of Main Street, Blind Albert was wailing the blues, and at the other end, Country Gold was laying down the honky-tonk.

In between, acts such as Rattlebox, a blues rock band, had them dancing in the streets at the intersection of Limerock and Main streets, while the Steel and Thunder steel band got them going on the corner of Museum Street.

The dance group Fundamental Moves and the Flips gymnastic team also provided demonstrations.

The biggest charge of the night had to be the Whoopie Pie Eating Contest, which attracted young contestants from Maine, Connecticut and Mexico City. The crowd cheered for their favorites and howled with approval as the boys and girls stuffed and smeared their faces with cake and cream.

Food booths offered everything from hot sausage subs to Texas barbecue, wraps, pizza, hot dogs, and Mexican snacks along with smoothies, soft drinks, popcorn and French fries. The aromas were mouth-watering, and the lines at the stands were long.

Everyone enjoyed themselves, particularly the children. Between coloring the street with chalk, or their faces with paint, the kids were happy and the parents were smiling along with them.

“This is great,” Penny Lane of Rockland said as she watched her 41/2-year-old twin daughters Willow and Lyra frolic up and down the street in their gauze tutus. “We come every year and always have lots of fun. It’s great, and it’s gotten better every year, too.”

The downtown association and the Rockland-Thomaston Area Chamber of Commerce sponsor the annual summer kickoff.

As with any successful effort, credit belongs to the team of volunteers who pitch in each June to make it work. They were out in force Saturday night, notable in their bright yellow Summer Solstice T-shirts.

Former Rockland Mayor James Raye was one of those who volunteered. Raye said the solstice celebration marked a nice beginning of summer in the city that features two of the state’s biggest tourist attractions: the North Atlantic Blues Festival – which will hold its 10th annual weekend wall of sound beginning July 12 – and the Maine Lobster Festival, scheduled for its 56th annual chow-down July 30- Aug. 3.

“I think this is another great thing for Rockland and a good thing for the entire area,” Raye said. “Good things are happening in Rockland. This brings a lot of the community together and brings in a lot of people from surrounding towns.

“It’s good for Rockland,” he said.