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ROCKLAND – After four days of music, games and lots of lobster, the 61st Maine Lobster Festival came to an end Sunday night in Rockland.
Cloudy skies and thunderstorms over the weekend couldn’t keep thousands of spectators from lining the streets of Rockland for the festival’s parade or standing in line for some fresh steamed lobsters.
Official numbers were yet to be compiled but festival officials estimated that more than 20,000 pounds of lobster were consumed and more than 65,000 people attended the event.
Though numbers were down because of the weather, “the turnout was great,” said Alice Knight, a member of the executive committee for the festival.
Knight has been to all 61 lobster festivals and has served on the planning board for the past 37 years.
“It’s like Christmas,” she said of the festival. “There is just so much to do and see.”
The event drew people from all over Maine and the nation.
“I love the food,” said Sherry Schumacher, 11, as she cracked open a lobster claw with her hands.
Schumacher traveled with her family from California for the festival.
“It’s our 12th year, we have a house nearby that we stay at,” said Sherry’s mother, Danielle Schumacher.
Other lobster festival-goers grew up in the Pine Tree State and had come back just for the festival.
“I like being here,” said Judy Abaz, who grew up in Vinalhaven but moved to Hollywood, Fla. “All the people, the food, the rides – it’s just fun.”
Abaz’s favorite event was the crate race, which has contestants run across 50 lobster pots strung together in the water.
“It’s dangerous. I think that’s half the fun in it,” she said.
Rockland Park was packed with vendors selling french fries, cheeseburgers and other treats.
Shawnie Thomas has been selling fried dough at the festival for the past 20 years.
“I love it,” she said while she cut dough for a customer. “I mean, I sell fried dough to people. Who isn’t happy when they are getting fried dough?”
Thomas agreed with Knight that business was slower than in past years because of the cloudy and rainy weather.
“You expect a bumper year every year, but that can’t happen,” she said. “It’s still fun.”
The festival featured a live performance by Lou Gramm, the lead singer of the band Foreigner, tours of the naval ship USS Whidbey Island, and many games and rides.
The festival is put on entirely by volunteers. More than 1,000 volunteers helped serve the lobsters, sell tickets and clean up the grounds during the festival this year.
“I usually leave town this weekend,” said Jenny Jones of Rockland, a second-year volunteer. “But it’s fun. There are a lot of people and even more lobster.”
mdabrieo@bangordailynews.net
664-0524
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