Potato Blossom Festival

Potato Blossom Festival

July

Founded in 1937 to celebrate Maine's primary food crop, the potato, this festival is held the third weekend in July in Fort Fairfield, Maine, when the potato blossoms are in bloom. Fort Fairfield is the nation's largest potato producer. From 1937 to 1960, the festival was held in a series of towns in northern Maine before Fort Fairfield was officially chosen as the permanent site.
Potato-related events include the Jr. Miss Potato Blossom Pageant, a potato recipe contest, a potato picking contest, and mashed potato wrestling. Other events include musical concerts, bicycle races, a household pet show, an antique farm equipment show, a human chess game, a tractor pull, a two-hour parade, and fireworks. In 1950, the Potato Blossom Festival sponsored the first marathon race to be held in the state of Maine.

CONTACTS:
Fort Fairfield Chamber of Commerce
18 Community Center Dr.
Fort Fairfield, ME 04742
207-472-3802; fax: 207-472-3810
fortcc.org