The Best Small Town Fourth of July Celebrations in Downeast Maine

Yankee Magazine recently rated Eastport, Maine as a New England town with one of the biggest and best Fourth of July celebrations and I couldn't agree more.  The fishing villages of Downeast Maine take Independence Day very seriously.  Their Fourths are so festive and charming to behold that you often feel like you've stumbled into a Normal Rockwell painting.

The beautiful, flower-lined harbor of Eastport, Maine

 The coastal town of Eastport hosts an Independence Day event which stretches over several days.  Attendees are able to indulge in locally made strawberry shortcake, blueberry pancakes and fish chowder. Those with a competitive edge can join in on the annual codfish relay race, blueberry pie and watermelon eating contests, water sports, running races and a Miss 4th of July contest.  The festivities are finished off with a fantastic fireworks display over the harbor. For the 2014 Eastport Forth of July schedule, click here.  To learn more about the fishing village of Eastport, click here.

The fishing villages of Jonesport and Beals Islands, which are connected by a dramatic, arching bridge, offer up a classic Downeast Fourth of July.  The stretch of water between these two traditional fishing villages is called Mooseabec Reach and they host a Moosabec Summerfest which stretches from late June through to mid-July and includes the 4th.  Events include a grand parade, lobster feed, tug of war contest, beauty contest, fireworks and the ever popular "World's Fastest Lobster Boat Race."  This race is the oldest and most famous in the lobster boat racing circuit.  I have written about the history and culture of the Moosabec Reach lobster boat races on this blog and in my book.  It is a fantastic event to behold if you are up for a journey Downeast.  I attended these races many years in my youth when my father was racing his lobster boat.  Several years ago I went back to witness the races and Fourth of July festivities with my British husband in tow and it was like stepping back in time.  In addition to watching the lobster boats battle it out for first place, we took part in a dunk tank competition, bought dried, salted codfish and saw a lady carting around a cat dressed up as Father Sam.  Sadly, all my photos from that trip were lost after the event but the memories live on in my mind and always bring a smile to my face.  To read about this year's Moosabec 4th schedule, click here.  To read more about the Moosabec Lobster Boat Races, click here.

Cutler lobster boats decorated for the Fourth of July.

Finally, it would be impossible for me to write about fantastic Fourth of July celebrations without mentioning my home town of Cutler. Those who visit Cutler during the Fourth of July, are able to witness a unique and wonderful hometown celebration which has taken place every summer since at least the late 1800s. The pomp and circumstance includes a slew of unique games and competitions that you’d only find in Down East Maine. In addition to the typical parade and flag raising, there are coca-cola drinking contests,  saltine cracker eating contests (the first one to eat a giant stack of dry saltine crackers then whistle, wins) and tug-of-wars between locals and people 'from away.'  But perhaps the most unique event of the Cutler Fourth of July celebrations is the lobster crate race, where a bunch of barely buoyant, wooden lobster crates are precariously strung together and tethered between two wharves.  Spectators are then challenged to run across the crates without falling into the icy water.  Given the odds of making it across the crates are less than 10 percent and the water temperature is around 54 degrees, you’d think people would be reluctant to sign up for the challenge. Yet the opposite is true. In Cutler, we actually have to cap the number of contestants at fifty each year.  To read more about the lobster fishing village of Cutler, click here.

The Cutler Lobster Crate Races (photo courtesy of Billy Kitchen).