maine blueberry festival
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Celebrating the Maine Blueberry

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I heard the woman yell out to the little kids passing by, “Learn about farming AND get to see baby pigs!”

Even though I knew her sales pitch wasn’t for adults, she had me at “baby pigs”. It’s hard to compete with the glitz of midway rides, cotton candy, and corn dogs; but the people at the 4H booth were luring people in with baby pigs; an awesome strategy!

I walked through the 4H farming exhibit meant for kids and learned a ton about blueberries and farming in Maine. Plus, I had fun surprising a few of the presenters, who looked at me and wondered where the kids were that should be with me. I looked at them and said, “Baby pigs aren’t just for kids.”

Union Fair’s Maine Blueberry Festival

Not all travel or vacations have to be about beaches, spas, and tours. You can travel to more local events, like the Union Fair Maine Wild Blueberry Festival, and get a real feel for the community. And based on my experience, they will welcome you with open arms, and tempt you with a few baby pigs.

We all know that Maine and blueberries go hand in hand, so I was pretty excited to do more than just eat blueberries on my trip in Maine, I was going to go to a whole festival about blueberries!

The Maine Wild Blueberry Festival at Union Fair was born in 1960 as a method of promoting the industry in Maine. However I think the secondary goal of the festival is my favorite – to find the best blueberry pie maker in the coastal area! Mrs. George Cole won that competition in 1960.

Back then there was also a children’s pie eating contest, and a Blueberry Queen pageant crowing a lucky local girl to represent the blueberry industry for the year. Not much as changed through the years, but more blueberry and non-blueberry events have been added.

What Can You Expect At the Maine Wild Blueberry Festival?

Blueberries…duh.
I eat blueberries regularly with my yogurt, but that’s where my relationship with blueberries ends really. I never knew you could do so much with blueberries until I went to the festival! In fact I didn’t even know how blueberries grew or were harvested until I walked through the kid’s 4H farm exhibit to see the baby pigs.

midway
Midway at the Maine Blueberry Festival

 

Read the entire article and learn about the pie baking contest, blueberry spitting contest, and pie eating contest!

Disclosure:

I was a guest of Visit Maine on this trip, however all opinions here are my own1!

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5 Comments

  1. I was a 4h kid too. How did we not talk about that on our fishing trip. In fact my youngest son guides occasionally for the national 4h center these days (in DC)

  2. Thank you for the great article and for the kind words about the 4-H Farm-to-Fair exhibit and 4-H in general. As a 4-H staff member from the Knox and Lincoln Counties office of the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, I wish to clarify that the pumpkin and canned goods photos at the end of your article depict items in the Main Exhibition Hall at Union Fair, which could have been entered by anyone from the public, including adults. This is a wonderful part of the fair! However, 4-H youth exhibits are on display in the blue 4-H Exhibition Yurt at Union Fair, which can be found near the Blueberry Acres building and Pulling Ring. I hope you will visit us there next time you come!
    I am glad that you and your family enjoyed the Union Fair and Maine Blueberry Festival. Thank you again for the write-up!

    1. Thanks for the clarification Cindy! It was hard to keep track of it all as a new visitor! It was a lovely day and I enjoyed the 4H livestock very much!

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