“Belfast Harbor Fest is back with its Maine Bicentennial edition,” said the Rotary Club’s long-time event chairperson Duke Marston. “There have been some changes after a pandemic year. Instead of a big tent, we’ll have smaller pavilions for each of the National Boatbuilding Challenge teams, and we’re setting up for public safety with no bounce house this year. Harbor Fest is a celebration for Belfast and anyone who is here during the event. Rotary thinks everyone will have a very good time.”

 

 

Beginning Friday the 13^th and running through Sunday, the “Evening By the Bay” auction will go online at charityauction.bid/belfastharborfest to benefit the Waldo County Pet Food Pantry. The auction features restaurant and experiential gift certificates, and artwork including Joanne Parent’s “Last Light of Day,” an original oil painting chosen as the Harbor Fest’s graphic this year, featuring the image of a schooner on Belfast Harbor.

 

Saturday is anchored by the National Boatbuilding Challenge sponsored by First National Bank, pairs of builders racing the clock and each other to finish and race 12-foot skiffs built from scratch in less than four hours. Their efforts follow the 5K “Bug Run” race (sponsored by First National Wealth Management) ending at the Boathouse and the blueberry pancake breakfast (sponsored by Nordic Aquafarms). They share time and space with free Front Street Shipyard tours and demonstrations, Come Boating!’s harbor rowing regatta, music at the Steamboat Landing gazebo, food trucks and children’s activities, and a Classic Boat Show along the Harborwalk.

 

Belfast Harbor Fest concludes Sunday morning with the Cardboard Boat Race (sponsored by Front Street Shipyard), complete with the always popular “Best Sinking” award, followed by a lobster bake to benefit Waldo County Habitat for Humanity.

 

The Rotary Club’s Marston thanked the event’s dozens of sponsors, exhibitors, vendors and boatbuilding participants, including major sponsors:

First National Bank, First National Wealth Management, City of Belfast,

Front Street Shipyard, Nordic Aquafarms, Downeast Credit Union,

United Farmers Market, Viking Lumber, Blueberry Broadcasting,

Stanley Chevrolet Buick, Robbins Lumber Company, Joanne Parent and

the Maine Bicentennial Commission.

 

For more information about Harbor Fest, go to: https://belfastharborfest.com/