AUGUSTA, Maine — With Maine’s blueberry season just around the corner, Gov. Janet Mills has declared Aug. 7-8, 2021, as Maine’s first Wild Blueberry Weekend.
Wild Blueberry Weekend will feature farm tours and other family-friendly activities at 15 wild blueberry farms located in Franklin, Hancock, Kennebec, Knox, Piscataquis, and Washington Counties, according to a press release from the governor's office.
There will also be wild blueberry-themed menu items and products available throughout the weekend at more than 50 statewide restaurants, inns, breweries, wineries, ice cream shops, and distilleries, Mills said.
Organizers say they plan to make it an annual event.
Mills made the Wild Blueberry Weekend announcement during a celebration at the Blaine House on Friday, where she was joined by a group of wild blueberry growers and processors, Patricia Kontur of the Wild Blueberry Commission of Maine, and Amanda Beal, commissioner of the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry.
The Blaine House event featured a tasting of a number of wild blueberry-themed products, as well as fresh wild blueberries that are being harvested now. Last year, Mills said Maine farmers harvested nearly 60 million pounds of wild blueberries.
“I am proud to declare the first annual Wild Blueberry Weekend in Maine to honor the importance of Maine’s wild blueberries and the hardworking Maine people who grow and bring them to market,” Mills said in Friday's release. “I encourage everyone to visit one of the participating wild blueberry farms or to sample Maine-grown wild blueberry products at the many restaurants, inns, breweries, wineries, ice cream shops, and distilleries selling them during Wild Blueberry Weekend.”
The governor's announcement comes after the U.S. Senate unanimously passed a bipartisan resolution designating the month of July as "National Blueberry Month." The resolution was co-sponsored by Maine Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King.