BELFAST, Maine — In the final hours of 2023, a group of volunteers gathered at the Belfast waterfront to build the bones of a great bonfire.
The effort is part of Last Night Belfast, a reimagined New Year's Eve celebration in the city, with an eccentric schedule that includes fiddle playing, poetry reading, and dance performances. Down on the beach, however, it’s back to basics.
“Fire is primal, of course,” Mike Hurley, who helped organize the bonfire, said Sunday.
The tradition, like many good things, was born as a backup after Belfast nixed its New Year's fireworks display a few years ago.
“It was so expensive,” Hurley explained. “They had to cancel it, so we said, ‘Well, let’s do a bonfire.'”
Now, each year, before the stroke of midnight, donated planks, packages, and paper light up the beach, reflecting on the frigid waters of Penobscot Bay.
The display attracts revelers and partygoers willing to make the voyage down to the sand.
“They empty out of the bars, they come walking down the street, and we have a great time lighting it,” Gef Flimlin, who moved to Belfast a few years ago from New Jersey, said.
To him, the bonfire symbolized that unique Maine tradition of community bonding.
“You just don't have this kind of community spirit in other places that you do here," he said. "You see people donating time and money for things.”
As the beginning of a new year nears, they are confident successful burn.
“Everyone wants that ‘happy new year’ moment,” Hurley added.