ROCKLAND (NEWS CENTER Maine)-- The Maine Lobster Festival opened it's gates to the public at noon on Wednesday for the 71st year.
New on the 2018 rundown is the rebranding of the main music stage to be the Maine music stage, which will feature local musical artists and bands throughout the week. On Saturday, you can also catch the New England Patriots Cheerleaders as they perform during the festival parade- the largest parade in the state, according to the festival's organizers.
President of the Maine Lobster Festival Board, Cynthia Powell, says last year they sold 21,000 pounds of lobster meat and expect to beat that amount this year. All the lobster is cooked in the world's largest cooker, which can cook up to 1,600 pounds of lobster at one time. If you stop by the steamer to watch the magic happen, be sure to say thank you to Vern, head lobster cooker, who has been volunteering in that position at the festival for 45 years!
This year, Powell says the single lobster dinners and the lobster rolls are a dollar less than in 2017 thanks to a successful "shedder" season, referring to the soft shell lobsters who recently shed their harder, older shells. Powell says people from all over the country and all over the world are expected to come to Rockland's coast to indulge in the Maine crustacean as they have in many years past. The Maine Lobster Festival is a non-profit run by more than 1,300 volunteers, and whatever proceeds aren't used to put on the following year's festival are put back into the community to fund local efforts and programs. Powell says it's that kind of community spirit that has made the festival a success for so many years.
"We want to support and we want to showcase Rockland and showcase the communities around it," Powell said. "And it's just that drive of community spirit and that love of lobster that's going to bring people to celebrate it with us."
The Maine Lobster Festival runs through Sunday, August fifth.
