Year Round Fun with Camden Maine Events and Festivals

The Camden Maine Events calendar is packed with festivals that celebrate Camden’s rich cultural heritage and maritime connections. From summer’s outdoor festivals, which highlight music, food, and sun-filled fun, to weekly art walks, outdoor concerts, and farmers’ markets in charming towns and villages, there’s always something happening throughout the year. This begins with Camden’s Winterfest, peaking with three big summer festivals, and ending with Christmas by the Sea in early December. To help you navigate Camden Maine Events offerings, we’ve compiled a list of top annual events that attract tourists, sightseers, and locals from miles around, celebrating everything from blueberries and blues to lobsters, art, boats, and winter festivities.

Winter Events

  • Christmas by the Sea is a beloved December tradition in Camden, marking the beginning of the holiday season, featuring a holiday parade, extended store hours with special sales, carriage rides, a tree-lighting ceremony in Harbor Park, carolers, a visit from the “real Santa,” and numerous crafts, fairs, and activities across the Midcoast communities. For the latest event details, be sure to visit their Facebook page.
  • Looking for a fun and crazy thing to do in the not so dead of winter? Try Camden’s Winterfest at the end of January, which includes ice carving competitions and a charity Polar Bear Plunge in Camden Harbor.
  • The National Toboggan Championships takes place in early February, when hundreds of teams with silly names and sillier costumes turn frozen Hosmer Pond and the Camden Snow Bowl into a winter carnival. Taking place the same weekend is The Banff Mountain Film Festival which involves 3 nights of exciting short films focused on mountain culture, adventure sports, and the environment.
  • Approximately two weeks later, the Camden Conference is held, featuring high-profile speakers who address current international issues or regions. This event attracts engaged audiences from across New England, including college students, transforming the town into a dynamic hub of stimulating discussions in every pub, coffee shop, and hotel breakfast parlor.

Summer Events

  • Fairs are big in small town Maine, and the Midcoast has plenty to choose from, from antique shows to arts and crafts fairs, from the Maine Boats, Homes, and Harbors show in August to the popular Common Ground Country Fair in September. And in between, find farmers markets and special events devoted to blueberries, pumpkins, classic cars, strawberries, apples and more.
  • The North Atlantic Blues Festival is a mid July weekend event at the Rockland Public Landing, where top rated national blues performers entertain live all day. Vendors, crafts, street bands and a club crawl round out this very popular event.
  • The Maine Lobster Festival is a five day celebration of  one of the reasons people come to Maine: Lobster! Every year in the beginning of August, Rockland Harbor’s public landing is transformed into a fair related to all things lobster, from food stands and cooking competitions to tasting events, gift stands, fun stuff for kids, and entertainment venues. The coronation of the Maine Sea Goddess and the big lobster festival parade are the highlights of the event. All in all, more than 20,000 pounds of lobster are served up to festival goers that week!
  • Camden‘s big summer events both have to do with sailing: the Camden Classics is a big sailing competition in July, and The Camden Windjammer Festival, (pictured), held every Labor Day Weekend, has long been Camden’s signature summer event. Seeing Maine’s entire Windjammer fleet sailing into Camden harbor on Friday afternoon is a spectacular experience – and we’ve honestly never seen cloudy skies on that day (knock wood). You can even meet the crews, and  watch them participate in a talent show. Check out the competitive events on Saturday morning, including a lobster crate race, and enjoy the festival fair at the Public Landing.
  • If you’re up for intellectual challenges, come visit during the Camden International Film Festival in September. There is also a Shakespeare Festival and a lecture series at the Camden Yacht Club!

Photo credit to Charlie Kellogg via CC BY-NC-SA 2.0


What Our Guests Are Saying:

“Well kept comfortable motel. We came for the national toboggan tournament in February. We booked the motel months in advance in a recommendation of an acquaintance. The motel is super cute, well maintained and very comfortable. We are a family of four and we got a room with two double beds. The beds were super comfortable. The highlight of the motel is the breakfast basket they was left at the door. Inside was an assortment of juice, fruit and homemade baked goods. The motel is a short walk into downtown…” Amanda B

A Great Maine Getaway Awaits!

BOOK TODAY