March 28, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Island’s natural beauty brings people to Bar Harbor

SUMMER CELEBRATION

Summertime in Bar Harbor means people — lots and lots of people. Parking lots display license plates from most states in the Union, as well as most Canadian provinces, as visitors call on Maine’s prettiest island to tour the natural wonders of Acadia National Park.

From Thunder Hole, Sand Beach, and the Otter Cliffs along Ocean Drive, to the long, twisting ride up Mount Cadillac, to the storm-tossed stones at Seawall, to the bald granite peaks spanning the island’s waist, nature awaits the estimated 3 million to 4 million people who annually visit the park. Yet even as nature calls these people to the sea, local residents organize many festivities now engrained in island life.

For example, no Fourth of July could slip past on the calendar without an old-fashioned Bar Harbor celebration. Limiting their holiday activities to just July 4 (other Maine towns celebrate all week long), Bar Harbor residents pull out all the stops on that one day.

Wednesday, July 4

6 a.m. to 9 a.m. — A pancake breakfast will be served at the athletic field on Route 3. Maine chefs know how to fix pancakes and spread the syrup, so this is one holiday attraction that no one should miss!

10 a.m. — The traditional Fourth of July Parade will pass through downtown Bar Harbor. Units from all over the island (and a few units on loan from the “mainland,” too) will participate in this annual affair.

11 a.m. to 3 p.m. — The Rotary Seafood Festival will take place at the same athletic field where breakfast was served. The menu includes lobsters, clams, corn on the cob, hot dogs, hot and cold drinks, and more delicious food. Come early, and bring a hearty appetite.

The Blue Hill Brass Quintet will play during the festival.

7 p.m. — There will be a band concert on the Village Green.

9:15 p.m. — Thousands of people flocks to Bar Harbor, park on Cadillac Mountain, anchor their boats among the Porcupine Islands, or find vantage points on nearby points on the mainland to watch the largest fireworks display in Hancock County.

Bar Harbor will be the site for other summertime festivities, of course. Among the scheduled events are:

The Down East Dulcimer and Harp Festival, July 6-8.

The Sixteenth Annual Summer CraftFest at Mount Desert Island High School, set for July 21-23. This event is sponsored by Penobscot Valley Crafts.

Open Garden Day on July 28.

The Fifteenth Annual Directions Craft Show at Mount Desert Island High School, scheduled for Aug. 17-19.

Voyage 2000: Celebrate a Peaceful and Sustainable Future, Aug. 24 to Sept. 4 at the College of the Atlantic.

The Village Green Art Show will take place Aug. 24-25.

Throughout the summer, visitors to Bar Harbor can enjoy a round of golf at the Kebo Valley Country Club just a short distance from the waterfront or at the Bar Harbor Golf Course off Route 3 in Trenton. Several cruise boats and a sailing ship, the “Natalie Todd,” sail on day cruises from island ports, and the Maine State Ferry Service operates ferries to Swan’s Island and Frenchboro, two islands located southwest of Mount Desert Island.


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