The 28th annual Eastport Salmon and Seafood Festival will be held on Saturday and Sunday, August 30 and 31, and Eastport Area Chamber of Commerce President Meg Keay says, "It will be a wonderful way to end the summer."
"This year's salmon dinner on Sunday will include Raye's Mustard salmon sauce, roasted red potatoes with rosemary, homemade rolls, green beans almondine and a buffet of blueberry and other desserts," says Keay. "While people are eating, we'll have live music from Washington County musicians, who include John and Denise McCurdy, Steve Erwin, Coastal Sound Waves and Impromptu Trio."
     The weekend will kick off with the 17th annual Paint Eastport Day on Saturday from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Artists can register at the Eastport Arts Center and return there at 5 p.m. for a one-hour silent auction of the artwork, as well as a reception.
     Local food and craft vendors, as well as education exhibits, will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in downtown Eastport. Gift certificates and new items from local restaurants, stores and galleries will be featured in a Chinese auction from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., and seafood chowders prepared by local cooks will be served from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. under the tent. Diners can also purchase oysters on the half shell, as well as beer, while listening to music by John and Denise McCurdy, as well as Bobbi Lane.
     Activities on Salmon Sunday begin at 8:15 a.m. with the Kids One-Mile Run followed at 9 a.m. by the Eastport Salmon and Seafood Festival 5K Run, and the 5K Race/Walk at 9:15 a.m.
     The 4th annual George Harris Sr. Memorial Fishing Derby will be held on the breakwater from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., and a Chinese auction is planned from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. by the tent.
     The local food and craft vendors and educational exhibits will run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and the salmon dinner will be served under the food tent by the fisherman statue from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The annual architectural walking tour begins at 1:45 p.m. at Quoddy Crafts.
     The final event of the weekend will be a 3 p.m. organ concert at the Perry Congregational Church. Performing will be Mark DeVoto, Ann Carter and Robb Cook.
     Open on both days of the festival will be the exhibition "Do not fold, spindle, or mutilate: Experimental paper objects" by Martha Lewis at the Tides Institute & Museum of Art. The "Women and Animals: Sacred Kinship" by Patricia Music will continue until the season closing at the Eastport Gallery.
     "The Trees of Eastport" walking tour will begin at 9 a.m. in front of the Peavey Memorial Library on both days of the festival.