For 30 years, the end of summer in Eastport has been celebrated with a festival paying homage to the Atlantic salmon and other delicious seafood found in local waters. The 2017 Eastport Salmon & Seafood Festival will be held on Saturday and Sunday, September 2 and 3, of Labor Day weekend and will include lots of arts, crafts, history, races and the delicious salmon dinner.
     The first Salmon Festival in 1986 was the culmination of that year's Port Days and featured the theme "Eastport on a Rising Tide," which reflected the optimism and sense of development the city was experiencing.
      "The Eastport Airport Association has issued an invitation for a fly-in on Saturday and Sunday," says Jeanne Peacock of the Eastport Salmon & Seafood Festival Committee. "The University of Maine at Orono will be bringing down a touch tank full of sea creatures that will be on the Peavey library lawn on Saturday, and the kids can learn to make a fish windsock from 10 to 11 a.m."
     "We are hoping people stop by on Saturday afternoon for a foodie event [featuring] salmon hors d'oeuvres, crab rolls, steamers, oysters on the half-shell, members of the Maine Cheese Guild and Maine Grains, as well as three local beers and wine for sale." She adds, "We will also be selling little 5-ounce glasses celebrating the festival's 30th anniversary."
     "We would also like to point out that this year's Fiber Show at the Eastport Welcome Center will include workshops and demonstrations, children's activities and more on Saturday," reports Peacock. "It will also be open on Sunday and feature a fashion show of wearable art at 11 a.m."
     The schedule on Saturday, September 2, includes the 19th annual Paint Eastport Day from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.; the Trees of Eastport walking tour from 9 to 11 a.m.; and downtown flea market from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.; the exhibition "Prints from Maine Aomari Printmaking Society" at the Tides Institute and Museum of Art (TIMA) from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; children's activities from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.; local food, craft and educational exhibits from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. downtown; the Fiber Arts Show from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Eastport Welcome Center; a farmers' market from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. near the post office; Washington County musicians downtown under the tents, including Keltic Smeltic from 12 noon to 1 p.m., Pink Capos from 1 to 2 p.m., Lauren Koss and Bill Johnson from 2 to 3 p.m., Melissa Cushing from 3 to 4 p.m. and Artful Touch Music from 4 to 5 p.m.
     The sale of desserts at the senior center on Boynton Street will begin at 11 a.m. and continue until they are gone; soft pretzels and beer on tap, along with salmon hors d'oeuvres, will be sold from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m.; the Barracks Museum on Washington Street will be open from 1 to 4 p.m.; the installation of TIMA's North Street Church Project Space is planned from 2 to 4 p.m., as is the tour of the other five buildings that make up the TIMA campus; The Tails of Quoddy Bay puppet show "Liquid Gold" will be performed by Denise McCurdy at 2 p.m. at the amphitheater; the silent auction and reception at the Eastport Arts Center will be from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. for Paint Eastport Day artwork; and the Eastport Moonlight Movie, The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel will take place at dusk.
      Salmon Sunday, September 3, begins with a children's one-mile run at 8:15 a.m. Registration starts at 7:30 a.m. behind Motel East. The 5K race/walk starts at 9:15 a.m. in the same place.
Horticulture consultant Paula Kovecses will lead a walking tour of the trees of Eastport from 9 to 11 a.m. It will begin in front of Peavey Memorial Library. Lighthouse Lobster & Bait at the end of County Road will be giving a tour of the largest lobster pound on the Atlantic coast at 10 a.m.
     The George S. Harris Sr. Memorial Fishing Derby for Youth will be held from 10 a.m. until 12 noon at the breakwater; local food, crafts and educational exhibits will be downtown from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the Fiber Arts Show at the Eastport Welcome Center will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. as well as the exhibition "Prints from Maine Aomari Printmaking Society" at the TIMA.
     There will be a members' themed show at the Eastport Gallery from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. as well as a fashion show of wearable art at 11 a.m. in the port authority building.
     Washington County musicians will provide entertainment downtown on Sunday as well, including Fiddle Chick, Picky, Plucky and Friends from 10:45 a.m. to 12 noon; the Brices from 12 noon to 1 p.m.; Alan Cook from 1 to 2 p.m.; Mark Bechtold and Friends from 2 to 3 p.m.; and Lauren Koss from 3 to 4 p.m.
     The centerpiece of Salmon Sunday has always been the salmon dinner, which is scheduled from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. under the tent. Through the years, the details of the events and the meal -- side dishes and desserts, the wine, the servers and the cooks -- have varied, but the one constant that brings people back year after year is the delicious piece of grilled salmon. Friends, neighbors and visitors eat under a big tent gazing contentedly at the breathtaking view of Passamaquoddy Bay just a few feet away. This year's 5-oz salmon fillet will be accompanied by Raye's Mustard salmon sauces, rosemary roasted potatoes, peas, locally sourced greens with homemade dressing, rolls and blueberry desserts.
     A ticket for the dinner also includes an educational boat tour of the salmon pens. There will be oysters on the half shell and beer on tap from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m.; and Gail McGlamery will lead an historic walking tour beginning at TIMA at 1 p.m.
     The final event of the day will be the silent auction drawing at 4 p.m.