Many people visited Rockland on Wednesday for the opening day of the Maine Lobster Festival, which is now entering its 77th year. They shopped at vendors selling Maine art, watched the coronation of the festival’s delegate, listened to live music and — of course — ate lobster.
Two dogs dressed up as lobsters at the Maine Lobster Festival in Rockland on Wednesday, July 31, 2024. Credit: Jules Walkup / BDN
Ed Ward (left) and Kathy Ward (right) eat their lobster dinners at the Maine Lobster Festival on Wednesday, July 31, 2024. It was the duo’s first time at the festival, and they traveled from Sackets Harbor, New York to Rockland to experience it. Credit: Jules Walkup / BDN
People stand in line to get a taste of freshly-cooked Maine lobster in the form of rolls, a dinner, chowder or mac and cheese at the Maine Lobster Festival in Rockland on Wednesday, July 31, 2024. There were consistently dozens of people in line. Credit: Jules Walkup / BDN
Two lobster cookers transfer freshly-cooked lobster to a bin to be taken to the serving tents at the Maine Lobster Festival in Rockland on Wednesday, July 31, 2024. The world’s largest lobster cooker can cook up to 1,600 pounds of lobster at once. Credit: Jules Walkup / BDN
The main attraction of the event, which draws tens of thousands of visitors a year, is the lobster. The festival, which continues until Sunday, boasts the world’s largest lobster cookers, helping to provide 20,000 pounds of the crustacean throughout the festivities. Workers then serve the lobster in various ways, including boiled, on rolls and in mac and cheese.
Lobster cookers navigate through the crowd at the Maine Lobster Festival in Rockland on Wednesday, July 31, 2024. Cookers would take the freshly cooked lobster from the world’s largest lobster cooker to the tents from which the lobster is served in mac and cheese, rolls, dinners and chowder. The festival’s website says it serves over 20,000 pounds of lobster within the festival’s five days. Credit: Jules Walkup / BDN
Festival-goers get freshly-cooked lobster dinners at the Maine Lobster Festival in Rockland on Wednesday, July 31, 2024. The festival’s website says it serves over 20,000 pounds of lobster within five days. Credit: Jules Walkup / BDN
Two people put a pin on the map indicating where they are from at the Maine Lobster Festival in Rockland on Wednesday, July 31, 2024. Festival-goers visit Rockland from all over Maine, the U.S. and the world, at least according to the pins on the map. Credit: Jules Walkup / BDN
However, the event does have some detractors. On Wednesday, a group of demonstrators from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, gathered outside to protest the cooking and eating of lobster, creating fake cats and pretending to sell them like lobster. “If You Wouldn’t Eat a Cat, Why Eat a Lobster?” their sign said.
