ORLAND — The Orland River Day community gathering on Saturday, Sept. 12 is a festival with a 50-year tradition in the town of Orland. Orland River Day celebrates the people of the town, as well as the “river that runs through it, every day”, in the words of E.B. White.
The theme of this year’s Orland River Day is “Patriotic Ducks!” Aside from booth decorations, parade floats are encouraged to follow a yellow rubber duckie theme. The parade starts off at 9:30 a.m. from the Orland Community Center. Kids and adults are encouraged to decorate their bikes and scooters and join in! Castine Kayak Adventures, per tradition, will lead the “Alewife Paddle”, which begins at 8 a.m. at the Alamoosook Lake Craig Brook Fish Hatchery. For more competitive folks, MACKRO will hold its 4th annual Canoe and Kayak Race at 11 a.m.
A shuttle bus will be taking fairgoers from Naramissic Drive up and back from the Orland Community Center from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., where a car show and an art show sponsored by the Orland Historical Society will be in progress. The historical society museum will also be open for visitors and there will be a marine life Touch Tank area for kids.
After the parade, Narramissic Drive will be alive with food and craft vendors, community groups and special musical performances by Blue Hill Brass and Tidewalker rock band. Raffles, Moxie drinking and whoopie pie eating contests, a Duck Dash and many other activities will continue until 2:30 p.m.
The Orland River Day festival is free and open to all!
For more information, rules, and signups for participation events such as the Alewife Paddle, the MACKRO Canoe and Kayak race, Duck Dash, the Moxie and whoopie pie contests, please see the River Day page on the Town of Orland website, https://townoforland.org or the Orland River Day Facebook page. You can also call the Orland Town office at 207-469-3186.