Balloons rise Aug. 18, 2019, at Simard-Payne Memorial Park in Lewiston during the only successful launch of the Great Falls Balloon Festival that year. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal file photo
LEWISTON — After two years without many of Lewiston-Auburn’s signature festivals, all are set to return this summer.
Top among them is the Great Falls Balloon Festival, which board President Tracy Collins said is planned to run as usual. The three-day event, Aug. 19-21, will feature six balloon launches, live music, fireworks, a parade and local vendors.
“We’ll have our traditional expectations, but we’re trying to bring some stuff new to the field, (too),” she said.
Also returning to the Twin Cities will be the Liberty Festival and the Great Falls Brewfest. RiverFest & Regatta will run for its second year, and the Lewiston Youth Advisory Council is planning a new summer event to celebrate everything Lewiston.
Individuals itching to book a ride on a hot-air balloon this summer should act fast; Collins said they’ve had more early bookings this year than in the past.
“People have been emailing us since Christmas, ‘we want a ride,’ so people are excited about the festival,” she said. “That makes our hearts happy, because we’re a volunteer board and a lot of people doubted that we were going to be able to come back, but we definitely are in full force.”
Beer is served June 25, 2016, in Simard-Payne Memorial Park during Great Falls Brewfest in Lewiston. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal file photo
The festival was canceled in 2020 and 2021, and rainy weather in 2019 only allowed for a single launch, she said. Organizers are expecting larger-than-normal crowds this year.
They haven’t announced the theme for the specialty-shaped balloons yet, but Collins shared that these balloons have never been to the festival since its start in 1992.
“The balloons are what drive people to the festival, but our mission is to create that opportunity to support local nonprofits” and bring tourism to Lewiston-Auburn, she said.
Even with poor weather in 2019, the festival still raised $56,000 for local nonprofits, she added.
Craft beer connoisseurs also have much to look forward to with the return of the Great Falls Brewfest, organized by Baxter Brewing, for June 25 in Simard-Payne Memorial Park in Lewiston. More than 50 local breweries will be present, as well as cider, seltzer, food and live music.
July 4 festivities are also set to return to Lewiston-Auburn with the Liberty Festival. Entertainment and food vendors near the Great Falls next to the Androscoggin River will lead into the event’s signature fireworks display, committee President Cathy McDonald said.
“We’re hoping to make (the event) bigger and better, but plans are still up in the air,” she said. “We’re just looking forward to bringing the Liberty Festival back to our community and celebrating our independence.”
Fireworks explode in 2021 over Great Falls on the Androscoggin River between Lewiston and Auburn during the Liberty Festival as the Basilica of Saints Peter & Paul looms in the foreground. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal
Both festivals were canceled in 2020 and 2021, however the Liberty Festival fireworks display was held last year.
In June, the second annual RiverFest & Regatta will run along the banks of the Androscoggin River, celebrating the cities’ connection to the river. A kickball tournament, an artisan craft fair and a slew of boat races will headline the two-day event Friday and Saturday, June 17 and 18. It will include live music, beer and food.
Attendees will also be able to rent canoes to row on the river. Several hundred cyclists from Trek Across Maine are set to pass by Riverfest on Friday afternoon.
“The Riverfest for us is an opportunity to really celebrate (the river) and call attention to it, while making sure there’s another event that really supports the great quality of life that people who live in this region get to have every day,” Shanna Cox, president and CEO of the LA Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, said.
After organizing the first event last summer during the pandemic with an eye to smaller crowd sizes, Cox said the chamber is looking to scale it up.
“(This region) is on the move, it’s young, it’s healthy, it’s active, it’s diverse, and there’s always something to do,” Cox said. “I think those are things we really are looking forward to lifting up to people who live here and beyond.”
Racing shells move into position July 24, 2021, at the start of the Riverfest Regatta on the Androscoggin River between Lewiston and Auburn. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal file photo
The Lewiston Youth Advisory Council is working to create a new summer event called Celebrating Lewiston, tentatively set for June 25, to recognize all the great things in the city, including art, food, history, culture, businesses and youth activities, adviser Dottie Perham-Whittier said.
She shared a quote from council member Hannah Arsenault from their meeting Wednesday night, which she felt best summed up the event’s purpose.
“We want to highlight what makes Lewiston, Lewiston, show what we have here, and what others are missing out on,” Perham-Whittier read from her notes.
The event is tentatively scheduled to be held in the newly named Mike McGraw Park on Bartlett Street.
In neighboring Lisbon, the Moxie Festival is also set to return July 8-10 after two years, and the town is also set to become the new host for the Maine Blues Festival.
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