It’s sort of like the Maine version of the old Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups TV commercials: Hey, you’ve got lobster on my blueberries. Well, you’ve got blueberries on my lobster.

Two great tastes that taste great together? That’s debatable. What’s clear is that lobster and blueberries are two Maine tastes that are incredibly important to the state and are certainly worth celebrating. And this year, Wild Blueberry Weekend and the Maine Lobster Festival are overlapping.

The Maine Lobster Festival in Rockland starts Wednesday and runs through Sunday, while Wild Blueberry Weekend is Saturday and Sunday at farms, restaurants, wineries and breweries around the state.

They represent two iconic Maine foods but also represent the old and the new. The Maine Lobster Festival is celebrating its 75th year, while Wild Blueberry Weekend is only in its second.

They overlap geographically as well. Some of the participating blueberry farms are in the Midcoast area, not far from Rockland. So it’s not that hard to eat lobster at the festival and then sample blueberries at a farm the same day.

Here are some of the highlights of these two Maine events.

MAINE LOBSTER FESTIVAL

The last lobster festival was held in 2019, before the pandemic. Since the festival usually draws about 80,000 people to Rockland’s Harbor Park, it didn’t make sense to hold it when COVID-19 cases were spreading rapidly, said Celia Knight, the festival’s president, who has been volunteering at the event since she was 3.

Making the comeback even more special, this is the 75th anniversary of the festival. It began in 1947 as a way for lobstermen to sell off their soft-shell lobsters, which weren’t easily shipped in those days, Knight said. To celebrate the anniversary, admission – usually around $8 – is free.

The festival’s crowd-pleasing main events are back, including the Big Parade down Main Street on Saturday at 10 a.m., fireworks, live music and entertainment from Maine performers, and the crowning of the Maine Sea Goddess, the young woman who will represent Maine and the lobster industry in the year to come.

There’s also a unique-to-Maine competition called the International Great Crate Race on Sunday at 2 p.m. Contestants try to stay out of the water as they run across some 50 lobster crates strung together in Rockland Harbor. Most competitors “do end up in the drink,” according to the festival website. So it’s sort of a race of attrition.

Knight says kids usually do best at this event, because they are “light on their feet.”

“But I’ve seen some big guys, 200 pounds or more, who can do. It’s a balance thing and you can tell immediately if someone has the technique or not,” said Knight. “It’s not something you can really practice.”

In an effort to be greener this year, Knight said the festival will not have energy-sucking carnival rides. Instead, the family activities will include play sets donated by Cedar Works, a rock climbing wall, a petting zoo, an arcade room for teens, pony rides, bouncy houses and games.

For more information and the full schedule, go to mainelobsterfestival.com.

WILD BLUEBERRY WEEKEND

Wild Blueberry Weekend began last year, as a way for Maine blueberry growers to educate the public about the state’s wild blueberries and their obvious (to Mainers, anyway) advantages over cultivated high-bush blueberries. Some hoped Wild Blueberry Weekend would be a powerful promotional and sales tool, like Maine Maple Sunday has become for the state’s maple syrup producers.

During the weekend, people can visit some 14 blueberry growers on their farms all around the state. There will also be more than 20 restaurants and more than 20 wineries and breweries around the state offering blueberry dishes, desserts, wines or other beverages. Admission to the farms is free, but of course, the blueberries and assorted treats are for sale.

The event’s website offers a map of all the farms and businesses as well as a list that includes addresses, contact information and a little about what each place is offering. Brodis Blueberries in Hope, for instance, is letting people hand-pick samples and hike the property to take in area views. There’s also a special reading of the classic Maine children’s book “Blueberries for Sal,” as well as cocktails for the grown-ups from Blue Barren Distillery.

Fields Fields Blueberries in Dresden will offer walking tours that will include explanations of how the blueberries are grown and harvested. There will also be a master beekeeper on hand, a nature play area for little kids, a reading of “Blueberries for Sal,” a blueberry crisp cart, crafters and live music.

“Our mission statement includes education, so when we heard about this event, we jumped right on it,” said Ashley Field, whose family runs the farm.

The northern-most participating farm is Worcester’s Wild Blueberries in Orneville Township, near Dover-Foxcroft, while the eastern-most farm is Smithereen Farms in Pembroke, near Lubec. Many of the others are either in the Midcoast or Down East.

The restaurants, wineries and breweries are spread out as well, but with a greater concentration in southern Maine and around Portland. Gelato Fiasco in Portland and Brunswick will be selling Maine Wild Blueberry Crisp Gelato and Maine Wild Blueberry Sorbetto. Rising Tide Brewing Company in Portland will be serving Blueberry Squadron, a fruited sour ale, while Two Fat Cats Bakery in Portland and South Portland will be offering blueberry pie, blueberry scones, blueberry muffins and blueberry buckle.

For more information, including a map and a list of what participating places are offering, go to wildblueberryweekend.com.

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