Visit Rockland, Maine for the Annual Maine Lobster Festival

One of the most popular tourist destinations along the Maine coast, the town of Rockland has been home to the state's annual Maine Lobster Festival for over 60 years. Every summer, for five days, this center of the fishing and shipbuilding industries celebrates with a parade, entertainment, and -- of course -- tons of fresh-cooked lobster.

Located on beautiful Penobscot Bay on the central part of the Maine shoreline known as the Discovery Coast, Rockland was recently named the #2 Coolest Small Town in America by CBS and Budget Travel magazine. This section of the Maine coastline features lush green mountains that drop right to the sea, picturesque coastal towns, and plenty to keep vacationers entertained.

The Maine Lobster Festival fills the center of town and the waterfront with activities every summer. Highlights include the annual lobster crate race, where contestants try to run across the top of string of partially-submerged lobster crates tied together and strung into the harbor. The winner is the person who can cross this floating bridge the most times without falling into the sea, and the record is over 4500 crates.

Another crowd pleaser is the big parade down Main Street in Rockland on Saturday morning, which annually draws tens of thousands of onlookers. The parade includes floats, marching bands, drill teams and, of course, an appearance by the newly-crowned Maine Sea Goddess, along with her Sea Princesses and King Neptune with his Court.

There are craft tents, an art show, a marine life exhibition, kids' activities and cooking contests - everything you'd expect from a small-town American festival. And there are all kinds of food - especially seafood. Visitors can enjoy steamed or fried clams, fried Maine shrimp, luscious shrimp cocktail and fresh steamed mussels. But, undoubtedly, the main attraction is the lobster.

Maine lobster is one of the most desirable dishes in restaurants around the world. What was once an overly-abundant "junk food," so plentiful, cheap and lowly-regarded that it was a daily staple of prison meals in the state is now a delicacy shipped fresh to every corner of the globe.

Each year, over 20,000 pounds of lobster - that's ten tons of crustaceans - are cooked and served at the Maine Lobster Festival in Rockland.

The activities of the Maine Lobster Festival are held each year in the days leading into the first weekend of August. Rockland, Maine is located an hour from Bangor, two hours from Portland, and a scenic four-hour drive from Boston.