Celebrate the Local Culture

Find a Reason to Visit Maine with These Unique Events & Local Festivals

Each year we search for adventures and experiences that offer guests a special touch of the Maine magic. Helping guests plan a fabulous experience and memorable adventure is a specialty of the inn and is available to all guests before and during their stay. In addition to all of the outdoor activities and top attractions in Maine, our area offers a wide variety of specialty celebrations. Check your calendar to see which of these popular Maine events you can fit in!

Below is just a selection of special events and attractions. Specific dates are listed for some events, while others are available throughout the season. Some of the calendar events require advance reservations, which we are happy to assist you with! Visit these additional community calendars for more events and adventures: The Weekly Packet, Blue Hill Peninsula Chamber of Commerce, Blue Hill Public Library.

Lobster tour boats in Maine

Celebrate Maine

Celebrate Music & Art

Attend Classic Festivals

Discover Events Unique to Maine

Lighthouse on the coast of Maine on a sunny day

May

The Wings, Waves, and Woods Festival
Deer Isle, offers “birding by land, by sea, and by art.” Stay at the inn the week before or after this fun weekend for two or more nights and receive a complimentary copy of Birds of Maine. Just ask for it when you make your reservation. We love Birds of Maine so much we will give you a copy if you stay with us during Acadia’s birding festival, May 28-31, too—just ask when you make your reservation.

Annual Plant Sale Fundraiser for the Blue Hill Public Library
Plants of all sorts, baked goods, silent auction—this fun annual event is popular so plan to arrive early if you have your gardening gloves set on something in particular. The library is a short walk from the inn and we can have your purchases delivered if they are too heavy to carry back.

Flash in the Pans! Steel Drum Street Dance
Join the whole community as we celebrate spring and the Peace Ridge Sanctuary in this fundraising street dance at the town park, a short walk from the inn.

June

The Acadia Birding Festival
Explore Mount Desert Island and its birds through numerous events and venues.

Lupine Festival
In Stonington, this is an Island-wide activity including trail walks on Island preserves, boat tours, puffin boat trips, airplane rides, artists/artisans exhibits, business booths, kid’s activities.

Orland River Day
Orland River Day is a family adventure day with a parade, magic show, capsizing kayaks, raft races, live music, and more.

Kneisel Hall Festival Concert Program One
Continuum Concert featuring works by Brahms, Wernick and Schoenberg at their school on Pleasant Street in Blue Hill. Flash in the Pans! Steel Drum Street Dance will be playing on the Castine Town Dock and be celebrating the Castine Womens Club and all that they offer the community. Keisel Hall Children’s Concert at the Blue Hill Public Library just a short walk from the inn.

First Friday in Blue Hill 
This is your opportunity to explore art openings, live music, fun food happenings—all just a stroll around Blue Hill.

Kneisel Hall Festival Concert Program Two
Schubert: Fantasy for Violin and Shostakovich Sonata for Cello and Piano at their school on Pleasant Street in Blue Hill.

Flash in the Pans! Steel Drum Street Dance
Join the whole community as we celebrate spring and Healthy Peninsula at the Blue Hill Town Park, a short walk from the inn.

July

Blue Hill Pops
Blue Hill Pops is held in the George Stevens Academy gymnasium (across the street from the inn). A benefit for the Bagaduce Music Lending Library, this annual music festival celebrates “Sounds Around Blue Hill” and features singer/songwriter Don Campbell. Other performers will include Velocipede, a violin and guitar duo, the Big Moose Contra Dance Group, and the Bagaduce Pops Singers.

Celebrate the Fourth of July!
You’ll find small-town patriotism and firework displays from Stonington to Castine to Bar Harbor.

Lobster Boat Races
Held in Stonington, this event answers the question, “How fast can they go?”

Quietside Flamingo Festival
Held in Southwest Harbor, this is a whimsical, lighthearted, and decidedly hot pink family festival. Over the years, it has become a way for the community to come together to celebrate the treasured value of small-town life. Young, old and in-between, locals, summer people and tourists, all participate in the festivities, and lawns, store windows, and buildings proudly display the plastic pink creatures.

Keisel Hall Children’s Concert 
Hosted at the Blue Hill Public Library just a short walk from the inn.

First Friday Blue Hill 
Don’t miss] your opportunity to explore art openings, live music, fun food happenings—all just a stroll around Blue Hill.

Kneisel Hall Festival Concert Program Three
Featuring selections from Mozart, Ravel, Robert Mann, Sibelius, and Schumann. Performances at the school on Pleasant Street in Blue Hill. Tickets required.

Fireworks in Castine
Enjoy the show as part of the historical celebration of Bastille Day with a community picnic.

Paint the Peninsula
Blue Hill Public Library’s gala fundraising auction brings together more than 70 local artists. Opening bids range from $50-$350 making Paint the Peninsula a great opportunity to start buying local art or to add to an established collection. Most artists donate 50% of the sale to the library and some do more, so winning bids support both the Blue Hill Library’s operating budget and the local arts community.

Fishermen’s Day in Stonington
Created by the Island Fisherman’s Wives Association is an annual Family Fun Day on the pier in Stonington. Enjoy carnival games, contests, local artisans and vendors, and some delicious seafood.

Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival
Not far from the inn in Blue Hill, Kneisel Hall begins its summer program with concerts each weekend and events all week long.

Blue Hill Bach Festival 
A celebration of history, culture, and exquisite musical talent. Check the schedule—the very creative performances sell out quickly.

Bucksport Bay Festival
Bucksport has something for everyone with a line up of live music, a classic car and motorcycle show, a fun run, and a kids’ area.

Flash in the Pans! Steel Drum Street Dance
Join the whole community as we celebrate summer in this street dance at the town park, a short walk from the inn. A fundraising event for FLASH Scholarship Fund.

Autumn leaves and a bridge over a dry creek bed

September

Maine Open Lighthouse Day
We love Maine Open Lighthouse Day. When you make your reservation, let us know you love lighthouses, too, and you’ll receive a package of information about Maine lighthouses, including a state map with the history of each lighthouse. You can explore the region and find ways to spot all eight of the closest lighthouses. Whether by car, boat, or plane, catching the lights and exploring the coast during the beautiful September weather will make for a memorable trip to Blue Hill. Lights include Robinson Point Light, Isle au Haut; Saddleback Light, remote; Brown’s Head Lighthouse, Vinalhaven; Goose Rocks Light, Fox Island Thoroughfare; Heron Neck Light; and Mark Island Light, Deer Isle Thoroughfare. Inn staff can assist with all your sightseeing plans.

Windjammer Festival
Camden, is a celebration of maritime heritage and living traditions. The fleet gathers in picturesque Camden Harbor for festivities reminiscent of the days when hundreds of coastal schooners lined the waterfront. Festivities include a parade of sail, flag-raising ceremonies, live music, dancing and fireworks.

Blue Hill Fair
Help on Labor Day Weekend, this is an old-time country fair that was the origin of the fair in Charlotte’s Web, written by the frequent inn guest E. B. White. Sheepdog trials and oxen and horse pulls are just a few of the many events. The fair is held at the Blue Hill Fairgrounds about five miles from the inn.

The Common Ground Country Fair
Unity, is a celebration of rural life. It features demonstrations, Maine organic produced foods and crafts and livestock exhibits.

October

Private Tours of Nervous Nellies
Get a personalized tour of Nervous Nellies on Deer Isle. Taste jams, see the art and sculpture gardens.

Word. Blue Hill Literary Arts Festival
An annual event that fosters and celebrates the community of readers and writers on the Blue Hill Peninsula featuring workshops and fun events all weekend.

Aerial view of trees in the winter


Blue Hill Peninsula Skating Association operates the public ice rink in town just up the street from the Inn at 210 Union Street in Blue Hill, and the rink is open for general skating most days during the winter season.
Camden Snow Bowl is the closest ski center to Blue Hill offering downhill skiing and tubing as part of its resort campus just a little over one hour away.
Blue Hill Peninsula Nordic Ski Club operates in the Witherle Woods area of Castine as part of the Maine Coast Heritage Trust. Lessons and trails are available for all ages to experience the beauty and health benefits of cross-country skiing.
Acadia National Park is a perfect place to experience winter with snowshoeing, hiking, snowmobiling, ice fishing and cross-country skiing in America’s second most-visited national park along with astounding views.
The Blue Hill Heritage Trust Winter Hiking Challenge is co-sponsored each winter by the Blue Hill Library. Markers are posted at several locations throughout the BHHT trail system, and hikers are encouraged to collect the educational items and learn more about the wildlife and ecology of the area.
The Schoodic Peninsula is also a great place to visit for winter bird watching and scenic views along with the research and educational programs at the Schoodic Institute.