Thousands packed Fort Fairfield’s Main Street on Saturday for the Maine Potato Blossom Festival parade.
The weeklong festival began in 1947 and is one of Maine’s oldest established festivals, paying tribute to Aroostook County’s agricultural heritage and the state’s top crop.
Famously drawing area pageant queens, politicians, tractors and all kinds of marchers and floats, the massive parade is northern Maine’s largest and one of the festival’s most popular draws, a highlight of an entire week of activities.
Hundreds of volunteers work behind the scenes to make sure the festival runs smoothly each year, Festival Director Jane Towle said. She credited all the hardworking volunteers who came together to make the parade possible.
“They do a marvelous job, because I’ve always said ‘If a festival is not growing, it’s shrinking,’ and we are in super growth mode,” she said.
Things kicked off July 11 with the Chamber’s Smokin’ BBQ Cookoff, which saw trophies awarded to all three participants, Double D BBQ of Fort Fairfield, Smoky Bears BBQ of Easton and DNA BBQ of Caribou.
This year’s festival featured more than 90 events over its nine days, including movies at the rec center, a cornhole tournament, ballet lessons, crafting events, a pet show, sports events and a daylong music festival. There were also artisan demonstrations, potato decorating events, a bike parade, the popular morning walks with the Reynolds sisters and a fireworks show, to name just a few.
The Maine Potato Board held its annual industry dinner on July 16, presenting George McLaughlin with the 2026 Industry Recognition Award. McLaughlin spent 18 years serving as the board’s agricultural engineer.
Festival officials announced parade results Monday morning. The following earned awards: Aroostook Savings & Loan, Best Agriculture; Let’s Dance Studios, Most Original; Caribou queens, Best Queen Float; Pineland Farms Potato Company, Most Patriotic; Pines Health Services, Best Non Profit; Northern Maine Figure Skating Club, Best Kids Float; and Central Aroostook Community Band, Best Music.
The parade famously draws elected officials and those campaigning for office from all party affiliations. U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, the Republican incumbent who is running for a historic sixth term, was among those attending.
In response to last week’s deadly shooting in Biddeford in which a Colombian man was shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer, Collins said she would support regulatory changes to the organization including body cameras, which she supported through the recent appropriations bill.
“That was a horrible tragedy based on what we now know, but the investigation is not yet complete,” Collins said. “And that’s why the entire delegation has asked for an independent investigation by the inspector general.”
Collins said her first job was at age 10 picking potatoes, like many school kids in the region. The experience taught her to work hard and to honor commitments.
She is optimistic about the potato industry as a whole in Aroostook County, but is opposed to imposing tariffs on Canadian products that travel back and forth across the northern border.
Tariffs are taxes for imported goods or services from another country. The current agreement for U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods is for 10% on anything non-compliant with the United States-Mexico-Canada agreement.
The Trump administration, however, recently declined to renew the USMCA in its current form. Trump has also threatened to impose additional tariffs on Canada as a result of the recent wildfire smoke.
Some potatoes grown in the United States are processed and turned into French fries in Canada and then brought back to the United States to be distributed at various restaurants.
“Putting a tariff on them doesn’t make sense,” she said. “So that’s something I’ve consistently opposed.”
Other Maine products such as lobsters and blueberries are also negatively impacted by tariffs, she said.
The fees could shut down the Twin Rivers Paper Mill in Madawaska, which gets its pulp from a sister mill just across the border in Canada, she said. The mill provides more than 500 direct jobs.
Collins said she looks forward to returning to her native northern Maine for the festival.
“Needless to say, I’ve been here many many times, and it’s always wonderful to get home to The County. I’m from Caribou,” she said. “My family’s been there for generations, and I’ve gone to the Potato Blossom Festival every year.”
