9 fall food festivals in Northern New England

Northern New England’s thriving culinary scene is renowned for fresh seafood, local produce, and creative dishes dreamed up by chefs from the finest restaurants. Here are nine entertaining fall festivals that celebrate our region’s gastronomic bounty.

Oysters raised in this area are known for a clean saltiness that’s perfect for slurping down raw, and upward of 10,000 Damariscotta River oysters are shucked during this event.

Sample briny offerings from several local ostreiculturists—the fancy word for oyster farmers. You can also cheer on shucking competition contestants vying for a chance at the national finals and enjoy live entertainment.

Non-oyster foods and dishes with cooked oysters are available, as are beer and wine. The event benefits the Edward A. Myers Marine Conservation Fund, whose mission is to support area marine education and conservation projects.

Festival details: September 29, Mine Oyster, Boothbay Harbor, noon–6 p.m. Adult tickets start at $15.

Garlic lovers head to Skowhegan’s celebration of the pungent allium. Keep the whole family amused with craft vendors, straw-bale mazes for the kids, free canoeing and kayaking around the lake, and corn-hole matches. Of course, food vendors serve garlic-centric dishes. Need a drink? Bigelow Brewing pours thirst-quenching drafts.

A rotating set of musicians keeps the atmosphere festive, and dancing is sure to break out as the day goes on.

Festival details: October 5–6, Lake George Regional Park (east side), Skowhegan, 9:30 a.m.–6 p.m. Saturday and 9:30 a.m.–3 p.m. Sunday. Adults, $5 per day. Some on-site parking is available; the festival runs a free parking shuttle from North Elementary School.

Going strong since 2008, this multiday event in Portland’s Old Harbor promotes Maine’s diverse gastronomic treasures and features creations from the state’s distillers, brewers, and seafood purveyors. Attend “Meet Your Maker” sessions to learn from local craft distillers about their products and sample their spirits in custom cocktails.

Additional activities include a sit-down dinner, a farmers and food producers market, and a showcase of chef-created specialties from the town’s finest kitchens.

Festival details: October 23–26, O’Maine Studios, 54 Danforth Street, Portland. Tickets ($75, must be 21 or older) are available only through the event’s website.

The pickle reigns supreme when this free event kicks off with a Main Street parade. For more than 25 years, lovers of this tangy treat have enjoyed the friendly competition in the pickle-eating and canning contests. Numerous free pickle samples are given out during the festival, including traditional bread-and-butter and kosher dill along with unusual flavors such as horseradish and red-hots.

You can also enjoy live music from local bands, an all-day farmers market, kids’ activities, and chain-saw wood-carving demos. Festival-related merchandise sales help fund scholarships for local students.

Festival details: September 28, downtown Winchester, 10 a.m.–4 p.m. Parking with shuttle service available at the Winchester School.

What’s better than french fries dotted with cheese curds and covered in a savory gravy? This festival celebrates Quebec’s ultimate comfort food. Sample and vote on offerings from several restaurants and food trucks contending for the coveted “Best Poutine of the Fest” award. Music, games, and kids’ activities are also on tap.

Ticket prices include samples from each vendor and parking. Proceeds support the Franco-American Centre, a nonprofit in Manchester that celebrates and promotes French language and culture.

Festival details: October 12, Budweiser Brewery, Merrimack. Adult tickets start at $54.99 and include parking and poutine samples. The limited Première admission level ($74.99) adds early entry, an official event T-shirt, and a winter hat. Tickets must be purchased through the website; they typically go on sale in mid-August and sell out quickly. You can sign up on the website to be notified about future events.

This sweet tradition heralds the approaching holidays. Take in the sparkling lights and festive decorations throughout Jackson from the comfort of an Austrian-style horse-drawn sleigh. Stop at six local establishments to receive locally made chocolate treasures such as truffles, chocolate chipotle torte, and chocolate peppermint bark.

Tickets include all chocolate tastings, a jingle bell, and a holiday-themed bag to hold any treats you don’t gobble down immediately.

Festival details: Saturdays and Sundays from November 23 through December 22; rides leave hourly 11 a.m.–4 p.m. from the Snowflake Inn, 95 Main Street, Jackson. Tickets, $45 per person. Reservations open November 1; visitors who book a stay at one of Jackson’s Chocolatier properties may buy tour tickets early.

Vermont’s capital city welcomes everyone to this free block party-style festival. Guests can explore world-class restaurants and local vendors throughout downtown as musicians perform along the streets and chefs demonstrate new tastes and techniques. Some vendors offer free samples, and a cocktail garden will feature Caledonia Spirits’ line of Barr Hill liquors.

The smallest capital city in the U.S. is recovering after devastating flooding in 2023, and this festival is a testament to the community’s resilience.

Festival details: September 14, downtown Montpelier, 1–5 p.m.

Savor the splendor of Vermont’s fall colors and the best of the state’s vintners, specialty food producers, cheesemakers, and chefs at this two-day, two-location bacchanal. The annual event begins Friday in downtown Wilmington with the Wine Stroll and Soup Contest.

Admission includes a complimentary tasting glass to try locally made wines and a passport to judge more than 15 soup samples from local chefs.

On Saturday, find more than 70 food and drink vendors, plus numerous artisans, at West Dover’s Mount Snow Resort for the Grand Tasting and Artisan Expo. While there, you can buy Bluebird lift tickets for a bird’s-eye view of the colorful mountainside foliage.

Festival details: Wine Stroll and Soup Contest on September 20, downtown Wilmington, 4–7 p.m., $35. Grand Tasting and Artisan Expo on September 21, Mount Snow Resort, West Dover, 11 a.m.–5 p.m., $38.

Although the Gilfeather turnip didn’t become Vermont’s state vegetable until 2016, Wardsboro has loved the tasty root since John Gilfeather cultivated it there in the early 1900s.

The free annual festival began in 2002, run by the Wardsboro Library Trustees. It includes kid-centric activities, turnip-themed crafts and books, creamy Gilfeather turnip soup, and the chance to hobnob with turnip-centric food vendors and local cheesemakers. Contests feature the largest locally grown turnip, the largest from outside the area, and the best-decorated root.

This year’s event also screens a documentary about Gilfeather and how he developed his namesake veggie. Bring a bag to take turnips home or purchase some genuine Gilfeather turnip seeds to grow your own.

Festival details: October 26, 10 a.m.–2 p.m., Wardsboro Public Library. $5 donation for parking.

Pamela Hunt, a freelance writer in Burlington, Vermont, writes regularly for AAA publications.