Tate Dostie, 3, of Wales receives an exploding fist bump from Darth Vader during the 2019 Moxie Festival parade in Lisbon. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal file photo

LISBON — The town’s three-day Moxie Festival is back and Co-coordinator Kate Madore hopes attendance will reach prepandemic levels of around 20,000.

The festival kicks off Friday with the Moxie Recipe Contest at 4 p.m. at Lisbon High School. From 5 to 9 p.m. there will be vendors and food trucks, and music by the bands Roxy by Proxy and Sidetracked.

The second day of the festival will kick off with the Kids Fun Run at 7 a.m. at Lisbon High School, followed by the 5K road race. The classic Moxie parade will start at 10 a.m. from Capital Avenue to Crafts Cars.

Later at the Lisbon MTM Community Center, magician Scott Jamison will perform, followed by the Moxie Chugging Contest/Whoopie Pie Contest at 1:30 p.m. The Firemen’s Muster and a small competition between the two Fire Departments will take place directly after, also at the community center.

Children stretch and limber up at the starting line of the 2021 Moxie Festival Fun Run in Lisbon. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal file photo

“Look on the website for information about all of the events,” Madore said. “We have so much planned like concerts, a climbing wall, and massages for racers after the 5K road race.”

There will be vendors all day Saturday, along with music from 3 to 6 p.m. featuring the bands Smith Collaboration and Scarab.

The last day of the festival will feature the Moxie Car Show at Beaver Park from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. with music and food trucks. There will also be a bass fishing tournament on the Sabattus River and Pejepscot boat launch.

“We have a lot of new people who have just moved to Lisbon, and they all ask me about Moxie,” Madore said. “I tell them we love the soda all the same, but we love what it represents for Maine. Moxie is a bittersweet drink and I think that the past two years have been overly bitter and it’s time to have the sweet again.”

To volunteer at the festival contact Madore at lisrec@lisbonme.org.