PITTSFIELD — Seven-year-old Max Duplisea took a break from painting the blue waves of the ocean Thursday morning to glance down at the drawing he had laid on the Main Street sidewalk.
“It’s a jellyfish,” he said. “I didn’t want to do any kind of whale, because it would take up too much space.”
Egg Festival Schedule
Friday
10 a.m.-6 p.m., Art Show at the Pittsfield Public Library.
10:30 a.m.-1 p.m., quiche and cheesecake contest at the Elks Lodge on Middle Street. Judging begins at 11 a.m., with a luncheon at noon.
1-2 p.m., Pittsfield Historical Society open for visitors.
4-8 p.m., Marketplace Tent opens in Manson Park featuring Maine crafts and artisans.
5:30-8 p.m., Vanessa Vhay performs at Manson Park Entertainment Tent.
6-8 p.m., Pittsfield Community Theater 100th Anniversary Celebration kicks off with performance by J&B band.
6:30-10 p.m., Kiwanis Karnival at Manson Park.
7:30-9:30 p.m., Steve Dunphy performs at Manson Park Entertainment Tent.
Saturday
7 a.m.-3 p.m., fly-in at the Pittsfield Municipal Airport including airplane rides and a pancake breakfast.
9 a.m., Marketplace Tent opens in Manson Park featuring Maine crafts and artisans.
9:15 a.m., the Famous Big Parade begins at Industrial Park and continues down Somerset Avenue through Main Street and into Manson Park.
11 a.m., Kiwanis Karnival opens.
Noon-1 p.m., Sebasticook Valley Community Band performs at the Entertainment Tent.
12:30 p.m., chicken and steak barbecue sponsored by the Detroit Fire Department.
1-2 p.m., comedian Keegan Page performs at the Entertainment Tent.
2-3 p.m., Vanessa Vhay at the Entertainment Tent.
2-4 p.m., parachute jumpers demonstration at the Pittsfield Municipal Airport.
3-5 p.m., The Resistance performs at the Entertainment Tent.
5 p.m., dog costume contest in the area of the Children’s Tent.
5:15-7:15 p.m., The Riff Johnson Band performs at the Entertainment Tent.
7:30-9:15 p.m., Pete Witham and the Cozmik Zombies perform at the Entertainment Tent.
9:15 p.m., fireworks in Manson Park.
All events are free and open to the public. There is a $5 parking fee at Manson Park on Saturday with proceeds going to next year’s festival.
Duplisea and his 9-year-old brother, Owen, were among dozens of children and families who turned up for the window painting competition at this year’s 43rd Central Maine Egg Festival. They crowded into a spot outside a vacant storefront next to 11-year-old Lauren Lancaster, who was painting a picture of an egg with eyelashes and the words “life,” “love” and “adventure.”
The theme of this year’s festival, which began on Monday and runs through Saturday, is “The Central Maine ‘Egg’sperience.”
Thursday morning’s window painting competition was one of several events scheduled for the week, which also includes a parade and fireworks on Saturday and a carnival at Manson Park.
The egg festival traditionally includes a giant frying pan on which eggs are cooked for a Saturday morning breakfast, but the breakfast was canceled this year because the Newport Fire Department, which traditionally sponsors the breakfast, is building a new fire station. The fire station move meant the equipment for the breakfast was unavailable, said Steve McCarron, festival president.
“It’s good for them, because they’re getting a new fire station, but bad for us,” he said.
The six-day event is a community tradition, McCarron said. “The kids get out and get together and the parents get fired up about it. It’s just a good week.”
The festival origins go back to the area’s history of commercial egg farms. Many of the farms are no longer in operation, but the event has continued to live on, McCarron said. It is sponsored by the local Kiwanis Club with most of the money raised redistributed in the community or supporting the following year’s festival.
In addition to the window painting on Main Street, there was an art show Thursday at the Pittsfield Public Library and an open house at the Pittsfield Community Theater. The carnival was scheduled to open at 6 p.m. at Manson Park.
Judging also was scheduled to take place for the window painting based on use of the festival theme, use of eggs, neatness and originality.
“Basically it’s whatever you like,” said Nancy Hughes, who was working with students from the Maine Central Institute Key Club to organize window painting on Thursday. “What’s it like to live in central Maine? Add some eggs to it.”
About 40 windows were scheduled to be painted on Thursday. Faith Humphrey and her son, Nick Humphrey, were working on a painting of fireworks with an egg for the moon and other eggs sitting in trees and on a bench.
“I took the week off to spend with him, and we wanted to do something different each day,” said Faith Humphrey, 45. They were planning to go to the carnival as well as Saturday’s parade.
Egg Festival attendees who are looking for an alternative event to the traditional Saturday breakfast can attend a fly-in scheduled for Saturday morning at the Pittsfield Municipal Airport, McCarron said.
“It’s all about being part of the community,” said Carol Robbins, manager at Renys on Main Street, as she watched painters decorate the store’s windows. “It’s great for kids to get out and be artistic. We hope to have some good artists on our windows, but it’s really about the kids and having fun.”
Rachel Ohm — 612-2368
Twitter: @rachel_ohm
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