Inside Maine
SPORTS
Girl Power
In the mood for something a little . . . different? Then check out Maine Roller Derby's bout against the Albany All Stars October 6 at the Portland Expo. That's right, roller derby is back, this time as a women-run enterprise full of big hits and non-stop action. Watch the skaters (including Goldie Headlocks, Trouble & Strife, and the Mom Bomb), grab a brew from the beer garden, and sit back for an evening of entertainment like none other. Park St. Doors open at 5 p.m.; the bout starts at 6. $10 for adults, $5 for kids. 207-712-3178. www.mainerollerderby.com
CULTURE
Into the Woods
Step into your wayback machine at Living History Days, the Maine Forest & Logging Museum's periodic reenactment of life as it was in the 1790s in Leonard's Mills, an early pioneer settlement between Milford and Brewer. Take a bateau trip or wagon ride, make cedar shakes, watch a water-powered sawmill, and drink fresh-pressed cider like a real pioneer. Oct. 6 & 7, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. $2-$7. Rte. 178, Bradley. 207-581-2871. www.leonardsmills.com
ART
All Natural
Maine is famous for its landscape, and Maine is famous for its landscape painters. So what makes better sense than an art sale benefiting the places these artists love? That's the concept behind Contours, an exhibit at the Elan Fine Arts gallery in Rockport that aims to raise money for the nonprofit Coastal Mountains Land Trust. Participating artists include Greg Mort, Alan Magee, Thomas Paquette, Joyce Tenneson, Connie Hayes, Dahlov Ipcar, Linden Frederick, Jill Hoy, Marguerite Robichaux, Alan Bray, Lois Dodd, and Philip Frey. Oct. 5 - 28. 86 Pascal Ave. Rockport. 207-236-4401 www.elanfinearts.com
Before making plans to attend any of these events, call ahead to confirm, since dates and times may be subject to change. To submit event listings to Down East, send an e-mail to editorial@downeast.com or visit www.downeast.com .
MUSIC AND DANCE
American Idols Live
Reality TV comes to Portland. If only snarky Simon were along . . . Sept. 4 at 7 p.m. $48.50-$65. Cumberland County Civic Center, Spring St., Portland. 207-775-3458. www.theciviccenter.com
Aztec Two-Step
Rex Fowler and Neal Shulman of Aztec Two-Step have become one of folk music's most popular and enduring acts. Sept. 1 at 8 p.m. $20-$23. Camden Opera House, 29 Elm St. 207-236-2281. www.camdenoperahouse.com
The Bluegrass Gospel Project
Steeped in the Appalachian tradition, six of the Northeast's premiere bluegrass, country, and folk musicians play bluegrass songs infused with gospel lyrics. Sept. 29 at 7:30 p.m. $15. Camden Opera House, 29 Elm St. 207-236-7963. www.camdenoperahouse.com
Coco Montoya
Montoya is known for explosive guitar playing and a soul-driven voice. No wonder he has propelled himself to the upper reaches of the blues-rock world. Sept. 8 at 7:30 p.m. $22. The Grand, 165 Main St., Ellsworth. 207-667-9500. www.grandonline.org
Dougie MacLean
MacDougie, as his Scots mates call him, is a singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who has been performing his blend of traditional and contemporary music since the mid 1970s, when disco was all the rage. Sept. 14 at 7:30 p.m. $25. The Grand, 165 Main St., Ellsworth. 207-667-9500. www.grandonline.org
L.L. Bean Summer Concert Series
Not just a place to get boots. Bean's increasingly popular concert series continues with an array of big names. Sept. 1: Bela Fleck & the Flecktones (contemporary jazz); Sept. 2: Natalie MacMaster (Scottish folk). Both shows at 7:30 p.m. Free. L.L. Bean Discovery Park, Main St., Freeport. 800-559-0747, ext. 37222.
Ollabelle
Ollabelle draws from a deep well of gospel, blues, bluegrass, and country influences to create contemporary music. Award winning producer T-Bone Burnett says this about them: "They sing great and they play great and they are wonderful people." Sept. 22 at 7:30 p.m. $20. The Grand, 165 Main St., Ellsworth. 207-667-9500. www.grandonline.org
THEATER
Cinderella
Nasty stepsisters! Nasty. Sept. 14 - 30. $15-$20. The Portland Players, 420 Cottage Rd., South Portland. 207-799-7337. www.portlandplayers.org
The Full Monty
Sally Struthers and Hunter Foster return! Unemployed factory workers with nothing to lose have a bright idea. Sept. 18 - Oct. 6. $39-$43. The Ogunquit Playhouse, 10 Main St. 207-646-5511. www.ogunquitplayhouse.org
Hairspray
Baltimore's Tracy Turnblad is a big girl with big hair and an even bigger heart, with one big passion - to dance. This musical is the winner of eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Original Score. Through Sept. 15. $39-$43. Ogunquit Playhouse, 10 Main St. 207-646-5511. www.ogunquitplayhouse.org .
Jack the Ripper: Monster of Whitechapel
A comical, but also scary, treatment of the serial killer who terrorized London in the 1800s. Many of the characters and events are taken right from history, but others are pure comic invention, such as Pegeen Macdougal, a practitioner of white magic, and her familiar, Hogarth, who speaks only in cookbook terms. Through Sept. 5. $19-$25. Lakewood Theater, 76 Theater Rd., Skowhegan. 207-474-7176. www.lakewoodtheater.org
Leading Ladies
It's pandemonium as two Shakespearean actors don drag to get a million greenbacks from a dying spinster and fall in love with two girls. As girls. But they're guys. Got it? Through Sept. 1. $24-$35. Arundel Barn Playhouse, 53 Old Post Rd. 207-985-5552. www.arundelbarnplayhouse.com
The Merchant of Venice
It's got flesh. It's got revenge. It's got bigotry. Pretty modern drama. Sept. 21 & 22 at 7:30 p.m., Sept. 23 at 2 p.m. $10. Camden Opera House, 29 Elm St. 207-236-2281. www.camdenoperahouse.com
Once Upon A Mattress
The show that launched the career of Carol Burnett. Loosely based on the Princess and the Pea, this goofy retelling of the tale joins the unusual Princess Winifred "The Woebegone" with Prince Dauntless "The Drab." Sept. 27 - 30 and Oct. 4 - 7. $9-$26. The Theater at Monmouth, Main St. 207-933-9999. www.theateratmonmouth.org
Talking Heads
Written for the BBC by playwright Alan Bennett, this collection of monologues gives a glimpse in to the lives of five ordinary British people. Sept. 6 - 9 and 13 - 16 at 8 p.m., Sunday shows at 2 p.m. $5-$15. Steamboat Landing Park, Belfast. 207-338-9668. www.belfastmaskerstheater.com
Tom, Dick, and Harry
Tom and his wife are about to adopt a baby. His brothers are anxious to help make a good impression on the woman from the agency who has arrived to check on the home and lifestyle of the prospective parents. Unfortunately, one of the brothers has stashed boxes of smuggled brandy and cigarettes in the house and the other is in possession of a cadaver he is planning to sell illegally to a medical school. Sept. 13 - 22 at 8 p.m., and Sept. 16 at 4 p.m. $14-$25. Lakewood Theater, 76 Theater Rd., Skowhegan. 207-474-7176. www.lakewoodtheater.org
ART MUSEUMS
Bates Museum of Art
Green Horizons. The cornerstone of this exhibition is Manifest Destiny, a large mural by Alexis Rockman that was commissioned by the Brooklyn Museum of Art. The painting depicts the artist's apocalyptic vision of global warming's impact on the city. Through December. Free. 75 Russell St., Lewiston. 207-786-6158. www.bates.edu/museum.xml
Center for Maine Contemporary Art
Aaron Stephan. Stephan's sculpture evokes rather than spells out his concerns with history, language, and meaning, playing with ordinary objects that unsettle our unquestioned assumptions. Through Sept. 29. u Up Close. A group show for representational artists focusing on the subjects that constitute an important part of their oeuvre. Through Sept. 29. u Misuse. This small group show of approximately seven artists will look at how familiar, often domestic objects are made exotic, emblematic, or political. Through Oct. 7. $5. 162 Russell Ave., Rockport. 207-236-2875. www.artsmaine.org
Colby College Museum of Art
Whistler and Printmaking. While he achieved fame as a painter, James McNeill Whistler was also an extremely serious and innovative printmaker, producing some 450 etchings and about 180 lithographs over the course of his career. This exhibition comprises another selection of prints, never previously exhibited at the museum, from a major collection of Whistler prints on loan to the museum. Through Sept 9. Free. 5600 Mayflower Hill Dr., Waterville. 207-872-3228. www.colby.edu/museum
Farnsworth Art Museum & Wyeth Center
The American Made Alphabet: Aerial Photographs by Margot Balboni. In this series of twenty-six large-scale color photographs, aerial photographer Balboni reveals the American landscape that lays "over the hedge" and "past the 'No Trespassing' " sign. Through Sept. 23. u The Constructed Landscape. This exhibition brings together work by five contemporary artists - Rackstraw Downes, Linden Frederick, Yvonne Jacquette, John Moore, and Dennis Pinette - who portray in their paintings the constructed, rather than the natural, landscape. Through Oct. 7. u Bo Bartlett: Still Point. Working in Seattle and on Matinicus and Wheaton islands, Bartlett draws upon such richly diverse artistic sources as Renaissance fresco painting. Through Oct. 14. u Andrew Wyeth at Ninety. In celebration of Andrew Wyeth's ninetieth birthday, the Farnsworth will present an exhibition of some of his best-known Maine works. Through Oct. 28. u Recent Acquisitions & Contemporary Works from the Permanent Collection. Among the recent additions to the museum's permanent collection are works by Joanne Baldinger, Jeffrey Becton, Bob Brooks, Rudy Burckhardt, David Driskell, Janet Fish, John Moore, Elke Morris, Will Ryman, and Hunt Slonem. u Sept. 29 - June 8, 2008.$8-$10. 16 Museum St., Rockland. 207-596-6457. www.farnsworthmuseum.org
Ogunquit Museum of American Art
Paintings by Lincoln Perry. Perry is described as "a figurative painter of narratives." His elegantly crafted paintings have been compared to the work of such European masters as Poussin, de Chirico, and Balthus. This exhibition will consist of a selection of oils and watercolors created by the artist during the past three decades. Through Oct. 3. u Ansel Adams: The Man Who Captured the Earth's Beauty. Adams (1902-1984) was among the last of the Romantic artists who saw the great spaces of wilderness as a metaphor for freedom and heroic aspirations. The twenty-five black and white photographs that comprise this exhibition include many of his most famous images of the Yosemite, Sierra Nevada Sequoia, Yellowstone, and the Grand Teton national parks. Through Oct. 3. u Watercolors from the OMAA Permanent Collection. This exhibition will comprise a selection of exceptional watercolors. Among the artists represented in the show will be Edward Betts, Charles Burchfield, Charles Demuth, DeWitt Hardy, Peter Hurd, Bernard Karfiol, Walt Kuhn, John Wesley Little, John Marin, Reginald Marsh, Robert Eric Moore, Eliot O'Hara, William Preston, David von Schlegell, Charles Woodbury, William Zorach, and Marguerite Zorach. Through Oct. 31. $4-$7. 543 Shore Rd., Ogunquit. 207-646-4909. www.ogunquitmuseum.org
Portland Museum of Art
Vividly True to Nature: Harrison Bird Brown, 1831-1915. This exhibition features approximately forty paintings and a smaller group of works on paper by the late-nineteenth-century landscape painter Harrison Bird Brown. From the Atlantic to the Mediterranean and the White Mountains to the Alps, Brown's views both capture and communicate an abiding love for nature along with a fascination for humankind's place within it. Through Sept. 9. u Frank Lloyd Wright and the House Beautiful. This exhibition focuses on Wright's legendary skill in creating harmony between architectural structure and interior design while fulfilling the needs of a modern lifestyle. Featuring approximately one hundred original objects, the exhibition includes furniture, metalwork, textiles, drawings, and accessories from the collections of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation and other public and private collections. Through Oct. 8. u Graphite. This exhibition features twenty-five works drawn from the museum's permanent collection and on loan from local artists. Family portraits by Brett Bigbee and Alex Katz, architectural views of Portland by Robert Solotaire and Rackstraw Downes, and minimalist renderings by Scott Davis and Kendra Ferguson present a wide range of subjects and approaches to this single, versatile medium. Sept. 1 - Nov. 25. $4-$10, and free Fridays 5 p.m. - 9 p.m. 7 Congress Square, Portland. 207-775-6148. www.portlandmuseum.org
The University of Maine Museum of Art
Millions Taken: Daily Photographs from Everyone and Everywhere. This exhibition explores the idea that photographs are an integral part of daily life and that we all have a hand in creating and collecting them. Displayed floor to ceiling in the museum will be photographs from all over the globe, submitted by the public. Through Oct. 6. $3. Norumbega Hall, 40 Harlow St., Bangor. 207-561-3350. www.umma.umaine.edu
University of New England Art Museum
On Island: Women Artists of Monhegan. Works by thirty-five women who capture the essence of Monhegan and its role in the history of American art. Ranging in age from young to old, these artists cover the most recent fifty years on an island that has attracted its fair share of artists since 1850. Through Sept. 23. u Faces of the Mind: Portraits of Mental Illness. This show features photographer Gerald Robinov's photos of patients at Spring Harbor Hospital in Portland, and Peer Place Drop-in Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, which treat individuals with acute mental disorders. Sept. 25 - Nov. 25. Free. 716 Stevens Ave., Portland. 207-221-4499. www.une.edu/artgallery
Other Museums
Owls Head Transportation Museum
Pickup Truck Meet and Antique Aeroplane Show. Celebrate the state's most ubiquitous, though often overlooked, vehicle. Sept. 9. u Earth Movers and Shakers and Antique Aeroplane Show. An earth-moving gathering of large construction vehicles. Sept. 23. Rte. 73, Owls Head. 207-594-4418. www.ohtm.org
Penobscot Marine Museum
Through the Photographer's Lens: Penobscot Bay and Beyond. A celebration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the publication of Benjamin Mendlowitz's Calendar of Wooden Boats and a look at the work of noted photographers, past and present, whose work has captured the light and shadows of Penobscot Bay and beyond. Through Oct. 21. Church St., Searsport. $3-$8. 207-548-2529. www.penobscotmarinemuseum.org
Portland Harbor Museum
Picturing Portland: A Century of Change. This exhibit features the museum's Angell Collection of glass plate negatives from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The exhibit employs the concept of rephotography and pairs photographs from the Angell Collection with contemporary images taken by Bakery Photographic Collective (BPiC) photographers. The BPiC photographers have retaken the Angell Collection photographs from the same vantage point. Each pair of photographs, the old and the new, records visually the changes that have occurred, and in some cases not occurred, in Portland's harbor and waterfront over the past century. Through Nov. $4. Fort Rd.,
South Portland. 207-799-6337. www.portlandharbormuseum.org
Seashore Trolley Museum
Pumpkin Patch Trolley. This event features pumpkins for all children, face painting, pumpkin painting, and refreshments. Guests hop aboard a streetcar to Meserve's Crossing then onto a field to pick pumpkins. Sept. 22 & 23 and Sept. 29 & 30. $5.50-$8. 195 Log Cabin Rd., Kennebunkport. $5.50-$8. 207-967-2712. www.trolleymuseum.org
Fairs and festivals
For a complete list of Maine agricultural fairs, visit www.getrealmaine.com/visit/maine_fairs.html
Ashwood Waldorf School Michaelmas Harvest Festival
Celebrate harvest with crafts, games, music, and pageantry. This free event has the whole family in mind with a treasure hunt, delicious homemade food, a puppet play, and more. Sept. 29, 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. 180 Park St., Rockport. 207-236-8021. www.ashwoodwaldorf.org
Blue Hill Fair
Always scheduled around Labor Day weekend, the fair boasts some of the finest entertainment, attractions, and exhibits. Events include a large livestock area full of the usual farm animals, the "Crazy Critters" animal exhibit, powerful draft horse and oxen pulling, harness racing, and sheepdog trials. Aug. 30 - Sept. 3. $4-$7. Rte. 172, Blue Hill. 207-374-3701. www.bluehillfair.com
Camden International Film Festival
The Camden International Film Festival is a nonprofit organization providing audiences with the best in documentary film in an environment that allows direct access to the filmmakers. Venues include the Strand Theatre in Rockland, Bayview Street Cinema in Camden, and the Farnsworth Art Museum in Rockland. Sept. 27 - 30. $8-$150. www.camdenfilmfest.org
ChiliFest
See who makes the best chili in town - and bring a spoon. Live bands, vendors, car show, crafters, and tasting kits available. Sept. 8 & 9, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. Wells Harbor. 207-646-2451.
Common Ground Country Fair
All things organic get to party like fresh young things. Plus there's food, music, farming, crafts, social action, and good old-time gabbing. Sept. 21 - 23, gates open at 9 a.m. each day. $8-$10. Unity. 207-568-4142. www.mofga.org
Cumberland Fair
Held at the fairgrounds in Cumberland, just fifteen minutes from downtown Portland, the Cumberland Fair is still very much a country fair. Yeah, Cumberland is looking fairly suburban these days, and there are all the midway rides and junk food and bands the modern kids want. But the livestock events, craft shows, pumpkin contests, lumber cutting, blacksmith demonstrations, and harness racing remind us that the fair is 136 years old. Sept. 23 - 29. $2-$9. 207-829-5531. www.cumberlandfair.com
Fall Festival of Arts and Crafts
United Maine Craftsmen presents its sixth annual Fall Festival of Arts and Crafts, featuring more than a hundred of Maine's talented artisans selling their handmade products. $1. Sept. 8, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Smiling Hill Farm, 781 County Rd., Rte. 22, Westbrook. 207-621-2818. www.unitedmainecraftsmen.com
Laudholm Nature Crafts Festival
This prestigious event allows nearly a hundred artisans, selected by jury, to exhibit their wares to thousands of browsers. Music, food, and environmental education round out the two-day festival, which takes place at the spectacular Wells Reserve at Laudholm Farm. Sept. 8 & 9, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Free. Laudholm Farm Rd., off Rte. 1, just south of Rte. 9, Wells. 207-646-4521. www.laudholm.org
The Lakes Brew Fest
Beer. More beer. And still more beer. That's the Brew Fest in a bottle. There's also music, food, and the Point Sebago Artisans Craft Show. Sept. 29, 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. $18-$22. Point Sebago Resort, Casco. 207-647-3472. www.lakesbrewfest.com
Salmon Festival
The Salmon Festival celebrates the fishing industry of years past and the aquaculture industry of today with three days of festivities, including a salmon/chicken dinner, local chowders, live entertainment, a fine arts, crafts, and antiques fair, sailboat race, kid's road race, architectural walking tour, coffee house/ice-cream social, a motorcycle show, toy run, and lots more. Sept. 7 - 9. Free. Eastport. 207-853-4644. www.eastportme.net
Windsor Fair
Just a stone's throw from the state capital, Windsor hosts a country fair famed for its large midway, animal pulling events, and harness racing. Aug. 26 - Sept. 3. $6-$8. Route 32. 207-549-5249. www.windsorfair.com
Special Events
Art at Waterfront Park
This juried show features more than twenty artists from Maine and beyond, including members of the Boothbay Region Art Foundation, and offers eclectic selections of varied styles of art. Sept. 2 (rain date Sept. 3), 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Boothbay Harbor. 207-633-2703. www.boothbayartists.org
Bar Harbor Food & Wine Classic
This event has visiting winemakers, wine authorities, and chefs showcase the great marriage of food and wine. It also includes grand vintners' dinners, tasting seminars, champagne brunches, Riedel glass demos, and local and international music. Venues include the Bar Harbor Club, Havana, and McKay's Public House. Sept. 7 - 16. $38.46-$102.66. 207-288-5033. www.barharborfoodandwineclassic.com
Blue Angels
The navy's precision flight demonstration team, the Blue Angels, comes screeching and tumbling into Maine. The show includes more than fifteen military and civilian aerial acts and fifty-plus military aircraft on ground display. Sept. 15 & 16. Free. Naval Air Station, Brunswick. 207-921-2000. www.greaterstateofmaineairshow.com
Brown Bag Lectures
Todd Woofenden, author of Hunters of the Steel Sharks: The Submarine Chasers of WWI, tells the history of the submarine chasers of the Great War. Sept. 5, noon - 1 p.m. u Meredith Hall's Without A Map: A Memoir begins in 1965, when Hall becomes pregnant at sixteen. Shunned by her insular New Hampshire community, she is kicked out of the house by her mother. Her father and stepmother reluctantly take her in, hiding her before they finally banish her altogether. After giving her baby up for adoption, Hall wanders recklessly through the Middle East, where she survives by selling her possessions and finally her blood. Called "stunning" by Booklist and in a starred review by Kirkus, it was hailed as "An unusually powerful coming-of-age memoir . . . Searching, humble and quietly triumphant." Sept. 12, noon - 1 p.m. u Spanning the first half of the twentieth century, Golden Country, by author Jennifer Gilmore, tells the intertwining stories of three immigrants seeking their fortunes. This is Gilmore's reinvention of the Jewish American novel, capturing the exuberance of the American dream while exposing its underbelly: disillusionment, greed, and the disaffection bred by success. Sept. 26, noon - 1 p.m. Free. Rines Auditorium, 5 Monument Square, Portland. 207-871-1700. www.portlandlibrary.com
Coastal Maine Antiques Show
A rustic setting of three large tents, a small one, and two levels of a barn is the venue for this show at the Round Top Center for the Arts. Aug. 29, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. Damariscotta. 207-879-9253.
Country Roads Artists & Artisans Tour
Open studio tour of more than twenty local artists and artisans in midcoast Maine. Local craftspeople will showcase their skills, display work, demonstrate techniques, answer questions, and serve light refreshments. Sept. 14 - 16, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Free. 207-236-9619. www.artisanstour.com
Fiber College
Want to know everything there is to know about fiber? Here's the place. There will be more than forty classes, demonstrations, and lectures aimed toward all skill levels. Subjects range from spinning to tapestry weaving and needle arts to mixed media quilting. Students may attend classes on animal husbandry, fiber dye techniques, and working with natural fibers by spinning, wet and dry felting, hooking, and braiding. Sept. 7 - 9. $25-$60. Searsport Shores Ocean Camping, 216 West Main St., Searsport. www.campocean.com
The Food School
Learn organic gardening, skills and techniques for making great compost, food preservation, delicious and nourishing vegetarian cooking, and more at the Good Life Center. Cooking instruction will be led by Claire Menck, chef instructor for the New England Culinary Institute. Sept. 9 - 14. $400-$500. Forest Farm, 372 Harborside Rd., Harborside. 207-326-8211.
HarborArts Juried Arts & Crafts Show
More than a hundred artists and craftspeople display and sell their work in Camden. Sept. 29 - 30. Free. Camden Harbor Park. 207-236-4404. www.visitcamden.com
Maine Antiques Dealers Association Antiques Show
Seventy-three of New England's finest antiques dealers offer their wares on Portland's air-conditioned Racket and Fitness Center. Sept. 15 & 16, Saturday 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. and Sunday 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. $10. 2445 Congress St., Portland. 207-781-5367.
Maine Antique Paper Show
From throughout the Northeast, dealers of old maps, antiquarian books, trading cards, letters, and photographs bring their collectibles and treasures to Maine. Sept. 9, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. $4. Holiday Inn West, 81 Riverside St. (Exit 48), Portland. 207-828-8065.
Maine Woodcarvers Association and Wildlife Artists Show
Need a wood fix? This twenty-four-year-old organization's annual show features carvings of every kind and wildlife artists' work in every medium. Also carving demonstrations of all kinds (even chainsaw) every hour, both days. Sept. 29, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. & Sept. 30, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. $3. Augusta Armory, Western Ave. 207-442-7055. www.mainewoodcarvers.org
Ogunquit Antiques Show and Sale
With the summertime crowds gone, why not wander into the resort town of Ogunquit for a keepsake from the past? Sept. 15 & 16, Saturday 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. and Sunday 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. $5. S.J. Dunaway Center, School St. 207-646-0296.
Rockhounders Gem and Mineral Show
Who knew so much goes on below the Earth's crust? Enjoy door prizes, demonstrations in faceting, cabbing and lapidary, display booths, mineral displays, jewelry, gems and fossils, and games for kids. Sept. 1, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. & Sept. 2, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Free. National Guard Armory, Western Ave., Augusta. 207-873-6270.
Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village Apple Saturdays
An orchid exhibit, orchard walk, and pick-your-own, as well as apple pie sale, homemade cider and doughnuts, and cider pressing. Sept. 22 and 29. 707 Shaker Rd., New Gloucester. 207-926-4597. www.shaker.lib.me.us
Southern Maine Medical Center Outdoor Antiques Appraisal
The Antiques Roadshow comes to Cape Porpoise. Well, at least the Thomaston Place Auction Galleries does, in an antiques appraisal for the public. Get one item appraised for eight dollars or three for twenty. Proceeds benefit Southern Maine Medical Center Life Promise Capital Campaign. Sept. 26, 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. American Legion Post 159, Rte. 9, Cape Porpoise. 207-967-3860.
Tow Truck Meet and Parade
Here's an event where you will be happy to see the tow truck. Events include driver-skill tests, police and fire demos, parade, awards, and other fun stuff to do with flatbeds. Sponsored by the Towing and Recovery Association of Maine. Sept. 7 - 8. Free. Memorial Park, Old Orchard Beach. 207-934-2500. www.oldorchardbeachmaine.com
Windjammer Weekend
The largest gathering of windjammers in the United States converges in Camden. Event includes food, music, schooner tours, sea chanteys, competitions, ceremonies, fireworks, and all-around good scuttlebutt. Through Sept. 2. Free. 207-236-4404. www.windjammerweekend.com
Girl Power
In the mood for something a little . . . different? Then check out Maine Roller Derby's bout against the Albany All Stars October 6 at the Portland Expo. That's right, roller derby is back, this time as a women-run enterprise full of big hits and non-stop action. Watch the skaters (including Goldie Headlocks, Trouble & Strife, and the Mom Bomb), grab a brew from the beer garden, and sit back for an evening of entertainment like none other. Park St. Doors open at 5 p.m.; the bout starts at 6. $10 for adults, $5 for kids. 207-712-3178. www.mainerollerderby.com
CULTURE
Into the Woods
Step into your wayback machine at Living History Days, the Maine Forest & Logging Museum's periodic reenactment of life as it was in the 1790s in Leonard's Mills, an early pioneer settlement between Milford and Brewer. Take a bateau trip or wagon ride, make cedar shakes, watch a water-powered sawmill, and drink fresh-pressed cider like a real pioneer. Oct. 6 & 7, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. $2-$7. Rte. 178, Bradley. 207-581-2871. www.leonardsmills.com
ART
All Natural
Maine is famous for its landscape, and Maine is famous for its landscape painters. So what makes better sense than an art sale benefiting the places these artists love? That's the concept behind Contours, an exhibit at the Elan Fine Arts gallery in Rockport that aims to raise money for the nonprofit Coastal Mountains Land Trust. Participating artists include Greg Mort, Alan Magee, Thomas Paquette, Joyce Tenneson, Connie Hayes, Dahlov Ipcar, Linden Frederick, Jill Hoy, Marguerite Robichaux, Alan Bray, Lois Dodd, and Philip Frey. Oct. 5 - 28. 86 Pascal Ave. Rockport. 207-236-4401 www.elanfinearts.com
Before making plans to attend any of these events, call ahead to confirm, since dates and times may be subject to change. To submit event listings to Down East, send an e-mail to editorial@downeast.com or visit www.downeast.com .
MUSIC AND DANCE
American Idols Live
Reality TV comes to Portland. If only snarky Simon were along . . . Sept. 4 at 7 p.m. $48.50-$65. Cumberland County Civic Center, Spring St., Portland. 207-775-3458. www.theciviccenter.com
Aztec Two-Step
Rex Fowler and Neal Shulman of Aztec Two-Step have become one of folk music's most popular and enduring acts. Sept. 1 at 8 p.m. $20-$23. Camden Opera House, 29 Elm St. 207-236-2281. www.camdenoperahouse.com
The Bluegrass Gospel Project
Steeped in the Appalachian tradition, six of the Northeast's premiere bluegrass, country, and folk musicians play bluegrass songs infused with gospel lyrics. Sept. 29 at 7:30 p.m. $15. Camden Opera House, 29 Elm St. 207-236-7963. www.camdenoperahouse.com
Coco Montoya
Montoya is known for explosive guitar playing and a soul-driven voice. No wonder he has propelled himself to the upper reaches of the blues-rock world. Sept. 8 at 7:30 p.m. $22. The Grand, 165 Main St., Ellsworth. 207-667-9500. www.grandonline.org
Dougie MacLean
MacDougie, as his Scots mates call him, is a singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who has been performing his blend of traditional and contemporary music since the mid 1970s, when disco was all the rage. Sept. 14 at 7:30 p.m. $25. The Grand, 165 Main St., Ellsworth. 207-667-9500. www.grandonline.org
L.L. Bean Summer Concert Series
Not just a place to get boots. Bean's increasingly popular concert series continues with an array of big names. Sept. 1: Bela Fleck & the Flecktones (contemporary jazz); Sept. 2: Natalie MacMaster (Scottish folk). Both shows at 7:30 p.m. Free. L.L. Bean Discovery Park, Main St., Freeport. 800-559-0747, ext. 37222.
Ollabelle
Ollabelle draws from a deep well of gospel, blues, bluegrass, and country influences to create contemporary music. Award winning producer T-Bone Burnett says this about them: "They sing great and they play great and they are wonderful people." Sept. 22 at 7:30 p.m. $20. The Grand, 165 Main St., Ellsworth. 207-667-9500. www.grandonline.org
THEATER
Cinderella
Nasty stepsisters! Nasty. Sept. 14 - 30. $15-$20. The Portland Players, 420 Cottage Rd., South Portland. 207-799-7337. www.portlandplayers.org
The Full Monty
Sally Struthers and Hunter Foster return! Unemployed factory workers with nothing to lose have a bright idea. Sept. 18 - Oct. 6. $39-$43. The Ogunquit Playhouse, 10 Main St. 207-646-5511. www.ogunquitplayhouse.org
Hairspray
Baltimore's Tracy Turnblad is a big girl with big hair and an even bigger heart, with one big passion - to dance. This musical is the winner of eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Original Score. Through Sept. 15. $39-$43. Ogunquit Playhouse, 10 Main St. 207-646-5511. www.ogunquitplayhouse.org .
Jack the Ripper: Monster of Whitechapel
A comical, but also scary, treatment of the serial killer who terrorized London in the 1800s. Many of the characters and events are taken right from history, but others are pure comic invention, such as Pegeen Macdougal, a practitioner of white magic, and her familiar, Hogarth, who speaks only in cookbook terms. Through Sept. 5. $19-$25. Lakewood Theater, 76 Theater Rd., Skowhegan. 207-474-7176. www.lakewoodtheater.org
Leading Ladies
It's pandemonium as two Shakespearean actors don drag to get a million greenbacks from a dying spinster and fall in love with two girls. As girls. But they're guys. Got it? Through Sept. 1. $24-$35. Arundel Barn Playhouse, 53 Old Post Rd. 207-985-5552. www.arundelbarnplayhouse.com
The Merchant of Venice
It's got flesh. It's got revenge. It's got bigotry. Pretty modern drama. Sept. 21 & 22 at 7:30 p.m., Sept. 23 at 2 p.m. $10. Camden Opera House, 29 Elm St. 207-236-2281. www.camdenoperahouse.com
Once Upon A Mattress
The show that launched the career of Carol Burnett. Loosely based on the Princess and the Pea, this goofy retelling of the tale joins the unusual Princess Winifred "The Woebegone" with Prince Dauntless "The Drab." Sept. 27 - 30 and Oct. 4 - 7. $9-$26. The Theater at Monmouth, Main St. 207-933-9999. www.theateratmonmouth.org
Talking Heads
Written for the BBC by playwright Alan Bennett, this collection of monologues gives a glimpse in to the lives of five ordinary British people. Sept. 6 - 9 and 13 - 16 at 8 p.m., Sunday shows at 2 p.m. $5-$15. Steamboat Landing Park, Belfast. 207-338-9668. www.belfastmaskerstheater.com
Tom, Dick, and Harry
Tom and his wife are about to adopt a baby. His brothers are anxious to help make a good impression on the woman from the agency who has arrived to check on the home and lifestyle of the prospective parents. Unfortunately, one of the brothers has stashed boxes of smuggled brandy and cigarettes in the house and the other is in possession of a cadaver he is planning to sell illegally to a medical school. Sept. 13 - 22 at 8 p.m., and Sept. 16 at 4 p.m. $14-$25. Lakewood Theater, 76 Theater Rd., Skowhegan. 207-474-7176. www.lakewoodtheater.org
ART MUSEUMS
Bates Museum of Art
Green Horizons. The cornerstone of this exhibition is Manifest Destiny, a large mural by Alexis Rockman that was commissioned by the Brooklyn Museum of Art. The painting depicts the artist's apocalyptic vision of global warming's impact on the city. Through December. Free. 75 Russell St., Lewiston. 207-786-6158. www.bates.edu/museum.xml
Center for Maine Contemporary Art
Aaron Stephan. Stephan's sculpture evokes rather than spells out his concerns with history, language, and meaning, playing with ordinary objects that unsettle our unquestioned assumptions. Through Sept. 29. u Up Close. A group show for representational artists focusing on the subjects that constitute an important part of their oeuvre. Through Sept. 29. u Misuse. This small group show of approximately seven artists will look at how familiar, often domestic objects are made exotic, emblematic, or political. Through Oct. 7. $5. 162 Russell Ave., Rockport. 207-236-2875. www.artsmaine.org
Colby College Museum of Art
Whistler and Printmaking. While he achieved fame as a painter, James McNeill Whistler was also an extremely serious and innovative printmaker, producing some 450 etchings and about 180 lithographs over the course of his career. This exhibition comprises another selection of prints, never previously exhibited at the museum, from a major collection of Whistler prints on loan to the museum. Through Sept 9. Free. 5600 Mayflower Hill Dr., Waterville. 207-872-3228. www.colby.edu/museum
Farnsworth Art Museum & Wyeth Center
The American Made Alphabet: Aerial Photographs by Margot Balboni. In this series of twenty-six large-scale color photographs, aerial photographer Balboni reveals the American landscape that lays "over the hedge" and "past the 'No Trespassing' " sign. Through Sept. 23. u The Constructed Landscape. This exhibition brings together work by five contemporary artists - Rackstraw Downes, Linden Frederick, Yvonne Jacquette, John Moore, and Dennis Pinette - who portray in their paintings the constructed, rather than the natural, landscape. Through Oct. 7. u Bo Bartlett: Still Point. Working in Seattle and on Matinicus and Wheaton islands, Bartlett draws upon such richly diverse artistic sources as Renaissance fresco painting. Through Oct. 14. u Andrew Wyeth at Ninety. In celebration of Andrew Wyeth's ninetieth birthday, the Farnsworth will present an exhibition of some of his best-known Maine works. Through Oct. 28. u Recent Acquisitions & Contemporary Works from the Permanent Collection. Among the recent additions to the museum's permanent collection are works by Joanne Baldinger, Jeffrey Becton, Bob Brooks, Rudy Burckhardt, David Driskell, Janet Fish, John Moore, Elke Morris, Will Ryman, and Hunt Slonem. u Sept. 29 - June 8, 2008.$8-$10. 16 Museum St., Rockland. 207-596-6457. www.farnsworthmuseum.org
Ogunquit Museum of American Art
Paintings by Lincoln Perry. Perry is described as "a figurative painter of narratives." His elegantly crafted paintings have been compared to the work of such European masters as Poussin, de Chirico, and Balthus. This exhibition will consist of a selection of oils and watercolors created by the artist during the past three decades. Through Oct. 3. u Ansel Adams: The Man Who Captured the Earth's Beauty. Adams (1902-1984) was among the last of the Romantic artists who saw the great spaces of wilderness as a metaphor for freedom and heroic aspirations. The twenty-five black and white photographs that comprise this exhibition include many of his most famous images of the Yosemite, Sierra Nevada Sequoia, Yellowstone, and the Grand Teton national parks. Through Oct. 3. u Watercolors from the OMAA Permanent Collection. This exhibition will comprise a selection of exceptional watercolors. Among the artists represented in the show will be Edward Betts, Charles Burchfield, Charles Demuth, DeWitt Hardy, Peter Hurd, Bernard Karfiol, Walt Kuhn, John Wesley Little, John Marin, Reginald Marsh, Robert Eric Moore, Eliot O'Hara, William Preston, David von Schlegell, Charles Woodbury, William Zorach, and Marguerite Zorach. Through Oct. 31. $4-$7. 543 Shore Rd., Ogunquit. 207-646-4909. www.ogunquitmuseum.org
Portland Museum of Art
Vividly True to Nature: Harrison Bird Brown, 1831-1915. This exhibition features approximately forty paintings and a smaller group of works on paper by the late-nineteenth-century landscape painter Harrison Bird Brown. From the Atlantic to the Mediterranean and the White Mountains to the Alps, Brown's views both capture and communicate an abiding love for nature along with a fascination for humankind's place within it. Through Sept. 9. u Frank Lloyd Wright and the House Beautiful. This exhibition focuses on Wright's legendary skill in creating harmony between architectural structure and interior design while fulfilling the needs of a modern lifestyle. Featuring approximately one hundred original objects, the exhibition includes furniture, metalwork, textiles, drawings, and accessories from the collections of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation and other public and private collections. Through Oct. 8. u Graphite. This exhibition features twenty-five works drawn from the museum's permanent collection and on loan from local artists. Family portraits by Brett Bigbee and Alex Katz, architectural views of Portland by Robert Solotaire and Rackstraw Downes, and minimalist renderings by Scott Davis and Kendra Ferguson present a wide range of subjects and approaches to this single, versatile medium. Sept. 1 - Nov. 25. $4-$10, and free Fridays 5 p.m. - 9 p.m. 7 Congress Square, Portland. 207-775-6148. www.portlandmuseum.org
The University of Maine Museum of Art
Millions Taken: Daily Photographs from Everyone and Everywhere. This exhibition explores the idea that photographs are an integral part of daily life and that we all have a hand in creating and collecting them. Displayed floor to ceiling in the museum will be photographs from all over the globe, submitted by the public. Through Oct. 6. $3. Norumbega Hall, 40 Harlow St., Bangor. 207-561-3350. www.umma.umaine.edu
University of New England Art Museum
On Island: Women Artists of Monhegan. Works by thirty-five women who capture the essence of Monhegan and its role in the history of American art. Ranging in age from young to old, these artists cover the most recent fifty years on an island that has attracted its fair share of artists since 1850. Through Sept. 23. u Faces of the Mind: Portraits of Mental Illness. This show features photographer Gerald Robinov's photos of patients at Spring Harbor Hospital in Portland, and Peer Place Drop-in Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, which treat individuals with acute mental disorders. Sept. 25 - Nov. 25. Free. 716 Stevens Ave., Portland. 207-221-4499. www.une.edu/artgallery
Other Museums
Owls Head Transportation Museum
Pickup Truck Meet and Antique Aeroplane Show. Celebrate the state's most ubiquitous, though often overlooked, vehicle. Sept. 9. u Earth Movers and Shakers and Antique Aeroplane Show. An earth-moving gathering of large construction vehicles. Sept. 23. Rte. 73, Owls Head. 207-594-4418. www.ohtm.org
Penobscot Marine Museum
Through the Photographer's Lens: Penobscot Bay and Beyond. A celebration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the publication of Benjamin Mendlowitz's Calendar of Wooden Boats and a look at the work of noted photographers, past and present, whose work has captured the light and shadows of Penobscot Bay and beyond. Through Oct. 21. Church St., Searsport. $3-$8. 207-548-2529. www.penobscotmarinemuseum.org
Portland Harbor Museum
Picturing Portland: A Century of Change. This exhibit features the museum's Angell Collection of glass plate negatives from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The exhibit employs the concept of rephotography and pairs photographs from the Angell Collection with contemporary images taken by Bakery Photographic Collective (BPiC) photographers. The BPiC photographers have retaken the Angell Collection photographs from the same vantage point. Each pair of photographs, the old and the new, records visually the changes that have occurred, and in some cases not occurred, in Portland's harbor and waterfront over the past century. Through Nov. $4. Fort Rd.,
South Portland. 207-799-6337. www.portlandharbormuseum.org
Seashore Trolley Museum
Pumpkin Patch Trolley. This event features pumpkins for all children, face painting, pumpkin painting, and refreshments. Guests hop aboard a streetcar to Meserve's Crossing then onto a field to pick pumpkins. Sept. 22 & 23 and Sept. 29 & 30. $5.50-$8. 195 Log Cabin Rd., Kennebunkport. $5.50-$8. 207-967-2712. www.trolleymuseum.org
Fairs and festivals
For a complete list of Maine agricultural fairs, visit www.getrealmaine.com/visit/maine_fairs.html
Ashwood Waldorf School Michaelmas Harvest Festival
Celebrate harvest with crafts, games, music, and pageantry. This free event has the whole family in mind with a treasure hunt, delicious homemade food, a puppet play, and more. Sept. 29, 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. 180 Park St., Rockport. 207-236-8021. www.ashwoodwaldorf.org
Blue Hill Fair
Always scheduled around Labor Day weekend, the fair boasts some of the finest entertainment, attractions, and exhibits. Events include a large livestock area full of the usual farm animals, the "Crazy Critters" animal exhibit, powerful draft horse and oxen pulling, harness racing, and sheepdog trials. Aug. 30 - Sept. 3. $4-$7. Rte. 172, Blue Hill. 207-374-3701. www.bluehillfair.com
Camden International Film Festival
The Camden International Film Festival is a nonprofit organization providing audiences with the best in documentary film in an environment that allows direct access to the filmmakers. Venues include the Strand Theatre in Rockland, Bayview Street Cinema in Camden, and the Farnsworth Art Museum in Rockland. Sept. 27 - 30. $8-$150. www.camdenfilmfest.org
ChiliFest
See who makes the best chili in town - and bring a spoon. Live bands, vendors, car show, crafters, and tasting kits available. Sept. 8 & 9, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. Wells Harbor. 207-646-2451.
Common Ground Country Fair
All things organic get to party like fresh young things. Plus there's food, music, farming, crafts, social action, and good old-time gabbing. Sept. 21 - 23, gates open at 9 a.m. each day. $8-$10. Unity. 207-568-4142. www.mofga.org
Cumberland Fair
Held at the fairgrounds in Cumberland, just fifteen minutes from downtown Portland, the Cumberland Fair is still very much a country fair. Yeah, Cumberland is looking fairly suburban these days, and there are all the midway rides and junk food and bands the modern kids want. But the livestock events, craft shows, pumpkin contests, lumber cutting, blacksmith demonstrations, and harness racing remind us that the fair is 136 years old. Sept. 23 - 29. $2-$9. 207-829-5531. www.cumberlandfair.com
Fall Festival of Arts and Crafts
United Maine Craftsmen presents its sixth annual Fall Festival of Arts and Crafts, featuring more than a hundred of Maine's talented artisans selling their handmade products. $1. Sept. 8, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Smiling Hill Farm, 781 County Rd., Rte. 22, Westbrook. 207-621-2818. www.unitedmainecraftsmen.com
Laudholm Nature Crafts Festival
This prestigious event allows nearly a hundred artisans, selected by jury, to exhibit their wares to thousands of browsers. Music, food, and environmental education round out the two-day festival, which takes place at the spectacular Wells Reserve at Laudholm Farm. Sept. 8 & 9, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Free. Laudholm Farm Rd., off Rte. 1, just south of Rte. 9, Wells. 207-646-4521. www.laudholm.org
The Lakes Brew Fest
Beer. More beer. And still more beer. That's the Brew Fest in a bottle. There's also music, food, and the Point Sebago Artisans Craft Show. Sept. 29, 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. $18-$22. Point Sebago Resort, Casco. 207-647-3472. www.lakesbrewfest.com
Salmon Festival
The Salmon Festival celebrates the fishing industry of years past and the aquaculture industry of today with three days of festivities, including a salmon/chicken dinner, local chowders, live entertainment, a fine arts, crafts, and antiques fair, sailboat race, kid's road race, architectural walking tour, coffee house/ice-cream social, a motorcycle show, toy run, and lots more. Sept. 7 - 9. Free. Eastport. 207-853-4644. www.eastportme.net
Windsor Fair
Just a stone's throw from the state capital, Windsor hosts a country fair famed for its large midway, animal pulling events, and harness racing. Aug. 26 - Sept. 3. $6-$8. Route 32. 207-549-5249. www.windsorfair.com
Special Events
Art at Waterfront Park
This juried show features more than twenty artists from Maine and beyond, including members of the Boothbay Region Art Foundation, and offers eclectic selections of varied styles of art. Sept. 2 (rain date Sept. 3), 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Boothbay Harbor. 207-633-2703. www.boothbayartists.org
Bar Harbor Food & Wine Classic
This event has visiting winemakers, wine authorities, and chefs showcase the great marriage of food and wine. It also includes grand vintners' dinners, tasting seminars, champagne brunches, Riedel glass demos, and local and international music. Venues include the Bar Harbor Club, Havana, and McKay's Public House. Sept. 7 - 16. $38.46-$102.66. 207-288-5033. www.barharborfoodandwineclassic.com
Blue Angels
The navy's precision flight demonstration team, the Blue Angels, comes screeching and tumbling into Maine. The show includes more than fifteen military and civilian aerial acts and fifty-plus military aircraft on ground display. Sept. 15 & 16. Free. Naval Air Station, Brunswick. 207-921-2000. www.greaterstateofmaineairshow.com
Brown Bag Lectures
Todd Woofenden, author of Hunters of the Steel Sharks: The Submarine Chasers of WWI, tells the history of the submarine chasers of the Great War. Sept. 5, noon - 1 p.m. u Meredith Hall's Without A Map: A Memoir begins in 1965, when Hall becomes pregnant at sixteen. Shunned by her insular New Hampshire community, she is kicked out of the house by her mother. Her father and stepmother reluctantly take her in, hiding her before they finally banish her altogether. After giving her baby up for adoption, Hall wanders recklessly through the Middle East, where she survives by selling her possessions and finally her blood. Called "stunning" by Booklist and in a starred review by Kirkus, it was hailed as "An unusually powerful coming-of-age memoir . . . Searching, humble and quietly triumphant." Sept. 12, noon - 1 p.m. u Spanning the first half of the twentieth century, Golden Country, by author Jennifer Gilmore, tells the intertwining stories of three immigrants seeking their fortunes. This is Gilmore's reinvention of the Jewish American novel, capturing the exuberance of the American dream while exposing its underbelly: disillusionment, greed, and the disaffection bred by success. Sept. 26, noon - 1 p.m. Free. Rines Auditorium, 5 Monument Square, Portland. 207-871-1700. www.portlandlibrary.com
Coastal Maine Antiques Show
A rustic setting of three large tents, a small one, and two levels of a barn is the venue for this show at the Round Top Center for the Arts. Aug. 29, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. Damariscotta. 207-879-9253.
Country Roads Artists & Artisans Tour
Open studio tour of more than twenty local artists and artisans in midcoast Maine. Local craftspeople will showcase their skills, display work, demonstrate techniques, answer questions, and serve light refreshments. Sept. 14 - 16, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Free. 207-236-9619. www.artisanstour.com
Fiber College
Want to know everything there is to know about fiber? Here's the place. There will be more than forty classes, demonstrations, and lectures aimed toward all skill levels. Subjects range from spinning to tapestry weaving and needle arts to mixed media quilting. Students may attend classes on animal husbandry, fiber dye techniques, and working with natural fibers by spinning, wet and dry felting, hooking, and braiding. Sept. 7 - 9. $25-$60. Searsport Shores Ocean Camping, 216 West Main St., Searsport. www.campocean.com
The Food School
Learn organic gardening, skills and techniques for making great compost, food preservation, delicious and nourishing vegetarian cooking, and more at the Good Life Center. Cooking instruction will be led by Claire Menck, chef instructor for the New England Culinary Institute. Sept. 9 - 14. $400-$500. Forest Farm, 372 Harborside Rd., Harborside. 207-326-8211.
HarborArts Juried Arts & Crafts Show
More than a hundred artists and craftspeople display and sell their work in Camden. Sept. 29 - 30. Free. Camden Harbor Park. 207-236-4404. www.visitcamden.com
Maine Antiques Dealers Association Antiques Show
Seventy-three of New England's finest antiques dealers offer their wares on Portland's air-conditioned Racket and Fitness Center. Sept. 15 & 16, Saturday 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. and Sunday 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. $10. 2445 Congress St., Portland. 207-781-5367.
Maine Antique Paper Show
From throughout the Northeast, dealers of old maps, antiquarian books, trading cards, letters, and photographs bring their collectibles and treasures to Maine. Sept. 9, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. $4. Holiday Inn West, 81 Riverside St. (Exit 48), Portland. 207-828-8065.
Maine Woodcarvers Association and Wildlife Artists Show
Need a wood fix? This twenty-four-year-old organization's annual show features carvings of every kind and wildlife artists' work in every medium. Also carving demonstrations of all kinds (even chainsaw) every hour, both days. Sept. 29, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. & Sept. 30, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. $3. Augusta Armory, Western Ave. 207-442-7055. www.mainewoodcarvers.org
Ogunquit Antiques Show and Sale
With the summertime crowds gone, why not wander into the resort town of Ogunquit for a keepsake from the past? Sept. 15 & 16, Saturday 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. and Sunday 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. $5. S.J. Dunaway Center, School St. 207-646-0296.
Rockhounders Gem and Mineral Show
Who knew so much goes on below the Earth's crust? Enjoy door prizes, demonstrations in faceting, cabbing and lapidary, display booths, mineral displays, jewelry, gems and fossils, and games for kids. Sept. 1, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. & Sept. 2, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Free. National Guard Armory, Western Ave., Augusta. 207-873-6270.
Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village Apple Saturdays
An orchid exhibit, orchard walk, and pick-your-own, as well as apple pie sale, homemade cider and doughnuts, and cider pressing. Sept. 22 and 29. 707 Shaker Rd., New Gloucester. 207-926-4597. www.shaker.lib.me.us
Southern Maine Medical Center Outdoor Antiques Appraisal
The Antiques Roadshow comes to Cape Porpoise. Well, at least the Thomaston Place Auction Galleries does, in an antiques appraisal for the public. Get one item appraised for eight dollars or three for twenty. Proceeds benefit Southern Maine Medical Center Life Promise Capital Campaign. Sept. 26, 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. American Legion Post 159, Rte. 9, Cape Porpoise. 207-967-3860.
Tow Truck Meet and Parade
Here's an event where you will be happy to see the tow truck. Events include driver-skill tests, police and fire demos, parade, awards, and other fun stuff to do with flatbeds. Sponsored by the Towing and Recovery Association of Maine. Sept. 7 - 8. Free. Memorial Park, Old Orchard Beach. 207-934-2500. www.oldorchardbeachmaine.com
Windjammer Weekend
The largest gathering of windjammers in the United States converges in Camden. Event includes food, music, schooner tours, sea chanteys, competitions, ceremonies, fireworks, and all-around good scuttlebutt. Through Sept. 2. Free. 207-236-4404. www.windjammerweekend.com
