The Camden Windjammer Festival is a community-led celebration of Camden’s maritime heritage and living traditions. From the great age of sail when four, five, and even six-masted schooners were launched into Camden Harbor through the birth of the windjammer business here in the 1930s and continuing with the elegant yachts that visit or call Camden home every summer, sailing ships have always defined this gorgeous community where the mountains meet the sea.
Every year on Labor Day weekend thousands of visitors from as far away as Alaska and as near as Bay View Street in Camden gather along the wharfs and parks to explore the ships themselves, learn salty crafts and skills, and swap sea stories and songs in talent shows and concerts that appeal to landlubbers and swabbies alike. Now in its sixteenth year, the Camden Windjammer Festival has become a wildly popular event for tourists as well as locals.
This year’s festival takes on special significance, as the Camden community recognizes not just what makes it unique but also the important role maritime heritage plays in shaping the lives of all who live here. This even is sponsored by Down East.