Wild Blueberry Weekend Returns
Open to All, Maine’s Wild Blueberry Weekend Returns August 1–2
Courtesy of Wild Blueberry Weekend & The Wild Blueberry Commission of Maine
There is a brief moment each summer when many of Maine’s wild blueberry barrens shift from scenic working landscapes to something extraordinary — a celebration of community.
Wild Blueberry Weekend returns August 1–2, 2026 — and after six years, it has become one of the most genuinely Maine things you can do with a summer weekend. Farms across the state throw open their doors during the peak of harvest season, inviting anyone who wants to come out, look around, taste something special, and meet the people behind one of America’s most remarkable agricultural traditions.
Maine produces nearly 100 percent of the United States’ commercial wild blueberry crop. Those berries grow across more than 500 farms and 40,000 acres — a landscape you’ve likely driven past on a trip Downeast without fully realizing what you were seeing. Wild Blueberry Weekend is the invitation to stop, get out of the car, and experience it firsthand.
The industry contributes $361 million to Maine’s economy annually, and the people behind it are multigenerational farming families who have shaped this land for decades. Wild blueberries are harvested just once a year, during a narrow late-summer window. That makes this weekend genuinely rare — there’s no moment in Maine’s famous food scene like Wild Blueberry Weekend.
What does the weekend actually look like?
Every experience is different, curated independently by each family farm, bakery, restaurant, brewery, or distillery — which is part of the point.
On the barrens, you might try your hand at raking, one of the most distinctive and satisfying parts of the wild blueberry harvest. You might watch a harvest demonstration, walk a field that’s been farmed by the same family for a century, or let the kids loose in a pick-your-own field.
Away from the fields, Maine’s culinary community goes all-in. Restaurants, breweries, distilleries, bakeries, and local shops across the state build special wild blueberry offerings around the weekend — seasonal cocktails, handmade pastries, limited-run craft beers, and menus built around what’s coming off the barrens right now. Whether you’re pulling up a stool at a local brewery in Bangor or grabbing a wild blueberry pancake breakfast in Washington County, you’re tasting Maine at its most seasonal.
This year, the weekend carries extra meaning.
Wild Blueberry Weekend 2026 coincides with the International Year of the Woman Farmer. In recognition, the event highlights the contributions of women across Maine’s wild blueberry industry.
“Stewarding wild blueberry barrens is such an important Maine tradition,” says Lisa Hanscom of Welch Farm, a sixth-generation family operation in Roque Bluffs.
“Wild Blueberry Weekend is a chance for farmers to open our fields, celebrate alongside the local community, and share our love for this powerful little berry. These are the things that make Maine, Maine.”
Who is Wild Blueberry Weekend for?
Everyone. Families with young kids. Visitors exploring Maine for the first time. Locals who have been meaning to get out to the barrens for years. Food and drink enthusiasts. People who just want a reason to drive somewhere beautiful on a summer weekend and come home with a flat of fresh berries.Most farm experiences are free to attend. Food, drink, and farm products are sold by individual participants.
Find participating farms, restaurants, and events at
wildblueberries.com and start planning your weekend today.
Wild Blueberry Weekend is presented by the Wild Blueberry Commission of Maine. August 1–2, 2026. Statewide.
