Maine Lobster Festival — Attraction in Rockland

I came with my family for the 2025 lobster festival. It was my first time here since 2012. It has changed a lot. It is still outdoors and beautiful. Unfortunately, they got rid of rides and swapped them for kids bounce houses and a jump trampoline - all with their own fees. The entire fair is run by volunteers, who are rewarded for their hard work with a 1/2 off a lobster dinner or lobster roll coupon (cheap, no?) It was definitely a dog friendly event, water bowls everywhere and a dog friendly crowd, which was nice for us and my pup. The dog show was fun, but poorly organized and awkwardly announced. The audience members, many of them with their dogs, were forced to roast in the sun for the duration of the dog show, which seemed cruel to the dogs who were hiding from the sun under lawn chairs. The woman announcing for the fair had a flat, robot, monotone voice. Many people said she sounded "depressed." The volunteers were very nice and seemed genuinely happy to be helping out. The prices shocked me. In 2012 the lobster dinner cost 14 or 16 bucks. This year, 32 dollars for the lobster dinner (full lobster w butter, half a cob of corn, a tiny cole slaw and a wet nap). The lobster roll - lobster on a hot dog bun - $30! We went out to local restaurants other nights and quickly realized that you can be served your lobster in a restaurant for 32-36 bucks just about everywhere in Rockland and Camden. The other scam to be aware of - the double lobster dinner, which is simply double the price of the single, doesn't include double sides, so you actually get less for your money if you order the double instead of 2 singles. Also, those who run the festival really sold out. As you enter the festival you have to walk down a narrow row of food trucks, vendors and carts. Not lobster carts or seafood shacks as would be expected - dominos pizza, fajitas, taco stands and other random oddities that took away from the coastal Maine seafood vibe expected at lobster fest. There is undoubtedly some up and coming culinary seafood talent in maine. They should be given the chance to let their skills and meals shine with food carts instead of dominos. There was a seafood competition. These people should be given a chance to run a food cart to get their food to the festival attendees instead of a handful of judges. I know the vendors pay to be there, but it would be better to have a small fee for the fair (5 or 10 per person or family) to not be greeted by dominos at lobster fest. I heard a local conversing with a shop owner in Camden. Basically, I learned that attendence is down and less lobsters have been sold this year according to lobster fisherman, because those who run the fair are not listening to attendee feedback (people have wanted the rides back for years apparently). The weather (gray and rainy one of the days) and another local festival apparently contributed to the lower attendance as well. Oh, my daughter loved the touch tank, holding lobsters and crabs and they had cool t shirts and hoodies to purchase. All in all I would come back for another round of lobster fest, but I don't know if I would be as excited to eat here. It is gorgeous and there are parks everywhere in Rockland, so I might just eat elsewhere and enjoy everything else the fair...

Horrible! I know the volunteers are doing their best with what they have to work with. The biggest problem is the fact that you pick up your hot food and then you have to wait in a 10 to 15 minute line to pay for your food. By that time, your food is cold and nasty. Who in the hell wants to pay $85 for three cold lobsters? My wife and I both observed people just bypassing the line altogether and going and eating their food. I don't know if they ever went back and paid for it or not. One guy had four trays of double lobsters and walked right by the checkout area.

The steamed clams were absolutely horrid. By the time we got them to the table, they were cold. Many of them were broken, and even of those that were not, there was no way to tell whether they were alive when they were put in the steamer or not. In other words, there was no way to tell whether they were good or bad to eat. After paying $24, we figured it was wise to just throw them all away.

Then there's the souvenir stand. We found some nice souvenir t-shirts and bags that we were planning to buy however, someone pointed out that the line for the single cash register went all the way around the entire tent and we would probably looking at a 20 to 30 minute wait to check out. We decided to leave our items there. I would never go back to the Lobster Fest, nor would I recommend anyone ever attended it. For the price of the lobster dinners as well as the price of any nearby hotel stay, you could certainly buy a hell of a lot of lobsters right close to wherever...

I have never been and went to this traditional event. Let me start by saying lines. There are long lines. Expensive. It is expensive. Disappointing. I'll get into that.

This event is on the water in Rockport. Rockport is a beautiful town. This event is family friendly, but it's crowded. There are a variety of craft tents and artists here. There are a couple of tents for adult beverages as you are not permitted to walk with alcohol through the venue.

Lobster. There's are thousands of lobster dinners. $29.95 for a 1 1/2 pound lobster with coleslaw and a piece of over boiled corn on the cob. Two lobsters go for $49.95. Lobster roles are $20. This event thrives from the lobster industry. Standing in the hot sun in line for 30 minutes to get a $30 lobster on a paper plate in a self-serve community picnic setup is, in short, a rip-off. I can be served in an air-conditioned restaurant with better sides at that price or buy a lobster at Hannaford $7.99 a pound. I bought a cup of fish chowder for $12. Rip off. It had a couple of flakes of fish. Very disappointing. I essentially had a cup of chowder cream. I found that these high prices were geared towards tourists and not really Mainers. If you enjoy a carnival atmosphere, that's great. But I was disappointed in the low quality and the...