What Happens At The Maine Lobster Festival In Rockland

If you've never been to the Maine Lobster Festival in Rockland, let me tell you girl... it's so much more than cracking open a lobster with a cute little plastic bib on.

Sure, the lobster is the star (as it should be), but I discovered one event that might actually steal the show: the International Great Crate Race.

Yes... people actually climb aboard floating lobster crates and race fast across the harbor.

It sounds completely ridiculous because... well... it is. And that's exactly why thousands of people gather along the waterfront to cheer them on every year. It's the coolest thing you'll see and my favorite part of this festival

Only in Maine would we turn lobster crates into a sporting event.. check out a video of the race from a previous year via FOX ABC Maine YouTube, below.

The festival runs for five days during the first weekend of August, and the atmosphere feels like one giant hometown celebration.

Yes, you'll find fresh lobster dinners, seafood cooking competitions, live music, arts & crafts, a huge parade, road races, kids' activities, a dog show, and enough sugar and butter to make your cardiologist nervous as hell.

And get this, more than 1,000 volunteers donate their time to make this event happen every single year.

It's a nonprofit festival that not only celebrates Maine's iconic lobster industry but also gives back to the Midcoast community through scholarships and local support.

That's pretty incredible.

So yes, go for the lobster. Go for the lobster rolls. But don't miss the crate race.

Because watching someone sprint across floating lobster crates while an entire crowd erupts in cheers is one of those wonderfully weird Maine traditions you simply have to see to believe.

And honestly... that's the kind of quirky charm that makes living in Maine so much fun.