Eve of Independence Fireworks Saturday July 3, Camden harbor   

Don't miss the spectacular 'Eve of Independence' fireworks display over beautiful Camden harbor, this Saturday (July 3rd) starting at 9:15pm. This year fireworks will be launched both up into the sky and directly onto the water's surface for a unique and amazing display that will be sure to elicit plenty of "ooohs" and "ahhhs".

Watch from Harbor Park, the waterfront, or from your boat as the rocket's red glare soars over masts and pine trees alike. See you on Saturday!

For more info:

www.camdenmaineexperience.com/events/festival-of-independence/

July 24 - August 15, 2010
BARBARA ERNST PREY: SOLILOQUY
This exhibit showcases the virtuoistic hand and delicate sensibilities of internationally recognized artist Barbara Ernst Prey who has painted powerful, vibrant views of her surroundings for three decades. On display are 30 poignant watercolors, Soliloquies, unspoken reflections on island life as a microcosm of sustainability: islands telling a story of sustainable life.

 

www.bluewaterfinearts.com/

July's Prize Winner


Petra S., from Norwood, MA is this month's winner! Congratulations. We'll be sending Petra a mixed pound of our delicious fudge.

To order your own yummy fudge visit:

www.smilingcow.com/mainely-maine/homemade-fudge.html

Maine Home +Design Show
Point Lookout
June 5th & 6th
Come out in support of Maine's creative economy. Architects, builders, landscape designers, interior designers, kitchen suppliers, artists, food purveyors,, and more will be represented in over 100 booths.

www.mainehomedesign.com/web-exclusives/1223-mhd-midcoast-show-2010.html

What a great opening weekend! Thank you to everyone who came in to celebrate. There were balloons and flowers, food and fun (oh, and fudge!). And just when we thought it couldn't get any better, 70 beautiful red and white tulips arrived in ten vases from family members who couldn't be there on opening day - all organized by the owner's sister Laurie. Wow!

We even made it onto the local news!

What a wonderful way to start our 70th season in beautiful, downtown Camden, Maine.

 

www.wcsh6.com/video/default.aspx

Opening Weekend Celebration

Sat, Sun. & Mon. April 17-19

If you've been around as long as we have, we think you deserve a break!

Come help us celebrate our 70th anniversary on opening day and, if you are 70 or older ( born in 1940 or earlier), you will receive a 50% discount off your purchase!

Our year long celebration: 10% off for all those 70 or older *

Refreshments and prizes for all on Opening Day - Saturday, April 17th!!!
 

*In-store sales only

Save the Date!
20th Anniversary of the US National Toboggan Championships, February 5-7

The U.S. National Toboggan Championships is the only organized wooden toboggan race in the country and possibly the world. The toboggan chute is located in Camden, Maine at the Camden Snow Bowl, a community owned year-round recreation area which has developed thousands of dedicated skiers since 1936.
The chute is 400 ft. long, 70 ft. in elevation and speeds up to 40 mph are attained. The run-out is on to frozen Hosmers' pond. If there is clear ice on the pond, some sleds will go the entire way across (1/4 of a mile). The most wonderful aspect of the U.S. National Toboggan Race, is that anybody can participate in a national race and anybody can be the National Champion, no matter the age or ability.

 

www.camdensnowbowl.com/20th-annual-toboggan-championships

Winterfest
January 30 & 31
 
The Camden Winterfest returns to the Historic Bok Amphitheater in downtown Camden overlooking the prettiest harbor in Maine for the 8th annual community celebration of winter over the weekend of January 30th & 31st, 2010.
This popular event is presented by The Camden Public Library and its Committee for Harbor Parks and Amphitheatre along with local sponsors. The parks will be filled with food, theater, music and art for children of all ages.

 

www.winterfest.mycamdenmaine.com/

Maine Fare

The fourth annual Maine Fare showcases many events including chef demonstrations, panel discussions, workshops, food and beverage tastings, author signings, and dinners, Maine Fare investigates the history, present and future of Maine's wonderful food, from farm to table.

"Maine is home to some of the most varied and rewarding eating and drinking experiences in the country. Come to Maine Fare and experience what we mean when we say Maine is where good food begins!"
- Nancy Harmon Jenkins
Cook book author, food writer, life-long Maine resident and Maine-Fare founder.

For more information:

http://www.mainefare.com/

Camden Windjammer Festival, Labor Day Weekend 2009

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.

Join us Labor Day weekend 2009 (September 4th, 5th, & 6th) for a celebration of Camden's maritime heritage and living traditions. When it comes to a community party the crews, captains, craftspeople, business owners, residents, neighbors, and visitors really know how to have a great, family-friendly time in one of the world's prettiest harbors.
 

For more information:

http://www.camdenwindjammerfestival.com/

August Events
What's Happening in and Around Camden

August 1 (ongoing)
Robert Indiana at the The Farnsworth Art Museum
Explore the vast range of Indiana's work from the 1950's to the present, focusing on his efforts since he moved to Vinalhaven, Maine in 1978. The show will include some of Indiana's best known pieces, such as LOVE, the American Dream, his Marsden Hartley Elegy series and one of his newest, the HOPE sculpture, that premiered at the 2008 Democratic convention.
Farnsworth Art Museum

Monday, August 3
Windjammer Watching aboard the Bugeye Schooner Jenny Norman
Sail in company with Rockland's fleet of Windjammers as they depart for their week-long excursions. We will be serving locally roasted coffee and old-fashioned donuts. Reservations recommended.
Jenny Norman

Wednesday, August 5
KITCHEN TOUR CHEFS 2009
Fifteen excellent chefs and caterers from the Midcoast area will contribute their time and outstanding culinary talents to the 2009 Merryspring Kitchen Tour. Each of the chefs, on site in one of the eight lovely kitchens featured on the Tour, will serve samples of his or her cuisine to guests.
207-236-2239

Thursday, August 6
"Best of Maine" Auction Features Maine-Made Items & Vacationland Experiencesat the Owls Head Transportation Museum
The auction will showcase both Maine-made items and Vacationland experiences and packages from all regions of the state.

Friday August 7
Evening of Live Nautical Music and Fashions at the Strand Theatre
The Penobscot Marine Museum will showcase live music, performances and fashion at a Nautical Fashion and Variety Show at the Strand Theatre.

Monday, August 10
Views of India Maine Media Workshops
in collaboration with the historic Strand Theater in Rockland, Maine, this special presentation features two renown photographers with a lifelong passion for India. John Isaac and Stephen Huyler will share their work, experiences and reflections of this fascinating country.

Thursday, August 13
Inon Barnatan, last year's winner of the Andrew Wolf Chamber Music Award, returns for his second season at Bay Chamber Concerts. He will be joined by Geoff Nuttall and Christopher Costanza of the St. Lawrence String Quartet, as they perform works by Haydn and Mendelssohn.

Friday, August 14th
Paula Poundstone at the Strand Theatre
Appearing on stage with a stool, a microphone, and a can of Diet Pepsi, PAULA POUNDSTONE is famous for her razor-sharp wit and spontaneity.

Thursday, August 20
Contours Benefit Art Show at the Carver Hill Gallery. Gallery co-owner Jana Halwitz and former Farnsworth Art Museum chief curator Suzette McAvoy will curate a show of 18-25 Maine artists for this biennial event. All sales will benefit the Coastal Mountains Land Trust.

Friday, July 18th & 19th, 2009
Harbor Arts Juried Show
10:00AM-6:00PM · Harbor Park
This FREE show features an eclectic mix of established and emerging artists in a variety of disciplines, and grow more popular each year.

Thursday, August 27
First Chair All Star: Masterworks at the Rockport Opera House. Bay Chamber Concerts' 49th season ends with fanfare as 13 principal players from the great American orchestras perform the unforgettable Dvořák wind serenade op.44 together with a delightful arrangement of Mozart's opera the "Abduction from the Seraglio," K. 384; and Beethoven's Wind Octet, Op. 103.

 

June Events What's Happening in and Around Camden 6/1 - Jamie Wyeth-Seven Deadly Sins at The Farnsworth Art Museum This exhibition is a rare example of a contemporary artist taking on a theme long associated with the history of Christian art. Wyeth explores pride, envy, anger, greed, sloth, gluttony and lust through ideas and subjects he has studied and observed from his studios on Monhegan and Matinicus islands in Maine. www.farnsworthmuseum.org 6/7 - Full Moon Sail on the Schooner Olad Watch the sun go down behind the mountains of Camden Hills State Park, then turn seaward and watch the moonrise over the islands of Penobscot Bay. maineschooners.com 6/12 - Luka Bloom at The Strand Theatre Irish singer songwriter and acoustic guitarist Luka Bloom! Part of a musical Irish family that also includes brother Christy Moore, Bloom has gathered a reputation of his own for his electrifying live shows and unique brand of contemporary Celtic soul. www.rocklandstrand.com 6/20 - Summer Solstice Night in Rockland is a celebration of summer and a kick-off to the summer season. It will take place from 5 to 9 p.m. on Main St. with live music, entertainment, street dancing, food and special events. For more information, call the Penobscot Bay Regional Chamber of Commerce at (207) 596-0376 6/21 - Lobster Boat Races Last year over 100 lobster boats filled Rockland Harbor with fun & excitement. 6/26 - 6/28 - An Evening of Ives at the Camden Opera House. Festival of one-act plays directed by Hal Owen presented by Camden Civic Theatre www.camdencivictheater.com

3/2 - FREE Puppet Show at the Rockport Public Library - "How the Lion Got His Wild Mane" performed by the Ashwood Waldorf School seventh graders.

3/6 - One World Concert Series: An Evening with Dar Williams at the Strand Theater

3/7 - Peter & The Wolf - Join Atlantic Ballet Co. and students from the P2PDance for this heartwarming tale performed at The Camden Opera House

3/28 - The Ancient Mariners - Bay Chamber Concerts at the Rockport Opera House. Haunting sea chanties will be performed along with up-tempo popular jigs and work songs used aboard ship.

12/5 - 12/7 Atlantic Ballet Co. presents The Nutcracker at the Camden Opera House

12/5 - 12/7 Christmas By The Sea A weekend celebration of the Holiday Season. Shopping, musical entertainment, parade, community tree-lighting ceremony, horsedrawn wagon rides and Holiday House Inn tour.Photos and children's story hour with Santa - who arrives by boat! Visit Camden

12/6 & 12/7 Holiday Bazaar at Merryspring - A variety of plants, greens, wreaths, live arrangements and gifts for holiday giving and decorating. Merryspring

12/11 Michael Good Gallery Ladies' Night Michael Good

12/21 Holiday Pops Concert - Camden Opera House and Maine Pro Musica Orchestra present: A Holiday Pops Concert, conducted by Janna Hymes.Camden Opera House

12/23 It's a Wonderful Life - A special matinee benefit for United Mid-Coast Charities at the Strand. The Strand Theatre

11/1 - 11/2 - Giant Flea Market & Auction at the Owls Head Museum

11/2 - Russian Visions with pianist Mark Levinson. Bay Chamber Concerts

11/4 - Election Night '08 at The Strand Theatre. Watch Maine PBS's coverage on the big screen. The Strand

11/6 - Acclaimed singer/songwriter Shawn Colvin. Camden Opera House

11/7 - 11/9 - Maine Literary Festival - "For This Earth: Visions in Literature" Literary Festival

11/22 - Farm Friends Petting Zoo at the Camden Public Library - Come meet the animals from the Royer Farm at the library! Camden Library

11/27 - Happy Thanksgiving!

10/4 - 10/5 - Fall HarborArts Juried Arts & Crafts Show - Featuring over 100 artists & craftspeople. Visit Camden

10/5 - Comedian Bob Marley - 8pm at the Camden Opera House. Opera House

10/12 - Foreign Auto Festival & Antique Aeroplane Show at the Owls Head Transportation Museum. Transportation Museum

10/22 - 10/25 - POP!TECH - International conference on the impact of technology on our planet featuring visionaries from around the world. Camden Opera House. Pop Tech

Saturday October 18 6am - 5:30pm

If we had a dollar for every time a customer asked us, "is this 50% off too?" during our annual sale, well we'd close up the store and move to Mexico. People find it hard to believe, but it's true everything really is 50% off, and customers come from near and far to line up at 6 o'clock in the morning to get amazing deals on all our inventory. It's a little crazy, but a lot of fun!

The sale continues - 7 days a week from 9am to 5pm - until Friday October 31. The Smiling Cow re-opens in April.

Join us for a great Camden tradition.

9/6 Wine & Chocolate... Yum - The Cellardoor Winery welcomes the Nutmeg Chocolate Factory for a day of sampling & chocolate making demonstrations! Cellardoor Winery

9/5 Heritage Cruise aboard the Schooner Surprise - Enjoy the 90th birthday of Surprise with a celebration cruise departing from Camden Harbor.Camden Sailing

9/11 Dougie McLean in Concert - Scotland's favorite singer songwriter at the Camden Opera House. Camden Opera House

9/19 Rani Arbo & daisy mayhem - Wicked grooves, sublime lead singing, great harmonies - for all ages at the fabulous Strand Theatre in Rockland.The Strand

9/25 - 9/27 Camden International Film Festival - Showcasing the finest international documentary cinema from around the world. Camden Film Fest

9/28 Earth Movers & Shakers - Owls Head Transportation Museum Featuring some of the biggest vehicles in Maine. A family favorite featuring an Antique Aeroplane Show, guided tours, demonstrations, free Model-T rides and more. Transportation Museum

For more great events in the Camden area go to: Visit Camden