As a Mainer, it’s hard to believe that someone would drive across the country just to eat lobster. That is, until you meet the “Lobsterfesters.”

Mike Mahoney, Matt Paprocki, and Zach Waldron traveled from Chicago, Illinois for two reasons: to eat lobster and see the Mallett Brothers Band, a Maine band they heard for the first time a few weeks ago and fell in love with.  To chronicle their road trip, they tweeted their way to Maine using the Twitter handle, @Lobsterfesters, dubbing themselves the “Lobster Men.”

“We basically just wanted an excuse to travel to the East Coast,” they said.  They made the most of their trip, stopping to enjoy the sites in Philadelphia, Cape Cod, Kennebunkport, and Portland before arriving in Rockland.

These three guys aren’t the only ones who developed a strong passion for the Maine Lobster Festival. If you walk up to anyone at the fair, there is a story behind why they are there. People come up from Georgia to see what the festival is all about. Travelers from Ohio make the trip to volunteer every year. People who grew up in Maine and moved away come back in celebration during the Festival week.  Some families come for the first time and decide to make the Maine Lobster Festival a family tradition for years to come.

So what is the significance of this? The Maine Lobster Festival thrives off community outreach, bringing lobster lovers together from far and wide to eat Maine lobster and to enjoy many different entertainment acts and carnival rides. The fact that the festival is run entirely by hundreds of volunteers shows that there is a spirit that is being nourished and shared at the Festival each year, keeping local traditions running strong.  Every year lobster fans are drawn to Harbor Park in downtown Rockland, where smiles and seafood fill the air.

If you couldn’t make it to the 2013 Maine Lobster Festival this past week, join us for the 67th Annual Maine Lobster Festival, Wednesday July 30 – Sunday, August 3!