Maine Whoopie Pie Festival going virtual
DOVER-FOXCROFT — The Center Theatre and Piscataquis Chamber of Commerce in Dover-Foxcroft have announced that the Maine Whoopie Pie Festival will not be taking place as planned on Saturday, Oct. 3. Instead, the Festival is being envisioned as a month-long virtual celebration dubbed ‘WHOOPtoberfest’ featuring a new portal on MaineWhoopiePieFestival.com.
The portal will let visitors receive real-time directions to the nearest whoopie pie bakers and vendors to ensure easy access to Maine’s Official State Treat. Members of the WHOOPtoberfest portal will be able to vote for their favorite bakers, upload images of their favorite whoopie pie moments, and earn badges and prizes as true fans of the Maine Whoopie Pie.
Photo courtesy of Center Theatre
WHOOPTOBERFEST — A picture of the 2019 Maine Whoopie Pie Festival in Dover-Foxcroft. The 2020 Festival, originally postponed to Oct. 3, will instead be moved online and become a month-long celebration of the Maine Whoopie Pie called ‘WHOOPtoberfest.
“We’re very disappointed that we can’t have the festival as planned,” said Patrick Myers, the executive director of the Center Theatre and lead organizer of the Festival, “But there is no way to safely bring 7,000 people from around New England to central Maine this fall. However, we do not want 2020 to be known as ‘The Year Without Whoopie’ so we’re excited to host a month-long celebration of our state’s whoopie pie bakers, vendors, and supporters.”
The WHOOPtoberfest portal is in development, but Myers said he plans to start working with the state’s bakers and festival sponsors to create promotions and special offers that will roll out throughout the month of October.
The Maine Whoopie Pie Festival began 11 years ago and has grown to be the largest one-day event in Piscataquis County. Denise Buzzelli, executive director of the Piscataquis Chamber of Commerce, has been a collaborator on the festival for most of its existence.
“The Whoopie Pie Festival is a huge boost to our local economy,” Buzzelli said, “Losing the in-person festival will affect many of our local businesses and organizations, but we hope that WHOOPtoberfest will keep the spirit of the festival alive until we can come together again in 2021.”
The Maine Whoopie Pie Festival is a collaboration between the Center Theatre, Piscataquis Chamber of Commerce and many other businesses and organizations including the Festival’s lead sponsor Shaw’s Supermarket, and other sponsors: Consolidated Communications, Dave’s World, the Eastern Gazette, Maine’s Credit Unions, Townsquare Media and the Varney Agency.
For more information on the Maine Whoopie Pie Festival, visit www.MaineWhoopiePieFestival.com, call the Center Theatre at 207-564-8943, or email whoopiepie@centertheatre.org. The Maine Whoopie Pie Festival is the largest annual fundraiser for the Center Theatre for the Performing Arts and supports their mission to make arts, education and entertainment accessible to our rural communities to engage and inspire.