Traffic plan set for Maine Whoopie Pie Festival
DOVER-FOXCROFT — Maine Whoopie Pie Festival organizers recently presented their parking and traffic control plans for the June 13 event to the Town of Dover-Foxcroft protection committee and the select board. Following the traffic backups in 2025, organizers have been working with the committee to evaluate different options to ensure an efficient and safe process for both visitors and residents.
“We faced a couple of problems last year,” Patrick Myers, executive director of the Center Theatre for the Performing Arts and organizer of the Maine Whoopie Pie Festival, said. “The biggest issue was that we didn’t have enough people parking cars. Additionally, once parked, visitors were walking down the roads, making it difficult for vehicles to enter the fairgrounds.”
Myers has recruited approximately 25 people to manage parking and plans to rope off pedestrian walkways to ensure both pedestrians and automobiles have a clear path.
However, new challenges have emerged this year, most significantly the closure of the Essex Street Bridge. Myers noted that this has been a primary topic of conversation since the end of the 2025 festival.
“We’re concerned about the volume of traffic that could flow through downtown without the bridge,” he said. “We want to minimize that traffic and reduce the impact on residential side streets.”
After evaluating various options, organizers decided to route traffic from Bangor to Essex Street via Range Road and East Dover. Traffic from Milo will be encouraged to take Landfill Road to Essex Street to keep the bulk of that traffic away from downtown. Recognizing that traffic will still be heavier than usual — and with the new three-way stop at the post office slowing vehicles — the Dover-Foxcroft Police Department is considering posting an officer at the intersection to maintain flow. Residents are advised to use side roads and avoid the three-way stop if possible on June 13.
Myers reported other changes designed to decrease the entrance gate lines, which were quite long last year.
“We will double the number of entrance gates and streamline them to sell only entrance passes,” he said. “Token sales will now happen in the baker area, where we will have four times as many lines available.”
Visitors use tokens to get samples from bakers; these are in high demand, especially during the morning.
“We’ve invested in nearly 20,000 more tokens this year. We hope that, combined with our existing stock, this will be enough!,” Myers said. He also noted that, for the first time, he has started a waitlist for bakers because all available spots are filled.
“When we moved to the Piscataquis Valley Fairgrounds, we figured we’d have all the room we could ever need, but it seems we’re already running out of space,” Myers said.
Overall, Myers feels the festival planning process has gone well and is now waiting to see what the weather brings.
“It’s been a productive process with our partners at the Piscataquis Chamber of Commerce to make this year’s festival a reality,” he said. “We are thrilled with the support of our sponsors, led by Shaw’s Supermarkets, and including Maine Credit Unions, Fidium Fiber, the Maine Office of Tourism, Edwards Brothers Supermarkets, Varney Insurance and Bonding, the Maine Army National Guard, Renewal by Anderson, Bangor Savings Bank and Allen’s Coffee Flavored Brandy.”
The annual Maine Whoopie Pie Festival started in 2009 and celebrates the taste of Maine’s Official State Treat. The festival, taking place on June 13 at the Piscataquis Valley Fairgrounds, will bring together dozens of bakers, hundreds of vendors and thousands of fans to enjoy tens of thousands of whoopie pies. The event is the largest annual fundraiser for the Piscataquis Chamber of Commerce and the Center Theatre for the Performing Arts, supporting the theatre’s mission to engage and inspire the community by making art, education and entertainment accessible to rural areas.