Overview: The 2026 Blue Hill Fair
The successful numbers, winners of fan-favorite events, and more behind the scenes of this year’s fair.
The Blue Hill Fair was busy on Labor Day Weekend. Photo by Maizy Weirich.
Sept. 9, 2026
By Steele Hays, Maizy Weirich and John Boit
BLUE HILL – Labor Day has passed and the 135th annual Blue Hill Fair is now complete after five days of fun.
Erik Fitch, the Blue Hill Fair’s general manager, said this year’s event drew similar numbers of visitors as previous years, close to 40,000.
“Despite miserable weather on Thursday evening when we opened, we are definitely considering a very successful Blue Hill Fair, " Fitch said.
There were close to 1,100 entries for the Arts and Crafts Exhibit, a record for the fair, Fitch said. This year, the fruits, vegetables, flower and livestock sections were all full as well. Fitch said they even added more tents so they could fit more animals.
“All in all, we’re very excited,” Fitch said.
This year’s fair presented new events like cow-pie bingo, while also hosting traditional fairgoer favorites like the Demolition Derby, the Ready Go Dog Show, and the Intercontinental Women’s Skillet Toss.
Video by John Boit.
Trenton woman wins annual skillet toss
When it came to the Intercontinental Women’s Skillet Toss, there were a variety of styles and strategies.
Some competitors entered the arena in front of the Grand Stand in athletic wear. Others in dresses. One wore a string of pearls. They wore sneakers, cowboy boots, or sandals. Two opted for bare feet.
There were right-handers and southpaws, hometown favorites and newcomers, dead ringers and one contestant who accidentally hurled the skillet backward.
The crowded field of more than 60 competitors at the Sept. 6 event – hailing from three countries, 12 states and dozens of Maine towns – showed the popularity of an event that seems to grow each year.
Taking their position along the dirt track in front of the Grand Stand, the competition had the feel of a gladiator-style competition. Hundreds cheered from the Grand Stand with equal gusto for the people they knew and for those they didn’t.
The laurels went to Olivia Pratt, 20 of Trenton, who this year threw a remarkable 66 feet nine inches for the championship title. While Pratt won for the longest distance overall of any competitor, she also won in the 18-45 years old group, called “Kittens.” In the “Cougar” category for entrants 46 years and up, Cathy Lloyd of Surry won once again with a throw of 55 feet.
Pratt, who competed in shot put and discus in high school, said that the competition was “a lot harder than last year.”
“I don’t think there were many people who threw over 50 feet last year, and the year before I went to the finals with only 48 [feet],” Pratt said.
FLYING OBJECT: Look closely and see how this competitor accidentally took a new approach to the skillet toss. Photo by John Boit.
Blue Hill Fair livestock competition
The number of participants has fallen in recent decades, but the long tradition of young 4-H members and farm families showing off their livestock and competing for prizes is still going strong at the Blue Hill Fair.
Amelia with Prince, her steer, in the judging ring. Photo by Steele Hays.
15-year-old Amelia Clement, of Round Tuit Farm in Bucksport, was working hard Saturday morning, grooming her yearling Simmental Cross steer, Prince, to get him ready for the judging. She used hair spray and a brush to carefully lift the hair on Prince’s back into a mini-Mohawk.
“I love the way the animals have their own personalities,” she said. “He’s pretty stubborn, but he’s really sweet.”
A short time later, Prince displayed his stubborn streak – and strength, pushing Amelia aside as she struggled at times to hold him still for the judge. The two finished third in the Open category for Showmanship and Fitting.
Rebecca Duhaime, livestock department head for the fair, said “it’s very hard to get people into farming. There are so many demands on kids’ time now with sports, school and activities.”
In terms of the number of farmers entering the livestock competitions in fairs, Duhaime said “We’re down very far from where we used to be years ago…but we’re building back up.”
Like most of the farm families there, Duhaime’s family has been involved with the fair for generations. Her uncle, Dwight, served for 11 years in the same role she now fills. Duhaime, a financial resources specialist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is on the Board of the Hancock County Agriculture Association, which manages the fair.
The Coffe family. Four of the seven children in the family have specific animals they are responsible for tending. Front, from left: Liam, Grace, Sophia, and Serairah. In back: Leilani. Photo by Steele Hays.
Duhaime was excited to have one new farm family join the competition this year, Coty Walker of Walker Family Farm in Dover-Foxcroft, who raises Highland Cattle.
“They’re really hardy and really good foragers,” Walker said, describing the Highland breed. “A lot of people want these as pets.”
Walker was showing three of his cattle – Dory, Oden and Annabelle – in the competition.
The Coffe family of StarGust Katahdin Farm in Bradford uses a “share the load” approach in their farm work. Four of the family’s seven children are responsible for caring for the sheep, with each child having responsibility for three to four specific animals. They specialize in raising Katahdin sheep, a Maine-originated breed that has a hair coat instead of wool, making them strictly a meat animal.
13-year-old Leilani won first prize for showmanship and fitting.
Shelby Gross with her collection of livestock competition awards. Photo by Steele Hays.
This year’s fair was a bit bittersweet for 4-H member Shelby Gross of Gross Hardship Farm in Bucksport. She has been showing animals each year since she became eligible at age 9, and this is her last year of competition now that she has turned 18.
“It’s definitely sad, but I’m excited and looking forward to what comes next for me,” Shelby said.
The most challenging aspect of raising livestock is maintaining consistency, Shelby said.
“It’s having a daily routine and keeping up with it consistently, going to the barn after school and taking care of the animals.”
Shelby has been a consistent winner in the fair competitions year after year. This year, she won two first place prizes for showmanship for her market lamb. She also won the grand prize for her ewe – an adult female sheep.
“I’ve accumulated a trophy case worth of prizes over the years,” she said, laughing.
In addition to winning trophies and rosette ribbons as prizes, competitors can win cash prizes ranging from $5 to $50.
Short and sweet cowpie bingo
The two cows that made Cow Pie Bingo possible. Photo by Maizy Weirich
The Blue Hill Fair hosted its first-ever cow pie bingo on Labor Day. For $20, participants could bet on a specific square drawn out on the floor of the Pulling Grandstand for a cow to defecate on. Whoever’s square is first to be soiled finds themselves $500 richer.
It took not five minutes until one of the two cows determined the fate of one lucky fairgoer.
Square number 66 earned itself a cow pie, which was bet on by Claire Grey.
The thousands of books behind Rosanna’s Readers
For the fifth time, Rosanna’s Readers hosted a fundraiser in the Charlotte’s Web Exhibit.
Rosanna’s Readers is a non-profit foundation that purchases and gifts books to students throughout the Blue Hill Peninsula on their birthday.
The foundation started in 2020 in memory of Rosanna McFarland, a school teacher from Surry, who passed away from breast cancer.
Laura Sherman beside Rosanna’s Readers’ 2026 chance auction. Photo by Maizy Weirich.
“Her wish was for us to get birthday books for the students at the school she taught at. And since then, we’ve increased from three to 10 schools,” Laura Sherman said, the board of directors of Rosanna’s Readers.
Sherman said the foundation donates about 1,500 books a year to students all the way from pre-K to eighth grade.
This annual fundraiser at the fair is a chance auction, with 50 items donated by local businesses. Tickets cost $1.
Rosanna’s 11-year-old son, Charlie McFarland, was also at the fundraiser. He said his favorite book he’s received for his birthday is This Way, Charlie.
“I loved that one,” Charlie said.
To learn more about Rosanna's Readers or make a donation, visit their website.
This Blue Hill Fair was full of new highs, while also maintaining traditions that make it a staple for fairgoers year after year. To learn more about the faces behind the fair, click here.
