There’s no shortage of festivals to celebrate iconic Maine foods — fiddleheads, Moxie, whoopie pies, blueberries, potatoes, lobster.
If you’re looking to cap off a summer of gustatory delights, then head down to Wiscasset for the third annual Maine Needham Festival.
The festival celebrates the iconic Maine confectionery, the chocolate-covered mixture of potato and coconut. It began after Gov. Janet Mills, in 2023, signed into law a bill recognizing the last Saturday in September as Maine Needham Day.
This year’s celebration will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sept. 27 at the Maine Tasting Center, where festivalgoers can enjoy a market featuring candymakers, craft vendors, artisans and food trucks; a homemade Needham contest; and a Needham-themed product contest.
The festival was co-founded by the Maine Needham Co. and Maine Tasting Center, with support from Robin’s Confections and Wilbur’s of Maine Chocolate Confections.
The Needham is named after George Needham, an Irish immigrant and evangelical preacher who achieved fame in New England in the 19th century. His sermons were often reprinted in Portland newspapers. But he wasn’t involved in the creation of the Maine treat. When Portland-based candymaker Seavey’s conceived of the potato, coconut and chocolate concoction, it sought to capitalize on Needham’s fame by naming its new treat after him.
“Let’s call ’em needhams, after the popular preacher!” the story goes, as retold by the Christian Science Monitor in 1986.
