Whoopie Pie Festival!

Whoopie Pie Festival theater’s sweet spot

By Diana Bowley
BDN Staff


DOVER-FOXCROFT, Maine — The Cranberry Island Kitchen whoopie pies that wowed television host Martha Stewart will be pitted against local cooks and Governor’s Restaurant on Saturday when the Center Theatre sponsors its first Whoopie Pie Festival.

More than 12 bakers from as far away as the Cranberry Island Kitchen in Cumberland have entered the competition, and more are expected to sign up before the 10 a.m. June 27 event in Dover-Foxcroft.

“We were brainstorming ideas and the idea of the Whoopie Pie Festival came up, and it just seemed like a great idea,” Patrick Myers of the theater said Wednesday. The theater was looking for kind of a large outside event that we could do in the early summer while the summer folks are coming up, and we wanted to make sure they knew the theater was here.”

A Facebook page the theater made on the whoopie pie has about 6,500 fans on it. “We knew we tapped into something good,” Myers said.

For $5, visitors Saturday can sample up to 20 different whoopie pies entered into the competition and can vote for their favorite. Whoopie pies, along with other Maine-made food and crafts, also will be available for sale.

Several awards will be presented during the event, including the “People’s Whoopie Pie.” Official judges will present the awards, according to Myers.

Teaming up with the theater is the Shiretown Homecoming Committee, which will offer lunch and a barbecue, and the Piscataquis Regional YMCA, which will offer games for all ages.

Myers said there is still time for other businesses, home bakers and organizations to enter the contest and sign up for a booth. This would be a great opportunity for organizations such as churches and nonprofits to raise money and have fun in the process, he said.

For information about the festival or to sign up for the event, contact the Center Theatre at 564-8943 or go to www.CenterTheatre.org.