The event-filled 63rd Boothbay Harbor Windjammer Days arrives in just three weeks! This year’s festival lands Sunday, June 22 continuing through Saturday, June 28.

The festival, originally one day, then two, then three has been a full week of jam-packed fun for all ages over the past 11 years with the Friends of Windjammer Days at the helm. The big draw is the gathering of windjammers, from local and distant waters, to our region. This year there will be 19, five of which call Boothbay Harbor homeport.

The Boothbay Harbor-based vessels are Applejack, Eastwind, Tyrone, Gleam and the Issac H. Evans. From the Camden-Rockland area: Grace Bailey, pilot cutter Hesper, A Morning In Maine; Castine: Bowdoin; South Bristol: Harvey Gamage; Wiscasset: Sycamore; Bath: Virginia – Maine’s First Ship; Bailey Island/Harpswell: Alert; from Massachusetts: Isabella, True North, Malabar X, Thomas E. Lannon, Privateer Lynx; and Rhode Island: Eros. The ships will gather in the harbor on Wednesday, the 25th between 1 and 3 p.m. Local boat companies will have special cruises to see these majestic vessels under full sail.

Enjoy the pancake breakfast in Waterfront Park Tuesday and Wednesday. There are two days in particular devoted to the kids – Windjammers For Wee Mateys at Boothbay Harbor Memorial Library where ocean-themed crafts and lawn games are planned (to date); Kids’ Alley: LEGOS – all sizes, including the extra large soft ones, wind chimes, or bird houses needing painting; make your own puppet or sock puppet, jewelry; build a flower garden or make flowers; and the water elf, designed in water, emerging as 3D (squishy). Pirates return with everything from a puppet show to the recruitment of young mateys to battling for Boothbay Harbor.

The ever-popular competitions – lobster eating contest, fish relay races, rock skipping contest, server shuffle, tug of war across the harbor, crab cake cook off – judges are Sharon Rose, Kelly Farrin and Bet Finocchiaro; the all new hot dog eating contest, and the Spruce Point Inn (SPI) model yacht races; parades – street and vintage boats; supernatural tours – some on E-bikes; the Boothbay Harbor Yacht Club's One Design race event; the Blessing of the Fleet, the decorated boat parade, youth talent show, activities at Maine State Aquarium; tours of the USCG Station, a Windjammer Days photo cruise with professional photographer Michael Leonard, the Boat Bar Party, Pier Party (a ticketed event) with live music with a collection of antique autos and motorcycles; and the fireworks display.

Artists’ Alley: At this writing, artists include Olena Babak, Don Demers, Jackie Jones, Rick Reinert, John Seitzer, Charlotte Thibault, Laureen Hylka and Leonard Miserek.

This year, the Friends of Windjammer Days are shining a spotlight on Coast Guard, specifically locals who served, or are serving now. A special Meet & Greet with the honorees, open to the public, will be held at Boothbay Harbor Oceanside Resort late Monday.

Read their stories at www.boothbayharborwindjammerdays.org and www.boothbayregister.com. In addition, 13 of the honorees’ recollections are in the Boothbay Register’s annual Windjammer Days guide available at the Boothbay Register, Boothbay Harbor Region Chamber of Commerce, and businesses throughout the region. The guides will also be at the Friends of Windjammer Days tent in Waterfront Park on the 24th and 25th. The guide is also part of the Register’s Windjammer Days page – just look for the Windjammer Days box on the website homepage.

Entertainment of the theater and concert kind includes two theater offerings. The family-oriented offering is at the Opera House. Members of the Y Arts group perform "How I Became A Pirate, The Musical,” the story of a comical band of pirates who land in Boothbay Harbor looking for an expert digger to join them. Shows are on the 23rd and 24th. The adult-oriented play, “RED,” produced by Boothbay Summer Theater, is a Tony award-winner about abstract Expressionist painter Mark Rothko. The stage is in the historic Town Hall at Boothbay Railway Village Museum and the performances are on the 27th and 28th. And at the Opera House on the 27th is a concert by I Draw Slow, a five-piece Irish band.

Boothbay Harbor's Windjammer Days has endured due to the hard work and dedication of countless volunteers for over six decades, along with the support of local business and the countless fans who travel to the region year after year to be part of maritime history in the making.