By Lindsay Tice,Staff Writer

LISBON – It started as a drink. It turned into a pop culture icon.

And this weekend, 30,000 people will flood Lisbon in an annual pilgrimage to celebrate the slightly bitter soft drink in an orange can.

The Moxie Festival is coming.

The three-day party kicks off Friday evening with a car wash, a turkey supper, fireworks and a family carnival. Saturday begins at 6:45 a.m. with a pancake breakfast and runs until 10 p.m., with events that include a 5K road race, a morning parade and the “Moxie chuggin’ challenge.” The festival ends Sunday with an 11 a.m. canoe race.

A free shuttle wagon will take visitors through the festivities, with stops at various sites.

The theme for this year’s festival: Moxie-Gras.

“It just seemed appropriate with everything going on in Louisiana,” said Sue Conroy, co-coordinator of the celebration. The Maine festival’s themed floats will honor New Orleans’ annual Mardi Gras celebration.

Moxie, a bitter brown soda, was created as a nerve medicine in the late 1800s in Massachusetts. It was introduced as a soft drink in 1884 and was so highly hyped that it outsold Coca-Cola.

Rabid fans began collecting Moxie memorabilia, including bottles, orange logo signs, T-shirts and books.

In Lisbon, Moxie fever hit in 1982 during an autograph session with author and Moxie expert Frank Potter. Organizers expected about 50 people. Hundreds showed up.

That small book party ballooned into the Moxie Festival.

About 30,000 are expected to attend this year. Many come from across the country.

And, as always, weather won’t hinder the festivities.

“It’s Moxie,” Conroy said. “We go rain or shine.”

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