Wilton – Vendors gathered from all over Maine and New England Friday and Saturday to sell their unique merchandise to folks who came from near and far to celebrate the 25th annual blueberry festival in Wilton.

Events started early Friday morning but really got going Saturday, when people crowded together in downtown Wilton, not wanting to miss any of the parade.

Many of the floats boasted a blueberry theme. Cavalry Hill Christian Academy featured a huge basket filled with people holding blue balloons, while Blueberry Mountain Bible Camp went with a smaller blueberry basket fit for kids, who put on a puppet show about kindness, respect and blueberries. Motorized blueberry pancakes, jam and donuts could also be found being chased by hungry-looking kids with forks.

Other groups abandoned the blueberry theme to show off their own talents. Greg Frangoulis, one of the leaders of the Shoestring Theater, danced on stilts along with his troop, who matched his unusual costume with their own brightly colored masks and costumes.

Many other groups and town businesses participated in the parade, along with crowd favorites the Kora Shriners, the Hurdy Gurdy Man and Smokey Bear.

Despite harsh afternoon showers Friday, washed-out vendors were back early Saturday morning determined to sell to the parade crowd.

Amber Austin of Austin’s Mercantile was one vendor who wasn’t fortunate enough to take her tent down before the storm hit and was forced to mark down all of her candies and homemade goods for Saturday.

Vendors in the Nichols Building were more fortunate, though many vendors said sales were slow Friday.

Jewelry, homemade jams and goodies, homemade quilts, chain saw wood carvings, blueberry lemonade, books and performers could be found in and around the Nichols Building.

“We did pretty well yesterday,” said Laura Neil of Day Mountain Maple Syrup of Strong, “considering it wasn’t busy here.” Laura and her husband, Collin, started making syrup four years ago and have 400 taps. This is their second year at the blueberry festival.

One unique, ancient dessert that could be found in the Nichols Building was Eccles cake. Dena Baker makes these Celtic desserts, which date back to Eccles, England, in 1653, the year they were outlawed by the Puritans for being “frivolous and pagan,” Baker said.

All of Baker’s pastries, from the Eccles cakes to the queen’s taste, are homemade. Companies from California, San Francisco and New York have approached Baker, who is based in Boston, about merchandising, but she doesn’t want to risk compromising the homemade taste.

Baker became interested in baking when she was a young girl, following her grandmother around the kitchen.

“I didn’t understand why people didn’t consider Celtic desserts to be it, because I just loved them.”

Pastry lovers can look for Eccles cakes at the Maine Highland Games on Aug. 18.

Once fed, festival goers had plenty of entertainment to enjoy. Singers could be found throughout the afternoon Saturday, with performances by Bing and Nancy Crosby, and Sammie Angel and Jim Harris.

The blueberry festival came to an end Saturday night with fireworks by the boat launch.