Whether you’re looking for recreation, education, celebration or relaxation this summer, it can all be found in Augusta, Maine’s capital city.

If you have an appetite for culinary adventure, the Calumet Club will host another wildly popular Food Truck Friday on June 14 from 5 to 9 p.m. The event will take place rain or
shine at the Club parking lot at 334 West River Road.

Enjoy the unique cuisine of area food trucks such as Pinky D’s Poutine Factory and Blazing Tomato Pizza. Joel Jolicoeur will provide musical entertainment. Beverages will be available for purchase, as will the Calumet’s Pot of Gold: buy tickets for a chance to win money every hour. This event is free; however, a ticket is needed to enter. For more information, visit calumetclub.com or call 207-623-8211.

What a difference a week makes. On Friday evening, June 21, the Calumet Club is the place to be if you love to dress up and glide across the dance floor. Plan to spend the evening in style at the Augusta Downtown Alliance’s ‘Casino Royale 207’ starting at 7 .pm. Those attending this masquerade ball, which is sponsored by O&P Glass and MaineGeneral Health, are required to don semi-formal wear and a mask. Tickets are $25 each or $40 per couple. Guests will enjoy a customized hors d’oeuvres menu, a specialty cocktail, a silent auction as well as a live auction featuring local celebrities, mock “gambling” tables, photography by Dave Dostie and live entertainment including music by Chris Lothridge.

June 29 marks the return of Kennebec River Day, sponsored by the Kennebec Valley Chamber of Commerce. The event, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Mill Park along the Kennebec River, will offer “a day of endless possibilities” for all ages, according to the chamber. There will be craft vendors, music and food trucks as well as lawn games and special activities for children. For more information, contact the chamber at 207- 623-4559 or by emailing info@kennebecvalleychamber.com.

The pavilion is full during the Kennebec River Brewfest on June 30, 2018, that was part of the the Kennebec River Day in Mill Park in Augusta. Kennebec Journal file photo by Joe Phelan

Also sponsored by the Chamber at Mill Park on June 29 from 11 a.m. to 4.pm. will be the Kennebec River Brewfest (age 21 and over), featuring a variety of local Maine breweries offering 4-oz. beer tastings under the pavilion. This year’s Brewfest, presented by Highbrow, will also for the first time it includes a number of local distilleries offering 1/2 oz. tastings of their spirits. Every attendee will receive a wristband, with a special wristband for your group’s designated driver. Live music entertainment will include Ron Bergeron Music, The Business, Memphis Lightning and The Court Jesters. For more details, prices and advance tickets, contact the chamber.

And that same evening, June 29, will mark the kickoff of the Front Street Music series. The concert will feature the southern roots rock, blues, R&B, funk and soul music of the renowned Jamie MacLean Trio. The concert takes place at the downtown Augusta riverfront, on Front Street behind Cushnoc Brewing. Gates open at 6:30 p.m., the music begins at 7 p.m. Tickets are $20 in advance online and $25 the day of the show. One-hundred of the proceeds will support the ongoing restoration of the historic landmark Colonial Theater.

Speaking of history, you won’t want to miss the unusual Independence Day observances hosted by Fort Western, the oldest existing (French and Indian War era) wooden garrison in North America, shining a unique light on 300 years of Maine and New England history. Augusta boasts not only a fourth of July parade, but thanks to Fort Western there will also be a 13-gun cannon salute, a ‘feu de joie’ (musket salute) and the annual traditional reading aloud of the Declaration of Independence, with Augusta Mayor Rollins doing the honors. Fireworks, also an annual Augusta Independence Day tradition, will be set off at Mill Park at 9 p.m.

Re-enactors Jackie Fournier, left, and Stan Novak take down a Grand Union flag and swap it out for one with 13 stars and stripes on July 4, 2017, at Old Fort Western in Augusta. Kennebec Journal file photo by Joe Phelan

And for those whose appetite for history is whetted at the Fort on Independence Day, mark your calendar for Aug. 24 and 25 when Fort Western will stage a French and Indian war re-enactment.

Finally, for something completely different, the Augusta Downtown Alliance is also partnering with the Children’s Discovery Museum, to present the return of Movies in the Park. Waterfront Park, that is, in downtown Augusta.

The free outdoor summer movies will begin at dusk on four summer Thursday evenings. July 11 will be “date night,” July 18, “Throwback to the Classics,” and the Aug. 1 and Aug. 8 showings will be family films. Check out their “Movies in the Park 2019” event page on Facebook for more details about food, prizes, sponsors and movie titles as they are announced.

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