DOVER-FOXCROFT — The Center Theatre and the Piscataquis Chamber of Commerce announced that over 10,000 people attended the 2025 Maine Whoopie Pie Festival at the Piscataquis Valley Fairgrounds. The event, already the largest single-day event in the county, grew tremendously in 2025.

Festival organizer Patrick Myers, Executive Director of the Center Theatre for the Performing Arts, thinks many factors contributed to the growth this year. “We moved the Festival earlier in the year, so it really is one of the first big summer events. We were also very lucky that after a dozen or more weeks of rainy Saturdays, the weather was perfect.”

Myers also thinks the new location at the Piscataquis Valley Fairgrounds contributed to the record-breaking turnout. “With all the space at the Fairgrounds, I think people knew it would be easier to walk around and see all the bakers, vendors, and entertainment,” said Myers.

Along with record-setting attendance, there was also a record number of bakers and whoopie pies. Myers estimates that the 30 bakers in attendance brought over 50,000 whoopie pies to the event. With lead sponsor Shaw’s Supermarket bringing over 4,000 on their own. Most of the whoopie pies were eaten as samples at the festival or taken home with attendees.

Local winners included the Best Flavored Whoopie Pie, won by Katherine’s Bakery and Café in Norway for their Apple Pie Whoopie. Katherine’s also won the contest for the Most Creative Whoopie Pie Name for ‘My Golly, Miss Moxie.” The Yankee Whoopie Prize was won by Valley View Orchard Pies in Oxford for their Maine Blueberry Pancake.

Full contest results are available at www.MaineWhoopiePieFestival.com. Valley View Orchard Pies tied for Third Place in the People’s Choice Awards and won Second Place in the Allen’s Coffee Brandy People’s Choice Awards. For Best Flavored Whoopie Pies, Katherine’s Bakery and Cafe of Norway took First Place with their Apple Pie flavor, and Valley View won Second with Dubai Chocolate.

Judges’ choices for Best Allen’s Coffee Brandy Whoopie Pies included Allen’s Mocha from Valley View Orchard Pies and Allen’s Coffee Toffee Whoopie from Kindred Farms. Kindred Farms also tied for Second Place in the Best New Baker category with their Lemon Blueberry flavored Whoopie, and Katherine’s won First Place for Most Creative Whoopie Pie Name with “My Golly Miss Moxie.”

Katherine’s won the Healthy Whoopie Prize with Maine Wild Blueberry, and Valley View won the Yankee for best use of Maine-based ingredients with their Maine Blueberry Pancake, as judged by Jim Bailey, The Yankee Chef.

The organizers of the Festival have also announced that the date for next year’s Maine Whoopie Pie Festival will be June 20, 2026. Registration for bakers and vendors will open in January.

The Festival is the largest annual fundraiser for the Piscataquis Chamber of Commerce and the Center Theatre for the Performing Arts and supports the Theatre’s mission to engage and inspire by making art, education, and entertainment accessible to our rural communities.