Camden Windjammer Festival
The Camden Windjammer Festival on Labor Day weekend, Boothbay Harbor's Windjammer Days, the Great Schooner Race and the Windjammer Gam: 2027 dates and where to watch.
The Camden Windjammer Festival is held on the Friday and Saturday of Labor Day weekend, when the Maine windjammer fleet sails into Camden Harbor; in 2027 the Maine Windjammer Association lists it for Saturday 4 September, with a parade of sail and fireworks. Watching is free. To be on the water that weekend, book a day sail from Camden: Appledore II sails from Bayview Landing, from $65 (checked October 2026). The ships gather on the Friday afternoon, with live music in the evening, and the Saturday is a full day ashore with a lobster crate race, vendors and children’s activities, run by Camden Parks and Recreation, whose own page still showed the 2026 dates (checked October 2026).
The 2027 schooner events
| Event | Where | 2027 date | Run by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Windjammer Gam | Penobscot Bay | 14 June | Maine Windjammer Association |
| Windjammer Days | Boothbay Harbor | 27 June to 3 July | Friends of Windjammers |
| Great Schooner Race | Penobscot Bay, from the Rockland Breakwater | 9 July | Maine Windjammer Association |
| Camden Windjammer Festival | Camden Harbor | 4 September (Labor Day weekend) | Camden Parks and Recreation |
Dates from the Maine Windjammer Association’s events page and Friends of Windjammers’ site, checked October 2026. Event-by-event times for 2027 had not been posted.
The Camden Windjammer Festival
The festival brings the windjammers, the schooners that take guests on multi-day cruises, into Camden’s small harbor together. Three of the nine ships, Angelique, Lewis R. French and Mary Day, are based in Camden, and the other six in Rockland. Ashore there are vendors, children’s activities and the lobster crate race. Book a room early: it is a holiday weekend in a small town.
The day sails keep running: Appledore II’s 2027 calendar has day sails on the festival weekend at 10:00 am, 12:30 pm and 3:00 pm, and a sunset sail at 5:00 pm. Surprise, the smaller Camden schooner, sails from the same landing. See Camden schooner cruises.
Windjammer Days, Boothbay Harbor
Boothbay Harbor’s Windjammer Days is a week-long festival run by Friends of Windjammers, a volunteer nonprofit; 2027 is its 65th year, from Sunday 27 June to Saturday 3 July. In 2026 the week included a decorated boat parade, the gathering of the fleet with a street parade and fireworks, and a vintage boat parade. Eastwind and Applejack sail from Pier Six through the week; see Boothbay Harbor schooners. Friends of Windjammers has already set the dates to 2031: 25 June to 1 July 2028 and 24 to 30 June 2029.
The Great Schooner Race
The windjammer fleet races across Penobscot Bay every summer, and has since 1977. In 2027 the race is on 9 July. Watch from the Rockland Breakwater: the schooners cross the start line just off it at about 10 am and finish there at about 2 pm. The windjammer cruises guide has a map of the bay and the Rockland breakwater.
Who should pick something else
- Rather sail than watch: a multi-day windjammer cruise takes you along with the fleet; see windjammer cruises.
- Watch the sunset from the water: the sunset sails guide has the evening departures by month.
- Plan the season: the schooner season guide has every month and the opening dates.
Sail Out of Camden on Festival Weekend
Appledore II's two-hour day sails leave Bayview Landing through Labor Day weekend: see the harbor from the water while the fleet is in.
See 2027 dates