The Bollard Bulletin for Aug. 15, 2026

Looks like a beautiful day for the Brunswick Outdoor Arts Festival. Maine Street and the town mall will be filled with local artists and makers of fine crafts showing and selling their work from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., there’ll be music by the likes of Jimmy Jo & The Jumbol’Ayuhs and Maine Marimba Ensemble, and undoubtedly plenty of delicious street food.

Half an hour’s drive in the opposite direction from Portland you’ll find another free festival, River Jam, in Biddeford’s Mechanics Park from noon to 8 p.m. There’s a makers’ market here, too, plus beer and food from several of the city’s tastiest breweries and eateries, and live music by country singer Stephanie Ryann, Spencer Albee’s Speed of Sound band, New Hampshire indie-folk heartthrob Harrison Goodell and others.

An hour’s drive west of the big city brings you to the Dam Jam Revival in Denmark’s Bicentennial Park (W. Main St.) from 2 to 7 p.m., where there’ll be crafters, stilt-walkers, a beer tent, a food truck, and music by Americana act Cold Chocolate and Maine folk quintet Bold Riley. This festival is also free — if you’re 12 years old or younger; otherwise, it’s $30.

Not to be outdone, Westbrook’s got a festival today, too: the Wild Pines Music Festival at Rock Row from 2 to 8 p.m. This one’s a little different. “Wild Pines is what happens when your favorite indie zine throws a backyard rave with a woodsy soul,” the description reads. “Built for wanderers, weirdos, and rhythm chasers, it’s a one-day fever dream of sound, style, and sensory surprises. … A little grit, a little freaky, a little forest magic. Expect thrifted gems, pickled things, disco twirls, denim stacks, sun-drenched sets, and a pop-up market full of oddities and obsessions.” The musical lineup includes club DJ Ben Spaulding, power-punkers East End Redemption, “blues-punk prophet of doom” Cryin Caleb and more. Tix: $20 (21+).

It’s not technically a festival, but there’ll be a fun festival atmosphere in Bath’s Waterfront Park this afternoon as crowds gather for Mystic Bowie’s Talking Dreads, a reggae reimagination of Talking Heads songs, at 5 p.m. You know there’s gonna be food trucks around, and probably somebody sellin’ somethin’ crafty, plus it’s free for everyone!

There is a festival in Portland today. It’s called the Water Lantern Festival, and it’s happening in Deering Oaks from 5 to 9 p.m. Folks are encouraged to bring a blanket, decorate a paper lantern and launch it into the pond as seen above. There’ll be local food trucks, some mild live music and story sharing. To be honest, this feel-good community fest smells a little too corporate. Maybe it’s the ticket price: $30.99. We trust you’ll use your best judgement.

And hey, what the heck? Let’s go ahead and call the show at SPACE (538 Congress St., Portland) tonight a festival, because it’ll feel like a music fest featuring your favorite local indie-rock bands of 25 years ago. The lineup includes the reincarnated psychedelic stylings of Phantom Buffalo, playing as a four-piece; punkers Gum Parker, a group comprised of past members of scads of bands; the jangly Biz Turkey (read our review of their record here); and a sympathetic lo-fi band from Philly called Honey Radar, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets to the first annual Free Street Taverna Music Festival are $15 (all ages).

Director William Wellman’s 1943 “anti-Western” The Ox-Bow Incident, starring Henry Fonda, Dana Andrews and Anthony Quinn, is about a posse that forms to hunt down cattle thieves believed to have killed a rancher. “Released in the midst of WWII, the parallels to wartime mob psychology were unmistakable then and have lost none of their edge since,” notes Kinonik (121 Cassidy Point Dr., Portland), the film preservation organization that’s screening an original print today at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Tix: $12.