YARMOUTH, Maine — How many clams will be enjoyed at this weekend’s Yarmouth Clam Festival? Six thousand pounds, actually.

That’s how many mollusks are set to be fried, steamed and turned into clam cakes and classic clam chowder, all in the name of civic pride.





“This is the biggest community event, and the town is proud of it,” said Kate Shub, public relations director for the Yarmouth Clam Festival, celebrating its 50th year Friday, July 17, to Sunday, July 19.

Shub said clams are one of 80 food options at the free festival, which spreads out along Main Street and is centered on Memorial Green.

“There will be steamed lobster, lobster stew, whoopie pies, blueberry crisps, blueberry pie, strawberry shortcake,” Shub, a 35-year-old Yarmouth native who grew up attending the festival with her mother and grandmother, said.

Arts and crafts, music, rides and races augment the lineup, but littlenecks fuel the flame. The three-day event started as a fireman’s field day in the 1940s. At one point a clambake was added. In 1965, the Yarmouth Chamber of Commerce took over and The Yarmouth Clam Festival was born.

“People love the food,” said Shub, who makes a beeline for the fried clams sold from a warren of wooden stands. “It’s sinful walking through there.”

Behind each vintage booth is nary a James Beard nominee but a local volunteer seeking to raise funds for a nonprofit. More than 40 civic, school and church groups are represented. Proceeds from food sales funnel back into high school sports, music clubs and other municipal needs.

“You can feel good that you are donating to a local nonprofit,” Shub said, while enjoying some of the tastiest clams around.

Over the decades, thousands of Mainers and tourists have flocked to this town of 8,000 to gorge on freshly prepared Maine fare.

This year, 125,000 people are expected to descend for the feast. Can clam dishes made by volunteer groups such as the Royal River Chorus stand up to those served in shacks up and down the coast?

“They are the best of the best,” Shub guarantees. “They are fresh, delicious. They have decades and decades of preparation behind them. They are made with love.”

And they’re made by locals, which helps preserve the event’s small-town character.

“There is a family feel. You have different generations of families working in booths,” Shub said, adding that it takes 3,000 volunteers to pull it off. “My grandmother is 87, my mother [is] 65 [and they] have never missed one,” Shub, who will attend with her children, said.

The parade, set for 6 p.m. Friday, is another spectacle and source of Yarmouth pride.

“Over 130 floats, antique cars and our mascot, Steamer the Clam,” make it worthwhile to Shub. As evidenced by the line of chairs propped up and down Main Street weeks in advance, this is the social event of the season.

The Yarmouth Clam Festival runs from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday, 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday and 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. A full schedule can be found at clamfestival.com.