2016 Visitor's Guide

has a well-deserved gastronomic reputation and is home to four of the state’s five winners of the coveted James Beard Award. We’re so proud of our food scene that we’ve created an event to celebrate and share it—Harvest on the Harbor, a multi-day culinary festival held on Portland’s waterfront that attracts foodies from near and far. VISUAL ARTS Artists of all persuasions have also taken a shine to Portland, turning the town into the cultural Mecca of northern New England. Traditional landscapes, which have been the foundation of Maine art, now share the limelight with cutting- edge contemporary work in a wide range of media. The venerable Portland Museum of Art is known as one of the best art museums in New England, and the Maine College of Art is a respected art school whose affiliated Institute of Contemporary Art presents innovative works by influential national and international artists. On the first Friday of each month in Portland, and the third Friday in Freeport, artists open their studios to the public and you can take a self-guided tour. Follow the Maine Art Museum Trail to experience a magnificent array of works at the state’s seven leading art museums.

Photos clockwise from top left: Tim Greenway, Corey Templeton, Cynthia Farr-Weinfeld (3) ,

PERFORMANCE ARTS Performance arts also energize the Greater Portland region year-round. The summer skies are filled with concerts and the Old Port comes to life at night with an eclectic mix of live music in its pubs and concert halls. Portland has its own symphony orchestra, choral arts society, and professional theater and dance troupes, even a repertory opera company. In Freeport and other towns of the region, free outdoor concerts offer an exciting musical evening. Greater Portland is the perfect combination of small-town intimacy with a heavy dose of large metropolitan culture. OUTDOOR RECREATION Casco Bay’s flourishing arts scene is complemented by an abundant variety of outdoor recreational pursuits so ac- cessible that you can kayak, bike, golf, or swim all day and still have time to take in dinner and a show in the evening.

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