Cover

CONVENTION + VISITORS BUREAU /

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.