Olde Bristol Days, the annual festival featuring fireworks, lobster boat races, live music and other attractions, might move from Colonial Pemaquid to Pemaquid Beach next year.
“It’s a drastic change, because that’s where it all started – at the fort,” Gordon Benner, Chairman of the Bristol Parks Commission said at the Oct. 6 meeting of the Bristol Board of Selectmen.
Benner cited multiple reasons for the impending move. Because Colonial Pemaquid is an important archaeological site, the state strictly regulates Olde Bristol Days vendors. Tent stakes, for example, can only extend six inches into the ground.
“I do know that they want us out of there,” Benner said.
“I think it’s better that we move out on our own than get kicked out a month before [Olde Bristol Days],” Selectman Robert Tibbetts said.
This year, the Bristol Parks Commission took charge of Olde Bristol Days for the first time in the event’s history. In the past, volunteers ran the event.
Benner said he was pleased with the Commission’s handling of the event last year and wants to start planning early this year.
Spectators will still watch the Merritt Brackett lobster boat races from the Fort William Henry lawn, Benner said, and vendors may have the option to move to Colonial Pemaquid for the races Sunday morning.
A spokesman for the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands denied any desire to remove Olde Bristol Days from Colonial Pemaquid.
“I can guarantee no one at the state level is going to kick Olde Bristol Days off the state historic site,” Gary Best, Assistant Regional Manager for the Southern Region, said in an Oct. 8 phone interview.
“Colonial Pemaquid state historic site will always be a big part of Olde Bristol Days,” Best said. “People will always be lining the shores to watch the boat races.”
Best said the state will support “whatever [Bristol’s] decision is for the future of Olde Bristol Days.”
Best expressed regret for the apparent lack of communication. “We’ll be reaching out to [Bristol] soon,” he said.
“We will be a part of Olde Bristol Days as long as there’s an Olde Bristol Days,” Best said. “It’s a great event.”
In an Oct. 12 interview, Benner said, “We have no hard feelings with [Colonial Pemaquid]. We got along very well this year.”
Due to the necessity of electrical upgrades at Pemaquid Beach, Benner said he doesn’t know whether the move will take place in 2011, 2012 or ever. Benner said he’s still unsure if Colonial Pemaquid wants to continue hosting Olde Bristol Days events, possibly due to plans for archaeological excavations at the site.
