The Maine Artisan Bread Fair
July 25, 2026
The Skowhegan State Fairgrounds
9:00am – 3:00pm
The Maine Artisan Bread Fair is one of a kind. It is a fair dedicated solely to real bread and everything associated with this most ancient and central staple. The Maine Grain Alliance has sponsored the Bread Fair for fifteen years and the offerings have grown each year. While you will be captivated by the wares in each booth, you will also be able tantalize your taste buds as you sample foods ranging from pizzas cooked in wood-fired ovens, fresh sourdough loaves, sweet pastries, and a variety of other locally produced delicious food.
Come for the artisan halvah, maple syrup, jams, butter, cheese, the best books and equipment for baking at home, professional bakers to answer your questions, live music, beautiful kitchen linens, demos, and superb Maine-made foods!
The Details:
DATE: Saturday, July 25, 2026
HOURS: 9:00am to 3:00pm
PLACE: Skowhegan State Fairgrounds
COST: $5 per person; Free entry for children and Maine Grain Alliance members
PARKING: Free
Vendors: Over 60 vendors await you at the Artisan Bread Fair. Please see the list below, continually updated.
From 95 North, take exit 133 (Waterville/Skowhegan) onto Rt. 201 North and head to Skowhegan. At the light in Skowhegan, take a right and go into town. Go around the rotary of buildings and take a right. About 1 mile on left is the entrance to the fairgrounds. Next to Wal-Mart.
From 95 South, Take exit 157 (Newport/Skowhegan), turn slight right onto ME-100/ME-11 north, take a sharp left onto Main Street/Route 2 south. Follow Route 2 into Skowhegan, go through the rotary, turn right onto Madison Avenue About 1 mile on left is the entrance to the fairgrounds. Next to Wal-Mart.
2026 Bread Fair Made Possible Through Generous Sponsorships From:
Contributor Sponsor ($10000+)
Contributor Sponsor ($5000+)
Leader Sponsor ($2500+)
Leader Sponsor ($2500+)
Benefactor Sponsor ($1000+)
Patron Sponsor ($500+)
General Guidelines for the Artisan Bread Fair:
1. The ABF does not permit pets on the fairgrounds or in the parking area. Animals left in cars or tied up may be removed by the local animal control officer.
2. ABF enforces Maine laws prohibiting public drinking of alcohol and use of illegal drugs on the fairgrounds.
3. Audio and video devices are prohibited unless they are part of an approved demonstration or display.
4. Littering is prohibited. Please control all waste and convey it to the receptacles provided throughout the fair and police your area at the end of the day.
5. ABF assumes no liability for damage to or loss of personal property.
2025 Workshops
Pasta in Your Future! For Kids
10:00am-11:00am
Midway Kitchen at the Skowhegan State Fairgrounds
$20 (Space is limited, pre registration required)
Join Chef Kerry Altiero of Rockland’s Cafe Miranda for a fun class where you will learn to make fresh egg macaroni (that’s pasta kids!). We will crack eggs, mix with our hands, shape, roll, cook & EAT fresh handmade noodles that you can make at home! There will be a limited number of hands-on participants so don’t be late!! It’s easy, fun & delish!
Meet Your Instructor: Kerry Altiero
Kerry is the former chef and owner of Café Miranda and author of the cookbook Adventures in Comfort Food. He was named the 2015 Down East Magazine Maine Chef of the Year, winner of the Maine Lobster Council Lobster Chef of the Year, and Harvest on the Harbor Top of the Crop – Best Farm-to-Table Restaurant. He was also named Hospitality Maine’s 2019 Chef of the Year. Chef Kerry is known for community service targeting food insecurity, education, and homelessness in Knox County. Since Cafe Miranda closed in June 2022, Chef Kerry has worked as a freelance cooking consultant.
Sourdough 101
11:00am-12:00pm
Midway Kitchen at the Skowhegan State Fairgrounds
$20 (Space is limited, pre registration required)
Join Rose Boyington of Rose’s Sourdough – a licensed home bakery in Hartland, ME specializing in sourdough bread & baked goods – for a workshop focused on delicious and nutritious sourdough bread. You will explore what makes sourdough bread different from yeasted breads. You will learn how to take care of sourdough starter and incorporate it into your weekly bakes. Finally, you will learn how to achieve a perfectly crunchy crust and use scoring to create beautiful designs that allow your bread to expand in a controlled manner as it bakes.
Meet Your Instructor: Rose Boyington
Rose is the owner and sole baker at Rose’s Sourdough, a licensed home bakery in Hartland, ME specializing in sourdough bread & baked goods. She enjoys hosting baking workshops about topics including long fermentation and the importance of using local grains in baking projects.
Creative Uses of Pizza Dough: Make Your Own Fougasse
12:00pm-1:00pm
The Good Crust Booth at the Maine Artisan Bread Fair
$20 (Space is limited, pre registration required)
Join Heather Kerner and The Good Crust Team for a hands-on workshop and demonstration of dough scoring techniques to make your own fougasse made from Maine-grown grain. Impressive and easy, fougasse is a crusty hearth bread typically associated with Provence, France and sculpted or slashed into a pattern resembling a head of wheat. Perfect to dip in your favorite hummus, soup, or herbed oils, come try your hand at dusting a peel and creating a fougasse of your own to bake and take away!
Meet Your Instructor: Heather Kerner
Focaccia Art
1:00pm-2:00pm
Midway Kitchen at the Skowhegan State Fairgrounds
$20 (Space is limited, pre registration required)
Join Teri Culletto a.k.a. “The Vineyard Baker” and author of Beautiful Bread: Create & Bake Artful Masterpieces for Any Occasion for a hands-on focaccia art workshop! Teri will inspire participants through the creative process and steps to making their very own beautifully decorated focaccia from start to finish. All participants will take home a freshly made focaccia with a beautiful design of their own creation. Dough and farm fresh ingredients will be provided. Class space is limited to 25 participants.
Meet Your Instructor: Teri Culletto
Music at the 2025 Bread Fair
The Bread n Jammers
9-11am
Lively fiddle music. If you frequent The Miller’s Table at Maine Grains, you may have heard them playing on a Thursday night!
The Fossils
11am-1pm
Music is a celebration. Each culture has its own unique costume, cuisine, dance, and song. The Fossils perform the music of their lives – songs that were popular when they were kids.
Sagittarius Rising
1-3pm
Isabelle and Phoebe Rogers – we are twin sisters from Western Maine who create original music, animation, and films. https://sagittariusrisingmusic.com/
2025 Vendors:
Sunflour Designs
Alice’s Fresh Squeezed & Energy Teas
Tara-bly Good Catering
Crepe Elizabeth
North Pond Woodworking
Dogpatch Farm, LLC
Barters Island Bees, Inc
Gryffon Ridge Spice Merchants
Willows Highlands Farm
Dreamer Food
Olde Haven Farm
ChiGoBee Farm
Blue Earth Bags
Old Glory Bees and Honey
Sunflour Designs
Fresh Harvest in a Jar
The Bankery & Skowhegan Fleuriste
Rose’s Sourdough
The Good Crust
Kimchi Beyond Compare
Marston Country Crafts
Sonshine Meadows Goat Milk Soap
Alora Wood
Maine Sauce and Provisions
Ancestral French Soaps
Whitehill Farm
Just Crackers
Maine Grains
Miller’s Table
Spark Bagel
Maine Farmland Trust
Wholly Crow
Sawyer’s Maple Farm
Farm House Coffee Roasters
Grey Goose Gourmet
Sunrise Bagel
Sprig Woodwork
Sweet Monkey Business
Jones Limited
Rusted Rooster Farm
Vertical Harvest Farms
Midsummer Night’s Meadow Farm
Dragon’s Breath Pottery
The Maine Meal
The Potter’s House
Eat Neon LLC
Kittylamb
Triple D Craftsmanship/The Beaver’s Lodge
The Sweet Life Kettle Corn Company
B+T Baked Goods
Yo Momma’s Apron Strings
Springdale Farm Creamery
FIORE Artisan Olive Oils and Vinegars
Savagesse
Greenheart Exchange
What the Actual Fudge
Crust to Crumbs
Sips
Hootenanny Bread
Stitched With Love
Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association
Tupperware by Charlin
Colonni’s Sauces
AllerGeena Gluten Free Baked Goods
Tootie’s Tempeh
Tipped Trailer Co LLC
Blissful Brew Coffee
Mobile Cone / Stone Fox Farm Creamery
Awesome Bread Company
Pen & Cob Farm
Ampion Renewable Energy
2026 Vendor Guidelines
Click Here to Read Vendor Guidelines
Appropriate Applicants and Criteria:
Food Vendors:
Bakers of artisan breads of all kinds. Bakers must produce their wares in the State of Maine, with
at least a portion of the process done by hand. There is no restriction on the type of flour used,
but if possible, use of locally grown grains where possible would be appreciated. Local grain
production is part of the overall mission of the Maine Grain Alliance which sponsors the
Kneading Conference and the Fair.
If you are going to be selling food, you MUST produce your wares in a State Certified manner
and this is your responsibility.
Bread Fair Guidelines
Setup time: The grounds will be open at 7:00 A.M. and the fair will start promptly at 9:00, July 26th.
Fair Director: Dusty Dowse, dustydowse@aol.com
Vendor Coordinator: Patti Dowse Docqs@aol.com
- Vendors are not permitted to change booth space as assigned by the fair committee.
- Vendors must restrict their activities to the booth space assigned, and hawking of wares is prohibited.
- The Bread Fair does not provide tables, chairs, or display hardware or racks. The vendors are responsible for furnishing the space assigned.
- Signs and banners can be attached to tent poles, walls etc. only by string or tape.
- No holes may be dug.
- Fires may be built only in approved ovens or other devices.
- Any vendor using cooking equipment must have a 40 BC-minimum fire extinguisher.
- The Fire Marshal requires that propane tanks be secured firmly on a hard, non-combustible surface such as cement blocks.
- Vendors should prepare for inclement weather.
- Vendors must be set up and ready by the start of the fair at 9:00 AM, Saturday, July 26th.
- Booths must be staffed for the duration of the fair.
- Vendors should bring adequate wares, etc. to last for the duration of the fair.
- Vendors should not begin to break down displays, booths, etc. until the fair is over at 3:00 and the Director or Vendor Coordinator gives notice.
- All booth materials brought must be removed completely.
- Vendors must report earnings and worker’s pay to the IRS and the State of Maine.
- The State of Maine requires that commercial vendors be listed and their tax ID numbers be reported to
the State Tax Office. - Vendors must obtain any necessary liability and general insurance coverage for their activities and must adhere to all local and state ordinances. The Fair maintains no vendor coverage.
2026 Vendor Application
Please complete the online vendor application, or:
Download and mail your application to:
Maine Grain Alliance, Attn: Patti Dowse, 946 Dexter Rd, Cambridge, 04923
We will assess applications upon receipt and quickly alert everyone with the results as soon after April 24th as practicable. Space allowing, we may accept applications after that date.
Vendor Details & Pricing
We cannot supply tables, chairs, or other equipment.
Booth Space: $75
