Auburn officials pranked social media followers April 1, 2021, with this image, which announced a lobster festival that summer. Facebook image

AUBURN — The first Auburn Lobster Festival, originally announced April 1, 2021, as a joke, is slated for May 6.

Auburn is making good on its 2021 April Fool’s Joke, which promised a lobster festival.

The lighthearted social media post from two years ago prompted many a response to city officials that an actual event would be a buoyant and brilliant spring signature event for the downtown.

Liz Allen, the city’s director of communications and community engagement, and Jennifer Boenig, the downtown coordinator, said the concept was hilarious to them at first, especially paired with the event’s tagline, “Fresh from the Androscoggin.”

Both were surprised to find the social media post reached some 30,000 people, also grabbing the attention of local and state news coverage.

“The most delightful outcome was the number of people who encouraged us to actually do it,” Allen and Boenig wrote in an email. “We laughed about it, then began to ask each other, ‘Why not?’”

In 2021, after the success of New Year’s Auburn and the Riverwalk Blues & Brews Festivals, the city was searching for ideas for a springtime event at Festival Plaza, according to Allen and Boenig. During a brainstorming session, Mayor Jason Levesque told Allen the city seems to have everything except lobsters and lighthouses.

“She goes, ‘Well, let’s do a lobster festival,'” Levesque recalled. “We did that media post and it went all over New England.”

The joke set a date for July 31, but Levesque said the next big shindig should have a May date because there is not much geared toward Mainers that comes before peak season. Doing a lobster festival in May, he said, would be a great outlet for those who would otherwise hit the coastal festivals if there were not so much traffic.

The festival should help remind Mainers and visitors of two things, Levesque said: Auburn does not take itself too seriously, and Auburn “is closer than you think.”

“But we also want to bring some of those great coastal activities to people in the interior of the state,” the mayor said. “We all love lobster, you know. We all support the industry as a whole, so why don’t we actually bring lobster to people and bring that excitement and make them have a good time in the community they love?”

Allen and Boenig said the city is still working on logistics and is collaborating with the Maine Lobstermen’s Association to connect with people in the industry. They said it is important to collaborate with as many local sources and businesses as possible, which is why the festival is expected to feature food trucks, including Pinky D’s Poutine Factory, Roaming Eats, Ye Olde Fish & Chips and L/A Taco, and breweries, such as Lost Valley Brewing Co., Side By Each Brewing Co., Gritty McDuff’s Brewing Co., Craft Brew Underground, Mason’s Brewing Co. and Nonesuch River Brewing

“Our food trucks will be lined up and offering a wide variety of delicious options, from lobster poutine to lobster mac ‘n’ cheese, and lobster rolls to fish ‘n’ chips, just to name a few,” Allen and Boenig said.

The festival is also expected to offer live music from Michael Corleto, David Young & The Interstate Kings, Nashville’s Ashton Butler and a Maine favorite, Skosh.

More information can be found at www.AuburnLobsterFestival.com.