LISBON, — Organizers of the annual Moxie Festival have chosen the theme for this year’s event, which pays homage to the quirky beverage concocted in the 1870s by a Mainer. Moxie is now the state’s official soft drink.

The Moxie Festival Committee says John Hardesty submitted this year’s winning theme of “Moxie: A Maine Tradition.” Hardesty lives in Texas, but he’s a New England native whose grandparents lived in Lisbon and who’s attended many of the festivals.

For his winning entry, he received a basket filled with Moxie items from The Kennebec Fruit Company store in Lisbon Falls.

The 31st annual festival is scheduled for July 12-14 in Lisbon.