Birthday balloons all float down here.
Stephen King’s hometown of Bangor, Maine – the city King’s fictional setting of Derry is based on — is throwing a birthday block party for the iconic author on Sunday.
And you’re invited, constant reader. You’ll float, too.
The festivities begin with a King-themed carnival that’s free for all on the day the iconic author turns 78 years old.
“A town in southern Maine did a Stephen King day back in May, and I was like, ‘Why isn’t Bangor — i.e. Derry, Maine — doing something to honor our most famous resident?’” said Nit-Noi Ricker, a local business owner who organized the event. “So, I was like, ‘Well, when’s his birthday?’”
Every day might be Stephen King day in Derry, but for this occasion, the city’s streets will be filled with balloons … and clowns.
So, throw on a blood-stained prom dress and head to the carnival from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Cross Street. There will be games like “Children of the Corn Cornhole” and crafts like making a paper boat out of newspaper to see if it floats as it did in King’s classic “IT.”
Word of advice: if a boat floats into the sewer, just go make a new one.
From 3:30 to 4 p.m. on Columbia Street is the “Pet Sematary” Pet Parade, for which pet owners are encouraged to dress their animals as King’s characters. So, put Cujo on a leash and bring him down.
The event concludes with the “Derry, Maine Beer Garden” – a ticketed event where King fans can enjoy a drink like Jack Torrance at the Overlook Hotel bar.
It will be held in the parking lot across from 2 Feet Brewing on Columbia Street – with tickets available for purchase at the brewery or through Eventbrite. Each ticket holder will receive a beer goblet saying “I was in Derry, Maine for Stephen King’s birthday.”
Ricker, the co-owner of 2 Feet Brewing, said three special beers have been made for King’s festival: a pale ale named “Oy” after the dog from “The Dark Tower”; an IPA that goes by “IT”; and a Scottish ale called “You’ll Float Too” that she described as “probably the best beer we make.”
King-inspired appetizers will be served page-to-table. As will a birthday cake for the “King of Horror.”
“It’s been an unbelievable response to the point where I’m kind of scared,” Ricker said of the overwhelming interest in the event. “So, that just tells you how much people love Stephen King.”
Has the birthday boy himself been invited?
Ricker, a constant reader raised a few miles south of Bangor, said she sent King a card inviting him and his wife Tabitha to the event. About a month later, Ricker was waiting in line at a local book signing when she spotted the area’s most famous author of all.
Ricker approached Stephen King and invited him to his own birthday party in Derry.
“He said, quote, ‘We’re probably not gonna make it,’” Ricker said. “So that’s a probable no, but it’s not an actual no. So, at least when people ask me if I’ve invited him, I can say yes.”
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