Remember the Deering Oaks Family Festival in Portland, Maine?

Deering Oaks Park in Portland, Maine, used to have an awesome event called the Deering Oaks Family Festival, which started in the '80s.

The Bollard remembers this wildly-popular, multi-day summer gathering with food, carnival rides, and games. It ended in 1994 because Portland City officials were worried about the massive crowds ruining the oaks' root systems and trampling the grass.

Mainers were upset that the Deering Oaks Festival in Portland, Maine, closed

A private company called Citrine Resources tried to save the festival. A former employee of the Portland Chamber of Commerce ran Citrine Resources and started a new festival called Summerfest. Where could you go where you wouldn't hurt a tree's root system? A parking lot. Summerfest was in a portion of the parking lot at the Maine Mall. To have the feel of a park, they covered the asphalt with Astroturf and put potted trees everywhere. It was a hit on its first weekend in 1995. Bollard says approximately 150,000 people attended. But rainy weather kept the crowds at home the next year, and Citrine Resources went bankrupt. South Portland was on the hook for about $15,000 in unpaid fees for police and emergency services.

Will the Deering Oaks Festival ever come back to Portland, Maine?

Probably not. The money and resources used to put on such a big multi-day festival are better used in other areas of Maine's largest city. The park is 55 acres in the middle of an urban area, and it really is a gorgeous part of Portland. You can head there on Saturday mornings in the summer and grab veggies and flowers at the Farmer's Market. But finding a ride on a ferris wheel or grabbing a sausage with peppers and onions? Well, I'm afraid those days are long gone.