AUGUSTA — Over 70 vendors from across Maine brought food, beverages and crafts to the Civic Center on Sunday morning in celebration of the state’s culinary offerings.

The Maine Culinary Festival ran from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Consumers wandered booth to booth, tasting samples, entering raffles and filling their bags with local products.

Susan Riley of Waterville spent her morning buying jars of jelly, baked goods, sausages and “anything ginger.” She said the festival exposed her to new flavors and businesses.

A patron samples a Country Meadows Bakery donut during the Maine Culinary Festival at the Augusta Civic Center on Sunday. The Winslow bakery and 73 other vendors participated in the festival on Saturday and Sunday. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

“I’ve bought these (jelly) products in-store before, but not this flavor,” Riley said. “I definitely found some new places to get things, plus places to visit — I like to tour around the state, so it will give me some places to visit.”

In the spacious center, chatter overlapped with folk music from a performer on stage. In the back, a silent auction for various food products quietly unfolded, with shoppers eyeing their choices and casting raffle tickets accordingly. Others perused a line of 25 different pies in a not-so-silent pie rating contest.

Many vendors sold products rooted in family and culture. Concepta Jones, whose booth offered curry samples and South African Indian spice blends, said it was rewarding to see people enjoy recipes from her home country.

“I think people are more open now to different cultures and different cuisines, and they’re really enjoying it, and they’re so grateful that there’s some culture,” she said. “It definitely is fun to be able to bring some color to the landscape of Maine.”

Pies and scrutinized during the contest at the Maine Culinary Festival at the Augusta Civic Center on Sunday. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

Elaine Luce of Anson boasted maple products built on centuries of tradition. Her family business, Luce’s Maple Syrup, can be traced back to 1795, after the first Luce ancestors came over on the Mayflower.

Other businesses are just starting out. Danielle and Fred Sylvester, known for formerly running Bee’s Snack Bar in Winslow, launched Country Meadows Bakery eight months ago. Danielle Sylvester said the culinary festival was an opportunity to reach new customers and put a face to their product.

“We’re trying to push our product and tell people where we wholesale — where they can go and buy our product,” she said. “We’re all handmade, so everything’s from scratch, we’re known for our pies — I’ve been selling pies for 29 years now.”

Shoppers could sample from maple bacon biscuits, jalapeno biscuits and whoopie pies. Danielle Sylvester said they ran out of baked goods Saturday, rushing home to bake more last night and at 5 a.m. Sunday morning.

Vendors came from all corners of the state. There was honey from Boothbay, pickles from Chelsea and farm products from Belfast, New Gloucester, Richmond and Troy. Each booth was buzzing with shoppers.

A good turnout is helpful for small businesses, said Jim Campbell, who came to the festival from Litchfield.

“It’s nice to have a good turnout for all these folks here that are from Maine and showing their products,” Campbell said. “Some of the samples that we’ve had today have been really, really good.”

Riley said the festival reflected the importance of buying local.

“I love having things in the state — the state needs that kind of stuff,” Riley said. “Just the idea that people see all these things that Maine has — people think of farms, but they don’t really know what the farms do. So this is really good.”