City: Coastal Maine, ME

Category: Annual Events & Festivals

Telephone: (800) 365-9386

Address: Old Orchard Beach

Description: Northern states everywhere have their traditional first-of-the-year “polar bear challenges,” those crazy occasions when seemingly normal people jump into the ocean on a freezing winter’s day. This is the same sort of idea, Maine-style. You’ll certainly emerge looking like a lobster (the cooked variety, anyway), with skin that’s all red and hard from the cold. Sponsored by the Portland Rugby Club, the event takes place in front of the Brunswick Hotel in Old Orchard Beach. Usually about 300 hardy souls participate, running down into the water, diving in, screaming, and running back out as fast as they can. It’s probably the only time you’ll see Old Orchard Beach with so few people on it. And it’s for a worthy cause—it benefits Maine’s Special Olympics program. Find out more at the Old Orchard Beach Chamber of Commerce Web site at www.oldorchardbeachmaine.com or by calling (800) 365-9386.