First Friday Art Walk

Friday, May 2 | Downtown Bangor | Free

It's the first Friday of the month, which means downtown comes alive after dark. Local artists are hosted by downtown businesses throughout the historic district, with a mix of visual art, live music, and performance scattered across shops, galleries, and restaurants. Start wherever you land and wander. This is one of the better low-key Friday nights the city puts on. Downtownbangor

New England REEL Recovery Film Festival

Saturday, May 2 | Gracie Theatre, Husson University | 10am-6pm

The Third Annual New England REEL Recovery Film Festival takes over the Gracie Theatre for a full day of films built around the recovery experience. One of the standouts is "InhuMAINE," a documentary filmed almost entirely in Bangor that looks at the city's homelessness crisis and the people trying to navigate it, made by a Husson grad student who grew up here. Worth your time, especially if you care about what's actually happening in this city. Downtownbangor

Sunday Community Jam at 2 Feet Brewing

Sunday, May 4 | 2 Feet Brewing, Downtown Bangor | 2pm-5pm

Every Sunday, musicians show up at 2 Feet with their instruments and just play, no set list, no cover charge. The brewpub is family-run and the vibe is genuinely relaxed. Good way to close out the weekend.

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There are bars in Bangor, and then there's Nocturnem. The mission here is simple: the finest beers from Maine, the US, and abroad, paired with simple, locally sourced food. No pretense. They mean it.

Twenty lines on tap, always rotating, balanced across styles and always fresh. The staff knows the list cold and will steer you right if you're not sure where to start. German and Belgian imports sit alongside a deep selection of Maine drafts, and the flights are a good way to work through a few before you commit.

The food punches above what you'd expect from a bar menu. The wings are the thing everyone mentions, and for good reason. Taco Tuesday is a weekly ritual. The burger is quietly one of the better ones downtown.

It has the feel of a true local bar, where most people know each other, but strangers are always welcome. That's a harder thing to fake than it sounds.

Open Wednesday through Sunday. Check their hours before you go.

Nocturnemdrafthaus

The wooden box on a post outside Amanda Moscone's home on Sixth Street looks like a little free library. Open the door and you find shelves of greenery instead: potted houseplants, cuttings, and propagated leaves. A smaller box below holds free vegetable seed packets and pots.

She started it as therapy. "I wanted to kind of bring some joy back into my life," she said, "and what better way than to share my love and passion for plants with the community."

In April, the library draws from the roughly 200 houseplants Moscone tends and propagates in an upstairs apartment. Later in the season, she adds vegetable seedlings from her greenhouse and extra produce from her garden. When flowers die back in the fall, she collects their seeds for the library. You don't have to leave a plant to take one.

What started as a personal project has grown into something bigger. The library has connected her to neighbors she wouldn't have met otherwise, giving people a reason to stop and talk. A mother and daughter stopped to drop off a "happy bean" plant. Someone else said finding it had made her day.

"Getting to know people restored my faith in humanity," Moscone said, "that there are kind people out there, that people can still be neighborly."

You can find her on Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram as Brouse House Gardens.

Bangor Daily News

Bangor has the cleanest air in the country. Literally. The American Lung Association just released its 2025 "State of the Air" report, and Bangor is one of only two cities in the entire country to land on all three of the association's cleanest cities lists, the other being San Juan, Puerto Rico. Penobscot County recorded zero unhealthy air days for both ozone and short-term particle pollution over the past three years. Go ahead and take a deep breath. WABIKool AM

$140,000 headed to local nonprofits The Bangor Savings Bank Foundation announced its 2025 Community Matters More grant recipients, with 44 nonprofits across the region sharing more than $140,000. The recipients were chosen by community votes, covering everything from food security and housing to veteran support and the arts. Local winners include Welcome to Housing in Old Town, which helps people transitioning out of shelters get set up with basic household goods. Bangor Savings Bank

Downtown storefronts getting a facelift The Downtown Bangor Partnership is awarding five grants of up to $2,500 each to help brick-and-mortar businesses on the ground floor of the downtown district spruce up their storefronts. Small thing, visible impact. If you've walked Main Street lately, you know some of these spots could use the love. Maine News Center

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Spring Cleanup | Downtown, Saturday May 3

The Downtown Bangor Partnership is putting out the call for volunteers this Saturday morning at 9 a.m. The crew will be picking up trash, removing graffiti, swapping out dirt in flower boxes, and tackling invasive shrubs. No experience needed, just wear clothes you don't mind getting dirty. It sets the stage for the Big Dig on May 17, when over 140 downtown garden plots get planted. Show up and help make downtown look good for summer. Downtownbangor

Big Dig Day | May 17 Mark it. The annual Big Dig returns May 17 starting at 9 a.m., when hundreds of volunteers fan out across downtown to plant gardens in parks, tree pits, and street plots throughout the district. You don't need to have adopted a garden to show up and help. Just come ready to dig. Details at downtownbangor.com. Downtownbangor

Habitat for Humanity Needs Build Volunteers Habitat for Humanity of Greater Bangor welcomes construction volunteers with no experience required, working alongside partner families and fellow community members to build homes. If you've got a free Saturday and want to do something with it, this is a good use of your time. Visit habitatbangor.org to sign up. Habitat Bangor

Bangor Public Library: Free Tech Help The library's Digital Media Librarian offers free 60-minute appointments to help with computer questions, in person, by phone, or over Zoom, covering everything from organizing emails to figuring out why that annoying message keeps popping up. Book a slot at the Bangor Public Library. Downtownbangor

If you or someone you know needs a meal or groceries, here are some places operating in Bangor right now. Call ahead to confirm hours before you go.

Salvation Army Dorothy Day Soup Kitchen, 65 South Park St. Meals Monday through Friday, 11:30am to 1pm. Food pantry Wednesdays and Fridays, 9 to 11am (walk-in). 207-535-9572.

Manna Ministry, 95 Center St. Hot meals Monday through Friday, 4 to 5pm. Food pantry Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 3 to 4pm.

Brick Church, 126 Union St. Meals Monday through Friday, 4:30 to 5:30pm. Clothes and showers also available Tuesday and Thursday, 10am to 2pm.

Bangor Area Homeless Shelter, 263 Main St. Soup kitchen daily at 11:45am. Food pantry Sunday and Tuesday, 1 to 4pm (one visit per month).

Bangor Food Pantry, 28 High St. (at Hammond Street Congregational Church). Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9:30am to noon. Bangor residents only.

Bangor Region YMCA, 17 Second St. Food pantry Tuesdays 6 to 8am, Thursdays 6 to 7:30pm, Saturdays 12:30 to 2:30pm.

Have an announcement, job posting, event, or local news tip for Queen City Weekly? Reply to this email or reach us at [email protected]. Paid listings available.

See you next Friday. — Ken, Editor

Queen City Weekly | Greater Bangor, Maine