Brunswick's Holiday Season Starts at 6 A.M. on November 14

On Saturday, November 14, downtown Brunswick opens before sunrise. At 6 a.m., businesses along Maine Street unlock early for the Brunswick Downtown Association's Early Bird Sale. The BDA promises "deep discounts and special deals," and its own instructions are short: "Shop local. Pajamas encouraged!" Three hours later, the Brunswick Winter Market begins its 2026/27 season inside the Fort Andross Mill Complex at 14 Maine St.

People have done this double header for years. This year the route has new stops. Several of the year's most notable food and drink changes moved into two of downtown's oldest buildings: the Fort Andross mill and the 1919 Central Fire Station on Town Hall Place. On the first Saturday of the season you pass through both.

One Saturday, Hour by Hour

Here is the November 14 morning on the clock, using each business's posted hours.

1. 6:00 a.m. The Early Bird Sale opens downtown. Participating businesses sign up through the BDA, and each one can join a scavenger hunt by hiding an item the BDA supplies.
2. 8:00 a.m. Dutchman's, the wood-fired bagel counter inside Fort Andross, opens for its regular Thursday-through-Sunday hours.
3. 9:00 a.m. The Brunswick Winter Market opens for the season in the same mill complex.
4. 12:30 p.m. The market closes for the day.
5. 1:00 p.m. Dutchman's closes.
6. 4:00 p.m. Paolo's, next door to Dutchman's, starts serving drinks and snacks. Dinner runs 5 to 9 p.m.

The bagel counter's hours bracket the market's on both ends. It opens an hour before the first vendor table and closes half an hour after the last. This year the evening end of that Saturday is new.

The Bagel Shop Opened a Dinner Room Next Door

Jeremy and Marina Kratzer have run Dutchman's Wood-Fired Bagels since 2022. This June they opened Paolo's beside it, in the Fort Andross space that Frontier and then Nomad Pizza used to occupy. Portland Food Map reported the opening in late June. The publication describes the menu as a New Jersey take on Italian American cooking, built around a wood-fired oven. The Jersey Shore pizza comes with pickled peppers, clams, pecorino, salmoriglio and oregano. Bucatini is finished with preserved lemon, anchovy and Calabrian chili. Desserts end with an affogato martini made with house gelato. General manager Matt Im designed the cocktail list.

In September, The Bowdoin Orient reported that the renovation between Nomad's November 2024 closing and Paolo's opening kept Nomad's white brick walls, original wood floors and turquoise wood-fired oven. The tables are spaced well apart, with a long communal table in the middle of the room.

Put together, the Kratzers' corner of the mill now runs on two shifts. Bagels cover the morning, Italian dinner covers the evening, and both keep the same Thursday-through-Sunday schedule.

What's on the Market's Vendor List

The Winter Market was founded as a wintertime outlet for Maine agricultural products. Vendors are small growers, makers of value-added goods like baked goods, pickles and preserves, people who catch and process Maine seafood, and craftspeople, along with any other category the voting membership approves. The vendor page on the market's site lists close to fifty names. Here are some of them, grouped by the reason you might stop:

• Produce and farm goods: Goranson Farm, Six River Farm, Apple Creek Farm, Pumpkin Vine Family Farm, Tripping Gnome Farm, Whatley Farm and Winterhill Farm
• Dairy, meat and seafood: Spring Day Creamery, Woodhaus Farm & Butchery and Pemaquid Lobster & Seafood
• Pantry: Libellula Olive Oil, West Maquoit Vinegar Works, Gryffon Ridge Spice Merchants and Wild Fruitings Mushroom Company
• Coffee and sweets: Moses Dyer Coffee Company, Giuseppe Roasters, La Nef Chocolate, The Pastry Pair and Sweet Monkey Business
• Something to eat on the spot: Empanada Club, Battambang Bistro, Brezel & Brot and Niyat Catering
• Errands and gifts: Wicket Sharp Sharpening, Mike's Toy Shop, Delilah Pottery and The Craftin' Scot

Moderation Brewing is on that list too. Its spot at the market is the link between the mill and the second old building this season runs through.

The Fire Station Got a Brewery

Brunswick's Central Fire Station was built in 1919 and served as the town's main firehouse until 2023, when operations moved to a new facility on Pleasant Street. The Town Council approved a redevelopment that turned the building into a mixed-use commercial and residential complex, with affordable housing included in the plans. Moderation Brewing had already named the building as its target in 2023. The town keeps a project page on the Historic Central Fire Station Redevelopment.

Moderation poured its last beer at 103 Maine St. on Saturday, May 16. On May 23 it announced a soft opening at 21 Town Hall Place, according to WJBQ. The brewery's own page later added a short update: "UPDATE JUNE 2026: WE OPENED :)"

That move left an empty storefront. In July, the Portland Press Herald reported that Black Pug Brewing had left its 30 Bath Road location in late June and planned to open at 103 Maine St. later in the summer. If that opening happens, two breweries will be about a block and a half apart downtown, one of them in the space the other just left.

Maine Street Addresses That Changed in 2026

Between the mill and the fire station, the Early Bird route passes several other storefronts that have changed this year.

Ned Horton owns Baked on Maine, a breakfast-and-lunch spot. The Bangor Daily News connected it to Wildflours and Mae's when it opened on January 2. Holy Chic Maison is the newest storefront on the list. Spouses Karen and Perry Schwarz opened it at 96 Maine St. after three months of work, the Portland Press Herald reported, and held a ribbon-cutting on October 9. November will be the shop's first holiday season on Maine Street.

Two More Saturdays

The holiday calendar keeps to Saturdays after November 14.

Saturday, November 28. Two days after Thanksgiving, Routine holds its first Holiday Social from 4 to 8 p.m. at 21 Stanwood St. The BDA's listing describes local shopping, festive drinks and snacks, and a Small Business Saturday celebration. The Early Bird Sale opens the season at dawn, and this one marks its second downtown push in the early evening.

Saturday, December 5. From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., the Pejepscot History Center holds Santa Day at 159 Park Row. The BDA's listing includes a visit from Santa, a tour of the decorated house, carols from Bowdoin a cappella singers, crafts and refreshments. Entry is free. The Winter Market will be in its fourth Saturday at Fort Andross that morning, holding to the same 9-to-12:30 schedule it keeps all winter.

The BDA's Annual Tree Lighting also belongs to this stretch. It takes place on the Town Mall with carols, local performers, warm treats and a visit from Santa. Dead River Company, Mid Coast Hospital and G E Roofing are listed as sponsors. As of this writing, the BDA's tree lighting page has not posted a 2026 date, so check it before you make plans.

This year Brunswick's mill and firehouse both came back into use as places to eat and drink. If you own a home near Maine Street and wonder how a year of reopened addresses shows up in what your house is worth, Emilie Cole can help. Let's connect. Request a market valuation or a curated search.