GORHAM – Gorham is about to celebrate its 275th anniversary with the Gorham Founders Festival, a four-day birthday extravaganza this weekend.

The festival includes amusement rides, historic tours, fireworks, ceremony, shows and a Memorial Day parade.

And with the recent rainy spell, organizers are looking skyward and keeping a weather eye on forecasts.

“I’m hoping we hit the jackpot regarding weather,” Town Councilor Phil Gagnon, who chaired the festival committee, said Tuesday. “It looks like we may get some sun.”

The festival at the Narragansett School, 284 Main St., gets under way at 4 p.m. on Friday, May 27, and runs through Memorial Day, Monday, May 30.

A ceremony at 9 a.m. on Saturday, May 28, officially opens the festival. Matt Zidle, a Gorham resident and TV meteorologist, will deliver the keynote address prepared by Dede Perkins, executive director of Gorham Business Exchange. Burleigh Loveitt, a retired longtime town councilor, will recite a history of the town.

Capt. John Phinney became the town’s first settler when he and a son landed in the wilderness from a canoe in May 1736. The settlement, then known as Narragansett No. 7, was a land grant to descendents, including Shubael Gorham, of soldiers who had fought in the Narragansett War in southern New England.

In neighborly fashion, the city of Westbrook is lending a hand to help Gorham observe its birthday. Gagnon said Westbrook is loaning the town its main outdoor stage for the festival.

“That’s a pretty big deal,” Gagnon said.

A vendor will supply another stage to accommodate the slate of shows.

With a plan in place in case of rain, the opening ceremony on Saturday and festival shows will be performed under a 30-by-90-foot tent, protecting both stages. The bands will play and the acts will go on, Darryl Wright, festival vice chairman, said Tuesday.

A driving rain, however, would relocate two Saturday shows – Pete Kilpatrick and Motor Booty Affair – to YourSpace, the sports dome at 215 Narragansett St. In the event of a deluge, the opening ceremony would move into the Narragansett School gym.

Wright credited the festival’s event coordinator Dawn Caldwell, with obtaining the quality shows, which are free to festival goers.

“She worked really hard,” Wright said.

Vendors early this week were still applying for space on the festival grounds. A list of more than 30 vendors include pony rides and a zoo along with Gorham Football Boosters, Gorham-Westbrook Triad, Gorham Arts Alliance, Gorham Educational Foundation, First Parish Congregational Church and the White Rock Baptist Church.

A model replica of a canal boat like the ones that navigated the Cumberland and Oxford Canal through Gorham will be a special display.

A highlight added to Sunday’s activities is a watermelon-eating contest for kids. Adults will share in the fun in a whipped cream pie-eating contest.The eating contests are expected to be about noon but times will be announced.

There’ll be plenty of food. Besides booths at the festival, Gorham Fire Department is hosting a chicken dinner costing $8 from 4:30 to 7 p.m. on Saturday, May 28, in Central Station adjacent to the Narragansett School.

The Gorham Taste Walk featuring 11 Gorham eateries is set for 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Sunday. Those participating will vote for their favorite and chefs at the venues will vie for the Golden Spoon award.

Festival parking will be at St. Anne’s Catholic Church, 299 Main St., and in a field off Chick Drive.

Two separate bus tours of historical sites in Gorham will depart Chick Drive at 2 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Although reservations for buses are not necessary, those wishing to ride are being asked to call Gorham Recreation Department at 222-1630.

“Overall, I think it’s going to be great,” Wright said. “Rain or shine, I think we’ll have a great event.”