Rockland - A small seaside community like Rockland, Maine might not strike you as a melting pot, but when you factor in a pot of lobster, you'll see they've got quite a bit cooking there.

"We're coming all the way from Australia for this," said Gaynor Shaw, who was on vacation with her family when she learned of the annual Maine Lobster Festival taking place in Rockland.

Tuesday, she was just one of thousands who flocked to the city's waterfront for opening day.

"We just hopped on a plane last night, flew into Boston, got a car and drove all the way here," said one customer from Arizona.

Festival spokesman, Chuck Kruger, said they expect to sell 20,000 lbs. of lobster meat over the course of the festival, which he hopes will help boost an industry that's been struggling this year. For the first time in the festival's 65 year history, prices for some lobster meals are down, with plates like the triple lobster dinner costing less than $30.00.

Kruger said, "Prices on the wholesale level are down and that's obviously good news and bad news. It's great for the consumer, not so great for the industry, and we're here to support the industry, which is very, very important in the Midcoast."

But with crowds already packing the festival on its first day, the support Kruger is looking for could grow well beyond the state's coast.

At the very least, to a family from Australia. "Well, if you won't tell anybody in Australia, this is the best lobster I've ever had," said Shaw.

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