Dan Stevens (left), owner of Captain Mowatt’s of Portland, pours chips so a patron can try one of 17 varieties of his company’s hot sauce at the Maine Harvest Festival at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor in this 2013 photo. (BDN file photo)

The upcoming Maine Harvest Festival and Portland’s Harvest on the Harbor are in the running to be named some of the country’s top such events in USA Today’s 10Best competition.

Online votes are being accepted — one per person per day — until Sept. 28, with the winners to be announced on Oct. 2.

Visit the Maine Harvest Festival website for a link to the USA Today voting booth, or go directly to USA Today’s 10Best website.

USA Today is the widest circulated print newspaper in the country, and along with the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, is one of the three most-read papers in the nation across all distribution platforms.

The Maine Harvest Festival will take place this year on Nov. 14-15 at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor, where more than 150 Maine farmers, artisans and craftsmen will showcase Maine foods, beverages and other handmade or locally created products.

“Going into our fifth year hosting the Maine Harvest Festival, we are so proud of how the festival has grown, not just in scale but in reputation,” said Cross Insurance Center General Manager Joe Imbriaco in a statement. “Not only are we recognized by our community through their attendance and support, but it is a great sentiment being nominated as a contender for the Top 10 best Fall Harvest Festivals in the country. The festival has its own unique Maine brand and authentic feeling, which I believe has propelled it to being one of the best in the country.”

As of this post, the Maine Harvest Festival is ranked in the top 10 of the 20 nominees, although just barely. The Maine representative on the list is hanging on at No. 9, just behind the annual Pumpkin Festival of Laconia, New Hampshire, and ahead of the Louisiana Pecan Festival.

Harvest on the Harbor is straggling behind at No. 13. Harvest on the Harbor will take place from Oct. 21-25 this year and promises to showcase several of Maine’s best chefs and restaurants.

Proving how much festival-goers love gourds, the No. 1 spot in the competition is currently held by the Circleville (Ohio) Pumpkin Show, one of three on the list dedicated to pumpkins (another three are dedicated to apples, while two are focused on cranberries).