National Blueberry Pie Day

National Blueberry Pie Day, observed on April 28th, celebrates the classic American dessert made with fresh or frozen blueberries baked in a sweetened, often lightly spiced filling beneath or between layers of flaky pie crust. Blueberries are one of the few fruits native to North America, having been an important food source for Indigenous peoples long before European colonization, who ate them fresh, dried them for winter storage, and used them in various traditional dishes. Colonial settlers adopted blueberries into their own baking traditions, and blueberry pie became a particularly cherished regional specialty in New England and other parts of the northeastern United States, where wild blueberries grow abundantly, especially in Maine, which remains one of the largest wild blueberry producing regions in the world. The pie traditionally showcases the fruit in a relatively simple preparation, allowing the berries' natural sweet-tart flavor to shine through with minimal additional ingredients beyond sugar, a thickener like cornstarch or flour, and sometimes a touch of lemon juice or cinnamon. Blueberry pie holds cultural significance as Maine's official state dessert, formally designated in 2011, reflecting the fruit's deep regional identity. On this day, bakers celebrate by making a pie using seasonal berries when available, or frozen blueberries year-round.