Horse racing at Bangor Raceway
Bangor Raceway is a half-mile harness oval inside Bass Park, the city-owned grounds that also host the Bangor State Fair. Standardbreds have raced there since 1883; in 1890 the champion trotter Nelson set a world record of 2:15 1/4 on it. A 1949 fire destroyed the wooden grandstand, and its 3,000-seat concrete replacement is still in use.
The 2026 season opened on April 26 and runs 40 days. Spring cards go off on Sunday afternoons, Wednesday programs start at 3 p.m. from May, and July cards begin at 12:10 p.m. Two evening sessions fall during the Bangor State Fair, and a fall meet of 15 dates closes on Saturday, November 7, before the winter break.
Purses, handle and the paddock camera
Horse racing at Bangor has grown on the casino’s money. In 2025 the 38-day meet averaged $101,215 in daily handle, a record, with 20 days above $100,000 and average purses of $41,497 a day. For 2026 the track raised purses by 12 percent across the board, aiming for a record average near $50,000 per race day.
Recent upgrades are aimed at bettors watching from elsewhere: a better simulcast signal, adjusted post times and a new paddock camera that shows horses being harnessed and prepared. A season-long handicapping contest, the Crown of Queen City, ran from opening day into July. Every wager here is pari-mutuel, so payouts depend on the pool.
The gaming floor at Hollywood Casino Bangor
Hollywood Casino Bangor operates nearly 715 slot machines, according to PENN, along with live table games; a 2024 count listed 14 tables. These are standard slot machines, not the video lottery terminals used at some racetrack casinos elsewhere. Players earn points through PENN Play, the loyalty program shared with the company’s other properties in the United States.
Only guests 21 and older may play, with ID checked at the entrance. Cash vouchers left over from play can be dropped into donation boxes near security, with proceeds for the second quarter of 2026 going to the Bangor Area Homeless Shelter. Setting a firm budget before sitting down is the simplest way to keep a visit in proportion.
Hotel rooms and dining
The hotel at Hollywood Casino Bangor has 152 rooms, four of them suites, and connects to the gaming floor without stepping outside, which matters in a Maine winter. Overnight guests on race days can walk to the Bass Park grandstand. Rates and packages are sold directly through PENN’s booking engine, often combined with promotional offers for loyalty card members.
Food on site is casual. Hops House 99 is the main sit-down option, a bar and grill pouring local drafts alongside burgers, sandwiches, salads and shared appetizers, with games on the screens. Zombie Dogz handles quick meals with gourmet hot dogs and pizza. Visitors wanting a longer dinner usually walk into downtown Bangor along Main Street.
Events and entertainment
Live music fills the weekend calendar, mostly regional acts on the casino stage; an October 2026 listing includes the Maine acoustic duo Brooke and Haley. On October 23 and 24, 2026, the property launches the first Bangor Comedy Festival, six events over two days with Ray Harrington and Jimmy Cash headlining, plus local comedians and workshops.
The neighborhood adds larger shows. Across the street, the Cross Insurance Center hosts concerts, sports and trade events, and casino tax revenue contributed about $12 million toward the city’s cost of building it. In late July and early August, the Bangor State Fair takes over Bass Park, bringing the evening harness cards to the same grandstand used through the season.
From Hollywood Slots to a full casino hotel
Maine voters approved slot machines at commercial harness tracks in November 2003, with 53 percent in favor, after Bangor had already backed the idea locally. Penn National Gaming then bought the project from Capital Seven, the developer linked to Shawn Scott, and Governor John Baldacci signed the implementing law on May 5, 2004. Scarborough Downs never secured slots.
Hollywood Slots opened on November 1, 2005, in a former restaurant with 475 machines while the permanent building rose nearby. The move came in 2007, with about 1,000 slots, and the hotel followed. After lawmakers approved table games in 2011, the casino became the first in Maine to deal them and took the Hollywood Casino name in 2012.
Where the slot money goes
Maine law takes 39 percent of net slot income for public funds. Ten percent supplements harness purses, three percent goes to the Sire Stakes Fund, three percent to agricultural fairs and four percent to a fund that encourages racing at commercial tracks. Bangor receives one percent, and scholarships and the Fund for a Healthy Maine also share.
That formula explains why horse racing survives across the state even after Scarborough Downs closed in 2020. The fair circuit at places such as Topsham depends on the same pool. Details of the law, the regulators and the fair tracks are on the Maine racinos page, and the racino explainer shows how other states split the money.
Getting to Hollywood Casino Bangor and nearby racinos
The casino stands on Main Street at the edge of downtown Bangor, close to Interstate 395 and a short drive from Bangor International Airport, so most visitors arrive by car from the interstate. For racing fans touring New England, the nearest comparable property is Plainridge Park in Massachusetts, another PENN harness racino, which runs its own Standardbred meet.
Farther west, Saratoga Casino Hotel in upstate New York combines harness racing with a gaming floor in a resort town known for summer thoroughbreds. Dates for these tracks and others appear on the national horse racing schedule, and anyone planning a trip around Hollywood Casino Bangor can compare the Maine season with meets elsewhere in the Northeast.