The Pretty Great Spelling Bee 2025

The Pretty Great Spelling Bee returns! SPACE’s preposterous yet totally legitimate bee is a homegrown annual tradition — and quite a thrilling show. Watch as your friends and community members (or maybe their alter egos) duke it out in this impressive yet almost totally pointless display of wits.

Dormant since 2015 and revived last year before a sold-out crowd, The Pretty Great Spelling Bee is our homegrown competition and a wild show, hosted by Anne Buckwalter and Pilar Nadal, the co-conductors of npilar radio, an exemplary and locally celebrated broadcasting endeavor.

This year’s panel of judges includes writers Nick Fuller Googins and Tasha Graff, and Casco Bay High School founder and former principal Derek Pierce.

Note: Purchasing an event ticket does not equate to signing up as a contestant in the competition. All prospective competitors must email us to secure a position on the spelling roster. Time is of the absolute essence — available spaces are limited!

A photographic representation of a nudibranch will be displayed beneath this line once our spelling roster has reached its capacity.

This is a nudibranch

Here’s another note: Certain words will be of an adult nature. Participant and audience discretion is recommended.

And lastly, note: All participants will receive a SPACE membership, and the triumphant victor shall receive a bespoke trophy! Their name shall forever be etched into the annals of history, never to be forgotten.

Behold, the winner of the 2024 Pretty Great Spelling Bee, Courtney Williamson, aka Petty Crocker.