Author: Amy Diaz

Get inspired at public gardens and garden tours

For gardening nerds and the occasional gardener alike, a trip to a top-notch “professional” garden is more fun than a week at Disney. Seeing what is really possible if you have enough experience and put in the hard work can be truly inspirational.

A really good resource for this is the reference book The Garden Tourist’s New England: A Guide to 140 Outstanding Gardens and Nurseries by Jana Milbocker, who views these visits as a good way to see gardening from somebody else’s perspective. She recommends paying close attention to the combination of plants that a master gardener has put together.

“People really give a lot of thought to how they use the forms of the garden design,” Milbocker said in a telephone interview. “I think it’s really helpful for me to go through a garden in that direction, to experience it the way that the garden owner wants you to experience it.” Thinking about the question “Why is this here?” can help reframe a home gardener’s outlook, she said.

But then, she advised, take a second look.

“You’re going to see things that you missed the first time. It’s possible also, for instance, a garden conservancy will have a garden open in the early summer and that same garden open later in the season, like late summer or early fall. It’s great to see any garden in different months because it can be vastly different. Different plants have beautiful colorful foliage in the fall. So to see a garden [over time] is really a great experience.”

A good way to find gardens to be inspired by is to take part in a sponsored garden tour.

Amy Murray is the Open Days Program Manager for the Garden Conservancy (gardenconservancy.org), an organization dedicated to garden preservation.

“We assist public gardens that are either damaged or are in need of preservation services,” Murray said. “We also give small grants to a variety of horticultural organizations that are bringing gardening to people and making significant impacts within their communities.” Murray’s particular job is working with gardens, public and private, in a given area, to help them participate in “Open Garden Days” — one or more days per season when the public can visit them.

“Unless you have a very explicit program or invitation through something like the Open Days program, there’s really not a ton of opportunities to see these spaces,” Murray said. “Open Days are absolutely wonderful because if you are interested in a garden and you want to see it, you have to go to that Open Day. There are no guarantees that a given garden will be open in a subsequent year or even ever again. We have a variety of gardens. Some love the practice of opening every single year. Some will take a few years off in between and then open once and then stay closed for several seasons. And then some will open once and never again. And so if you want to see it you have to see it on that day.”

Michael Gordon is in charge of working out the details for the Open Garden Days in New Hampshire. He said each garden in the program brings something different to each visitor.

“On one level, it’s just fun to have a nice day and you get to see pretty places. And then if you’re a more serious gardener like I am, you get ideas and see plants. It’s a good way if you live in the area to go to a garden and find out what they’re able to grow because you will be able to grow it too because it’s local to you. You can make a day of it and go from garden to garden. And people are generally really excited to share their garden,” Gordon said.

Another popular garden tour each year is put on by the Palace Theatre in Manchester. It is one of the Palace’s biggest fundraising events each year, said Box Office Manager Cherie Prior.

“The garden tour is a self-guided tour we’re running on June 20 this year,” she said. “In the morning, participants register at Demers Garden Center and they’re given a program, which lists the individual gardens. We have a combination of private and public gardens and [people on the tour] have the rest of the day to travel to the gardens and take their time at each one. Our host gardeners are there to talk about the garden and we have write-ups about each garden and its history and sort of the plants and the things that the host gardener wants to talk about.”

“We work with the Manchester Garden Club,” Prior said. “They help a lot about picking the gardens because they’re the ones out there looking at other people’s gardens and letting us know. We [the Palace Theatre] are invested in art in the community. And we consider gardens to be a part of that as well; a beautiful garden is just as valuable as a beautiful stage production. And we like to be able to promote beauty in any form within our community.”

Elinor Terrell of the Manchester Garden Club described the Palace Theatre Garden Tour as a way of giving area gardeners inspiration and a jumping-off point for their own garden projects.

“The Garden Tour is about showing the lovely hidden treasures of Manchester,” Terrell said. “We have little pocket gardens that are just tiny little things. We also have some of the nice big homes down on River Road. So it’s a wonderful way to show the treasures of the city and also to promote the love of gardening and inspiration. People will see them and go, ‘OK, I’ve got something like this. I could do this.’”

The Garden Club of Deerfield will host a garden tour in June called “Heritage in Bloom” that will showcase gardens and plants tied to Deerfield’s almost 300-year history.

“One of the stops,” said Robin McKinnon, the President of the Garden Club, “is a fourth-generation property. It comes from the 1830s. And there are plantings of lilacs that were taken from the Governor Wentworth mansion in Portsmouth. And those were the original lilacs that came to the New World. We have one farm that lies within the region historically inhabited by the Algonquin-speaking peoples, including the Seneca and related groups of the Wabanaki Confederacy. And there’s a small family cemetery on site, including the grave of a young man who served and died in the Civil War. Another [stop on the tour] is a farm from 1742 that chooses plants for their beauty but also their sustainability and healing qualities — perennial herbs, fruits, trees, vegetables selected for their dependability and heirloom varieties long valued by earlier generations.”

There are a variety of garden tours throughout the growing season, but there are also public and private gardens throughout the state that welcome visitors but are not part of organized tours. Each appeals to a different type of gardener and embraces a different gardening philosophy.

For 17 years, Petals in the Pines in Canterbury has been a go-to choice for families to spend a day outdoors, hiking along trails and enjoying gardens. According to owner Donna Miller, if you haven’t ever visited, you probably should do so this summer.

“This year will be our last year of being open to the public full-time,” she said. “Four years ago, my husband Jim and I drew a line in the sand. We said, ‘Let’s do this for five more years.’ And this is Year Number 5.”

In addition to pollinator gardens and gardens where visitors can pick their own flowers, “we have 2 miles of outdoor trails,” Miller said. “We have two labyrinths that some people use to get in touch with their thoughts, almost like meditation. We have an outdoor classroom, and a Tale Trail, with laminated pages from four different nature books that parents can read to young children as they walk, and older children can read themselves. There’s something for everyone.”

For families who want to visit throughout the season, season passes are available.

The Canterbury Shaker Village (288 Shaker Road, Canterbury, 783-9511, shakers.org), on the other hand, probably not surprisingly, takes a more historical approach. The Shakers took growing plants very seriously, said Garrett Bethmann, the museum’s Manager of Communications and Engagement, and that is reflected in the gardens on the grounds today. “There are basically three main agricultural or garden spots that people can walk through and check out,” Bethmann said. “There are the granite beds, kind of that smaller plot of what people I think would traditionally see as gardens or botanical gardens. Then we have our farm fields, and those have a lasting imprint on the site. And then we have our orchards.”

“The orchard is filled with different versions of apple trees,” Bethmann said. “The Shakers used to grow apple trees in different locations throughout their close to 200 years of active living here. The orchards in the space, where they are now, first got placed there in about 1917, and a lot of those trees are from that time period.”

“The thing that I think has always been true about when people come and visit our spaces here,” Bethmann continued, “is that as best as we can, we try to use our gardens and our agricultural spaces as ways to showcase the Canterbury Shaker legacy and, as best we can, tie the things that we have going on now to elements and aspects of what they were doing in the past when the Shakers were here. So, for instance, over in our herb gardens where the granite beds are it’s a nice show of preservation in action. Typically we try to use the granite beds to kind of showcase some of the plants and herbs and perennials that were grown there in the past.”

Other gardens focus on plants that grow under very specific conditions.

The Evergreen Woodland Garden in Goffstown, for instance, features plants that thrive in the limited light found on the floor of a forest.

“It’s a one-acre woodland garden heavy on pines,” said Robert Gillmore, the garden’s creator. “There’s a total of around 400 rhododendrons. It’s probably one of the largest rhodi gardens in Northern New England. Of course, there are other ericaceous plants like mountain laurel and Lakota weed and so forth. It’s an extremely low-maintenance garden and it was designed that way. One of the problems, if you want to have a large garden, unless you’re rich with 20 gardeners on your payroll, it’s got to be low-maintenance. So with a woodland garden, one of the reasons it’s low-maintenance is that there’s no grass. There are no high-maintenance plantings, like trees and shrubs and ground covers. Another thing that makes it low-maintenance, of course, is that it’s in the shade. A woodland garden is a shade garden. And a shade garden is a slow ecosystem. Things happen slowly. Weeds happen slowly or not at all.”

“In gardening,” Gillmore said, “there is a quote by the poet Alexander Pope: ‘Consult the genius of a place,’ and by that he meant consult the special character of the site and use what’s on the site. The special character of Evergreen is a pine woods. The most expensive plants in a garden — the plants that are unavailable in any nursery at any price — were already there, planted, growing: the trees, free of charge. There are also some lovely large granite glacial erratics. It’s a wonderful topography,”

Another approach to gardening is aligned with the Palace Theatre’s philosophy of gardening as an art form. This is the perspective of Bedrock Gardens in Lee. John Forti is the Executive Director there.

“Bedrock Gardens opened to the public formally as a public garden nine years ago,” Forti said, “and we just reopened for the season a week or so ago. It’s a 37-acre old farm that has been here for centuries. The founders of the garden, Jill Nooney and Bob Munger, worked for over 30 years to create a really fascinating garden infused with art and rare botanicals that has become an oasis of art and horticulture. It’s become a public garden where people can take garden tours, art tours, special educational programs and events for all age levels that really help people connect to nature and art and find just a really unique, beautiful green space. Unlike a lot of public gardens, this is really designed to just take you on journeys so that it can be a serene step away from the world, but a place where you can really find some sanctuary and some peace. Gardeners or art enthusiasts are drawn into every corner, because there are dozens of outdoor rooms, one after the next, each with its own mood and emotion and color palette and seasonal specializations and rare plants that just tell stories and pull you away from your daily life into experiences all throughout that 30 plus acres. [The art] is largely sculptural art that really is found in every nook and cranny.”

At NH Audubon’s McLane Center in Concord, the focus is immersing visitors into native species. The Center’s Diane DeLuca said that an aim has been to restore an entire ecosystem. “Four years ago or so,” she said, “we restored an old field area that was full of invasives to an acre of pollinator meadow. It hasn’t been possible to clear out all the invasives, as you might imagine, but now there is at least an acre of native pollinator plants out there. We also have native plant pollinator gardens that go all the way around the building. And also up on the hill there’s some space that we call our butterfly garden, which is meant to be more attractive to some of the species of butterflies that move through here — monarch butterflies specifically — and the pollinators that use areas late in the fall, including migrating butterflies.”

“Our gardens here,” DeLuca said, “are meant to be as diverse as possible in order to attract all kinds of wildlife. They have a lot of different structural diversity, meaning we have some attractive trees for pollinators, which would include our birds, some of which are actually nesting in and around the garden. It’s definitely an area that’s attractive for hummingbirds, because there are a lot of plants that are in here that specifically hummingbirds enjoy and will be pollinators of those particular plants as well. The structural diversity in the garden allows for different wildlife species.”

A decision was made early on when planning the Audubon’s gardens, DeLuca said, to fill it with plant species that would peak throughout the entire growing season.

“We have blooms that start in the early part of the spring … and are available for pollinators to come out early, like queen bumblebees and some of the other bees which tend to emerge pretty early in the season and need plants that they can both nectar on and get pollen from. We think about blooms across the season, into mid-summer, and then as late as possible into the fall. We also think about diversity of the flower structures for those plants, because some of the pollinators need plants where they don’t have to get their tongues deep into the plants, because they don’t have that ability. Some of them can reach far in. So you want plants that are tubular, that hummingbirds might be attracted to. You want plants that are flat-topped, that are much easier for some of the bees and butterflies to get into. We want a diversity of structure. so that we can attract many different forms of wildlife into the garden.”

Public gardens

Here are some area public gardens.

• Bedrock Gardens (19 High Road, Lee, 659-2993, bedrockgardens.org) A nonprofit public garden that integrates unusual botanical specimens, unique sculptures, and interesting landscape design and features into an inspiring journey. This 30-acre site has recently transitioned from a historic farm and private garden to a self-described “public oasis of horticulture, art, and inspiration.” Adults $15. Children 12 and under free.
• Brigit’s Garden in Livingston Park (156 Hooksett Road, Manchester) A public garden within Livingston Park, created by the Brigit A. Feeney Foundation for Hope and Healing, in memory of Brigit A. Feeney, a victim and witness advocate with the NH Department of Justice, who died in a motorcycle accident in 2021.
• Canterbury Shaker Village (288 Shaker Road, Canterbury, 783-9511, shakers.org)Canterbury Shaker Village describes its mission as “preserving and sharing the legacy of the Canterbury Shakers, promoting learning, connection, and rejuvenation for people from down the street and around the world.” There are three main gardens on site: an herb and culinary garden, apple orchards, and farm fields. Throughout the summer the Village will be open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Nature trails are free to explore daily from dawn to dusk. Adult admission is $25.
• Kimball Jenkins Estate (266 N. Main St., Concord, 225-3932, kimballjenkins.com) A historic mansion in Concord, now the site of the Kimball Jenkins Art School. The campus grounds have gardens that are currently under renovation.
• Maple Hill Gardens at the Beaver Brook Association (117 Ridge Road, Hollis, 465-7787, beaverbrook.org/visit-us/maple-hill-gardens) “There are 13 themed gardens, a natural play area, a demonstration compost court, picnic areas and even a wildflower trail to explore,” according to the website.
• New Hampshire Audubon Society NH Audubon has two visitor centers in the region with gardens: The Susan N. McLane Audubon Center (84 Silk Farm Road, Concord, 224-9909, nhaudubon.org/center-and-events/mclane-center-concord) is open Wednesdays-Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., with trails and pollinator gardens open from dawn to dusk daily; Massabesic Center (26 Audubon Way, Auburn, nhaudubon.org/center-and-events/massabesic-center-auburn) is open Wednesdays-Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., with trails and pollinator gardens open from dawn to dusk daily.
• Petals in the Pines (126 Baptist Road, Canterbury, 783-0220, petalsinthepines.com) A family-friendly farm with hiking trails, pollinator gardens, PYO flower bouquets and a farm stand. The summer of 2026 will be its final year open to the public. Open Wednesday through Sunday; closed Monday and Tuesday. Season passes are available for $25.
• Pickety Place (248 Nutting Hill Road, Mason, 878-1151, pickityplace.com) An 18th-century Cape surrounded by vast, well-established garden beds, mainly perennials and herbs. The herbs are served in the restaurant’s five-course lunches.

Garden tours

Here are some upcoming garden tours. Know of any tours not mentioned here? Let us know at adiaz@hippopress.com.

• 37th Annual Pocket Gardens of Portsmouth Tour
  What: The tour features 10 private gardens in the historic South End neighborhood of Portsmouth, the Goodwin Garden at Strawbery Banke Museum, and the garden at South Church. When: Friday, June 19, Saturday, June 20. Admission: Early bird tickets $25 (until June 13), general admission tickets $30 (June 14, until day of tour). More info: Visit portsmouthnhtickets.com/e/37th-pocket-gardens-of-portsmouth
• 7th Annual Palace Theatres Garden Tour
  What: A self-guided, self-paced tour of both private and public gardens throughout Manchester. When: Saturday, June 20. Admission: Tickets are $20. Registration is from 9:30 a.m. to noon at Demers Garden Center in Manchester. More info: Visit palacetheatre.org/events/2026-garden-tour.
• 4th Annual Lilac City Garden Tour
  What: Organized by Lilac City Gardeners (formerly Rochester NH Garden Club). Local gardeners will showcase their gardens, share knowledge, and inspire others in the community. When: Saturday, June 20. More info: Visit Lilac City Gardeners’ Facebook page.
• Heritage in Bloom
  What: A tour of six historic gardens in Deerfield. When: Saturday, June 27. Admission: senior/student $8, general admission $10, carload $30. More info: Visit givebutter.com/heritage-in-bloom
• Jaffrey Artist and Garden Tour
  What: Features local private gardens, each hosting a local artist at work. You’ll have the chance to see artists create in real time — painting, sketching, and capturing the beauty of each setting. When: Saturday, July 11. Admission: $15. More info: Visit jaffreyciviccenter.com/event/event-artist-garden-tour.
• Hospice Home and Garden Tour
  What: A tour of four residential properties on or near Lake Winnipesaukee, benefiting Granite VNA. When: Wednesday, July 15. Admission: $55
  Visit granitevna.org/ways-to-give/hospice-home-garden-tour.
• Garden Conservancy’s Open Garden Day
  What: A self-guided tour of some of the area’s best public and private gardens in Manchester, Nashua, Milford, Pelham, Hollis, Hudson and Hooksett. When: July 18. Admission: $10, by pre-registration only. More info: Visit gardenconservancy.org/open-days/ticket-release-dates
• The Second Annual Five Senses Tour at Tiffany Gardens
  What: Use your five senses while exploring the private gardens hidden in a quiet Londonderry neighbor. Enjoy food, drink, music, art and nature. When: Saturday, July 25, and Sunday, July 26. Admission: $20. More info: visit comcaregivers.org/garden-tour.

It’s summer!

Or, it’s “summer” — the state of mind we enter sometime around Memorial Day weekend, when we dig out the flip-flops and shove the snow boots to the back of the closet. In this guide we present summer season happenings from now through Labor Day, when the vibes turn autumnal. With information gleaned from the events’ websites and social media pages, here are some of the happenings to put on your schedule over the next few months. Did we miss one of your favorite events? Let us know at adiaz@hippopress.com.

Books
Find book sales, author events and other bookworm fun in the Book listings, which run weekly in our Pop section. Have a literary event this summer? Let us know at adiaz@hippopress.com.

Fairs & Festivals

• Nashua will celebrate Renaissance on the Riverwalk Friday, May 22, through Monday, May 25 — “The grand reopening of the newly renovated Le Parc de Notre Renaissance [on Water Street in Nashua] will be the location for four days of music, food, events and fun for the whole family,” according to a post on the Enjoy Nashua Facebook page. “A full schedule of Memorial Day weekend activities will include food trucks, lots of live music performances, free arts and crafts activities aimed at all ages, local vendors, lawn games, and more. We’re planning a downtown Seek n Find that will have you looking for fun little prizes, and some objects that score you even bigger prizes! We’ll also have coffee/breakfast food trucks ready before the annual Monday parade down Main Street, so you and your family can power up before supporting our marching veterans!”

• The New Hampshire Arms Collectors will hold a gun show on Saturday, May 23, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Everett Arena in Concord, according to nharmscollectors.org.

• The Downtown Nashua Association will hold the Rubber Duck Regatta on Saturday, May 23, with a duck launch at 3 p.m. at the Nashua River Walk, according to downtownnashua.org, where you can purchase the ducks to compete. “[A]ll 5,000 ducks will be launched into the Merrimack River from the footbridge between the Clocktower Apartments and the Cotton Mill Apartments. The first three ducks to cross the finish line will win cash prizes,” the website said. See page 23 for more.

• The Memorial Weekend Craft Fair at Mill Falls Marketplace in Meredith from Saturday, May 23, through Monday, May 25, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (until 4 p.m. on Monday) featuring more than 70 juried artists, according to castleberryfairs.com/memorial-day-weekend-craft-festival, where you can see a list of exhibitors.

• Third annual Granite State Tap Festival Show will take place Sunday, May 24, at 4 p.m. at the Dana Center at Saint Anselm College in Manchester. The show is preceded (on Saturday, May 23) by a day of classes. See tickets.anselm.edu for details about the classes and to register and to purchase show tickets.

• History Alive at Kemp Park in Hillsborough will feature events about Abenaki culture and the Contoocook River on Friday, May 29, from noon to 3 p.m., and Saturday, May 30, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., according to historyalivenh.org. The theme is “The River That Runs Thru” and the Saturday keynote speaker is archeologist Robert Goodby, who will discuss “Paddling Thru Time: The Long History of Canoes in New Hampshire,” the website said. Each day will begin and end with Abenaki drumming and singing, and the event will also feature Abenaki basket and pottery making, traditional foods, stories about the mills, a tour of the railroad corridor, a display of trucks, a presentation about the river, and a tapestry depicting the history of New Hampshire, as well as a Ben & Jerry’s ice cream truck, the website said.

• Less Leg More Heart will hold the 3rd annual Fire Truck Pull & Festival on Sunday, May 31, from 1 to 5 p.m. at Arms Park in Manchester featuring the fire truck pull competition, a car show, food and beverage vendors, a vendor village, a kids zone and raffles, according to lesslegmoreheart.com/events, where you can find details about participating in the pull or car show.

• Truckfest, an event featuring big vehicles that kids can explore, will take place Sunday, May 31, from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Wilton-Lyndeborough Cooperative High School and Middle School, according to an email from the event’s organizer. The event is free to attend and will feature a “lemonade and cookie stand to raise money for Relay for Life, a program run by the American Cancer Society,” the email said.

• The Nashua Historical Society will host two performances of Declaring Independence: Then and Now on Thursday, June 4, at 5 and 7 p.m. at the Florence H. Speare Memorial Museum, 5 Abbot St. in Nashua, according to a press release. “Presented by actors in period dress, the performance combines historical storytelling with an annotated reading of the Declaration itself, inviting audiences to consider both the courage of 1776 and the enduring relevance of the nation’s founding ideals today,” the release said. The event is free but registration is required; see the society’s Facebook page for links to register for one of the performance times.

• First Friday Concord continues with live music and other special programming June 5 and Aug. 7 from 4 to 8 p.m. as well as first Fridays through November. On Friday, June 5, the theme is Concord Pride with free face painting from 4 to 7 p.m. on City Plaza and live music by Ashborne (City Plaza, 4 to 8 p.m.), Kyle Erickson (4 to 5:45 p.m., Bicentennial Square) and Trade (6:15 to 8 p.m., Bicentennial Square), according to firstfridayconcord.com. Food trucks scheduled to attend June 5 include Nothing Bundt Cakes, Nice Ice Baby, DeadProof and Stacy’s Grill, the website said.

• The Rotary Club of Goffstown will hold its 13th Annual Car Show on Saturday, June 6, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Parsons Drive in Goffstown, according to an email from the club. “Entering a show car costs $20, spectators enter for free. Proceeds from the event are given as grants to area charities,” the email said. See goffstownrotary.org.

• Goffstown’s Old Home Day will take place Saturday, June 6, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. with local vendors, food, live music and entertainment and kids’ activities and games, according to goffstownmainstreet.org/old-home-day. The festivities also include an outdoor movie at 7 p.m. and LED fireworks in the Town Common on Friday, June 5, the website said.

• The 14th annual New Hampshire Maker Fest will be held in and around the Children’s Museum of New Hampshire in Dover on Saturday, June 6, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., according to a press release. See demonstrations in a variety of subjects from engineers, scientists, bakers, tinkerers, hobbyists and artisans, the release said. See childrens-museum.org/programs/nh-maker-fest.

• The Concord Pride 5K Run/Walk 2026 will take place Sunday, June 7, 9 a.m. to noon at the State House with the start/finish line on Capitol Street, according to posts on the the Equality Health Center Facebook page, where you can find links to sign up.

• The Northern New England Book Fair will take place Sunday, June 7, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Everett Arena in Concord along with a show from New Hampshire Antiques Dealers Association in the same location, according to apassion4books.com. Admission costs $5 and the event will feature more than 90 dealers, the website said.

• The Milford Pride Fest 2026 will take place Sunday, June 7, from noon to 4 p.m. at the stage at Keyes Park in Milford featuring music, drag performers, food trucks, vendors and more, according to the event’s Facebook page.

• The Seacoast LitFest will take place Thursday, June 11, through Sunday, June 14, at the Music Hall in Portsmouth, according to a press release. Events include multiple author talks including with Jenna Bush Hager (June 11), Temple Grandin (June 12) and Jill Lepore (June 14); a book fair and kid book giveaway on June 14 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; panels; book signings and more, the release said. See themusichall.org for a complete schedule and to purchase tickets to some of the events.

• The Make It Fest!, a “gathering of makers, doers, DIYers, crafters, tinkerers, self-proclaimed engineers and aspiring mad-scientists!” according to makeitfest.com, will take place Saturday, June 13, from noon to 4 p.m. at Make It Labs, 25 Crown St. in Nashua, the website said. The event will feature demonstrations, exhibits, workshops, a sumo robot competition, vendor sales and more, according to the website, where you can register to attend.

• Laconia Motorcycle Week is slated for Saturday, June 13, through Sunday, June 21, according to laconiamcweek.com, where you can find a schedule of rides and other events.

• The 26th Annual Hampton Beach Master Sand Sculpting Classic runs Thursday, June 18, through Saturday, June 20, with the illuminated sculptures on display through June 28, according to hamptonbeach.org/events/sand-sculpture-event. A group carve takes place Wednesday, June 17, according to the website, where you can find a schedule of events and a look at this year’s contributors.

• The Black Heritage Trail New Hampshire will hold events commemorating Juneteenth. On Friday, June 19, at 9 a.m. there will be aJuneteenth Freedom Walk in Portsmouth followed by African drumming at the African burial grounds in Portsmouth at 11 a.m.; visit blackheritagetrailnh.org. On Sunday, June 21, at 10 a.m. there will be a living history event, “Meet New Hampshire’s 5 to Know,” featuring interpreters of Wentworth Cheswell (a Revolutionary War veteran and the first Black person elected to public office in the U.S.); performer Richard Potter; author Harriet Wilson; Prince Whipple (Revolutionary War veteran and one of the signers of the 1779 Petition for Freedom) and Ona Marie Judge, the website said. On Saturday, June 27, there will be a statewide reading of Frederick Douglass’ “What to a Slave Is Your Fourth of July.” On Sunday, June 28, starting at 10 a.m. in Portsmouth there will be aguided bus tour of New Hampshire’s Black Revolutionary War history, according to the website, where you can register for all of these events.

• Black Womxn in New Hampshire Collective will hold its Juneteenth New England celebration on Saturday, June 20, starting at 1 p.m. at Crossway Christian Church in Nashua featuring music, dancing, storytelling, food, history, community connection and more, according to a post at the group’s Facebook page facebook.com/bwinhinc. See also bwinhsc.com.

• The Concord Historical Society will host “Liberty and Legacy: Civic Saturday Social” on Saturday, June 20, from 1 to 6 p.m. at Kimball Jenkins, 266 N. Main St. in Concord, “in conjunction with Kimball Jenkins, the Pierce Manse and Concordia Lutheran Church. The event will kick off the city’s semiquincentennial celebrations. This celebration is free to the public and will be held on North Main Street amidst several iconic historic buildings,” according to kimballjenkins.com. Later that evening in a separate event starting at 6:30 p.m., Kimball Jenkins will host improv troupe Stranger than Fiction with America, Signing Off!, “inspired by America 250, where some of the lesser-known Founding Fathers gather to debate one audience-suggested line for the soon-to-be-written Declaration of Independence,” according to the website, where you can purchase tickets.

• Nashua Pride Festival & Parade will run Saturday, June 20, from 2 to 7 p.m. at Holman Stadium in Nashua, according to downtownnashua.org. The day will include live performances, food trucks, local vendors, community organizations and activities for all ages, according to the website.

• The Aviation Museum of New Hampshire will hold its annual Father’s Day Weekend Fly-In BBQ at Boire Field in Nashua on Saturday, June 20, according to aviationmuseumofnh.org, where you can check back for details.

• The Wilton NH Main Street Association’s SummerFest will be held Saturday, June 20, according to facebook.com/wiltonmainstreetnh. “Main Street will be closed to traffic and full of vendors from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.. We have live music on two stages during that entire time. The Lions will also have their annual Duck Drop fundraiser in the afternoon,” according to an email from organizers. “Activities move up to Carnival Hill in the evening from 6 to 10 p.m. That will include music provided by a DJ, kids’ games, a pie-eating contest and an amazing fireworks display by JPI Pyrotechnics, enhanced this year for the 250th birthday of America,” the email said.

• Concord’s Market Days Festival will run Thursday, June 25, through Saturday, June 27, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily, according to marketdaysfestival.com. Each day features music and performances on three stages, food trucks and food vendors, vendors selling other goods and more, the website said.

• The Town of Windham will hold a Revolutionary Living History and Encampment with the First New Hampshire Regiment at Crossing Life Church, 122 N. Lowell Road in Windham, on Saturday, June 27, to celebrate America’s 250th, according to a post on the town’s Facebook page. The day featuring a camp and farmers market will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with a contra dance and fireworks from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., the post said. The event will have live reenactments, cannon and musket firing demonstrations, 18th century cooking, colonial music and clothes, animals and soldier’s drill as well as food truck, the post said.

• The Manchester Pride Festival & Parade will take place Saturday, June 27, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Veterans Memorial Park in downtown Manchester, according to manchestertrue.org. The parade will kick off the day, followed by live performances, food, local vendors and community organizations and more, according to a post on the Manchester True Collaborative Facebook page. See the Manchester True Collaborate website for details on other Pride events happening throughout June including the Pride Youth Hop on June 23 and the official Pride afterparty on June 27.

• The next New England Reptile Expo is Sunday, June 28, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., at DoubleTree by Hilton Manchester Downtown, 700 Elm St. in Manchester, featuring more than 200 vendor tables, according to reptileexpo.com/all-shows/newhampshire.

• The Liberty Weekend Craft Festival takes place in the Town Common in Hampton Falls on Saturday, July 4, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, July 5, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., featuring juried artisans and specialty foods, according to castleberryfairs.com/liberty-weekend-craft-festival, where you can find a list of exhibitors.

• The Hillsboro Summerfest will run Thursday, July 9, through Sunday, July 12, at 29 Preston St. in Hillsborough, featuring carnival rides and midway games, live entertainment, a 5K on July 10, a town parade, a women’s skillet toss, fireworks on Saturday evening and more, according to hillsborosummerfest.com.

• The Raymond Town Fair will be held Friday, July 10, through Sunday, July 12, featuring “live music, fireworks, children’s activities, educational exhibitions, games & vendors,” according to facebook.com/RaymondTownFair, where you can check for schedule updates.

• The Mt. Kearsarge Indian Museum, 18 Highlawn Road in Warner, will hold its 25th annual Pow Wow on Saturday, July 11, and Sunday, July 12, according to indianmuseum.org, where you can purchase tickets. “Experience the vibrant colors of regalia, powerful dances, heartwarming music, and over 20 traders with handmade crafts,” the website said about the event.

• The American Independence Center will hold the American Independence Festival in downtown Exeter on Saturday, July 11, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. featuring a live reading of the Declaration of Independence, demonstrations of historic 18th-century trades, reenactment groups, colonial games and music and more, according to aicnh.org/american-independence-festival.

• Merrimack Paddle Battle 2026 will take place Sunday, July 18, starting at 10:30 a.m. in Wasserman Park in Merrimack hosted by Merrimack Parks & Recreation and the Merrimack Run Club, according to merrimackparksandrec.org. The day features a community water race in a one-mile loop around Blueberry Island, according to the website.

• The Aviation Museum of New Hampshire, 27 Navigator Road in Londonderry, will hold its annual Classic Car Show on Saturday, July 18, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., according to a press release. “Admission to the grounds for spectators is $10 per adult; children 12 and under free. Admission is cash only,” the release said. The day will also feature food trucks, and admission to the museum is included with admission to the car show, during the show, the release said. See aviationmuseumofnh.org.

• Stratham Summerfest 2026 will take place Saturday, July 18, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Stratham Hill Park and feature 4-H animal barns, exhibits and more; magic shows, live music, kids’ activities, helicopter exhibits weather permitting, a pie-eating contest and more, according to strathamnh.gov.

• The Second Congregational Church, 25 Gregg St. in Wilton, will hold its annual Summer Fair on Saturday, July 18, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. featuring crafts, food, music, kids activities, plant sales, book sales, a food auction at 1 p.m. and more, according to an email from the church. See 2ccwilton.org.

• Organized by the Merrimack Valley Military Vehicle Collectors Club, the Weare Rally will run Thursday, July 23, through Saturday, July 25, at Center Woods School (14 Center Road, Weare). The rally features military vehicle displays, scenic rides, demonstrations, food and more, according mvmvc.org.

• The Live Free or Die Tattoo Expo runs Friday, July 24, through Sunday, July 26, at the DoubleTree by Hilton Manchester Downtown (700 Elm St., Manchester). The event features tattoo artists, contests, vendors, live music, food and performances, according to livefreeordietattoo.com, where you can find a schedule and purchase tickets.

• The Canterbury Fair is, as always, the last Saturday in July — Saturday, July 25, starting at 9 a.m. with a 5K at Canterbury Center, according to canterburyfair.com. The fair, which runs until 4 p.m., in Center Canterbury will also include children’s games, a used book sale, live music including from Mr. Aaron and The Ragged Mountain Band, demonstrations of handicrafts, a “whatnot” tag sale, a barbecue and more, the website said.

• The Manchester Craft Market at the Mall of New Hampshire will hold its Local Author Book Fair on Saturday, July 25, from noon to 4 p.m., featuring more than 100 New England area authors, according manchestercraftmarket.com.

• The Downtown Nashua Association will present the Summer Stroll on Saturday, July 25, on Main Street in Nashua, according to downtownnashua.org, where you can check for updates on the event. “This event turns Main Street into a pedestrian-only festival of food, art, music and kids’ activities, featuring dozens of vendor tents and local makers,” the website said.

• The Coppal House Farm in Lee will hold its annual Sunflower Festival Saturday, July 25, through Aug. 2, open daily with food vendors and special events on the weekend including children’s storytimes, music and a craft fair, according to nhsunflower.com, where you can find daily times and admission prices, purchase admission and find tickets to special events held during the festival.

• The New Hampshire Film Festival Presents: NHFF Short Films — Best of the Fest part 1 at the Rex Theatre, 23 Amherst St. in Manchester, on Thursday, July 30, at 7 p.m., according to an organizer email. “The lineup includes live action, documentary, and animation titles that were produced in New Hampshire, across the U.S., and across the world,” the email said. See palacetheatre.org for tickets.

• The Suncook Valley Rotary 44th Hot Air Ballroom Rotary will run Friday, July 31, through Sunday, Aug. 2, at Drake Field on Barnstead Road in Pittsfield, featuring daily night glow displays of the balloons and flights (weather permitting) as well as touch-a-truck, a 5K, a regatta and more, according to nhballoonrally.org.

• The Belknap County Fair will run Saturday, Aug. 1, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday, Aug. 2, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 174 Mile Hill Road in Belmont, according to bcfairnh.org.

• The New Hampshire Antiques Show, hosted by the New Hampshire Antique Dealers Association, returns to the DoubleTree by Hilton Manchester Downtown (700 Elm St., Manchester) Thursday, Aug. 6, through Saturday, Aug. 8, featuring 59 antiques dealers, according to nhada.org, where you can find details on tickets, parking and more.

• Hudson Old Home Days runs Thursday, Aug. 6, through Sunday, Aug. 9, according to hudsonoldhomedays.com, where you can check for updates for this year’s events. Last year’s events and activities included carnival rides, food trucks and other vendors, live music, midway games, a craft fair and more, the website said.

• Dark Side Customs of Concord will present The Granite State Gitdown, a custom car and bike show, outside the Everett Arena in Concord on Saturday, Aug. 8, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., according to the Everett Arena schedule. See dark-side-customs.com.

• The New Hampshire Boat Museum will host its annual Alton Bay Boat Show on Saturday, Aug. 9, from 9 a.m. to noon in the Alton Town Docks, according to a press release. See nhbm.org.

• Sunfox Farm in Concord presents its annual Sunflower Bloom Festival Saturday, Aug. 8, through Sunday, Aug. 16, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., featuring live music, food trucks and other vendors, according to sunfoxfarm.org/sunflowerfestival, where you can find details on pricing, parking and more.

• Londonderry Old Home Day includes a day-long event Saturday, Aug. 15, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. with a parade as well as, at the Town of Londonderry Historical Society, colonial crafts, music, cannon and musket firing and more, according to londonderryhistory.org. See Facebook.com/TownofLondonderryOldHomeDay for more events and updates.

• History Alive 2026 in Hillsborough on Jones Road will feature historical reenactments of famous battles as well as daily village life (from Viking and medieval demonstrations to World War II) on Saturday, Aug. 15, and Sunday, Aug. 16. See historyalivenh.org for a schedule.

• The Concord Model Railroad Show, sponsored by the Concord Model Railroad Club, will take place Sunday, Aug. 16, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Everett Arena in Concord, according to a flyer from the club. Admission costs $2 for adults, free for kids under 15 with an adult, the flyer said. The day will feature more than 20 dealers, a food stand, raffles and more, the flyer said. See trainweb.org/cmrc.

• The Annual Hampton Beach Children’s Festival will run Monday, Aug. 17, through Friday, Aug. 21, with a lineup of performances and events each day leading up to a giant costume parade on Aug. 21, according to hamptonbeach.org/events/childrens-events.

• The Hampton Beach Comedy Festival runs Tuesday, Aug. 18, through Sunday, Aug. 23, with performances by at least five comedians each night at McGuirk’s Ocean View Hotel, according to hampton-beach-comedy-festival.weebly.com, where you can purchase tickets and see the scheduled lineups.

• Candia Old Home Day kicks off on Saturday, Aug. 22, at 11 a.m. with a parade, followed by a celebration featuring a dunk tank, food vendors, music and more, according to candiaoldhomeday.com.

• The 8th Annual Family Fun Day at Field of Dreams in Salem will take place Saturday, Aug. 22, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., according to fieldofdreamsnh.org.

• Dog Friendly NH will host Bark in the Park: Wag Around the World Festival on Saturday, Aug 22, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Rollins Park in Concord, according to a post on the Dog Friendly NH Facebook page. “Come wander through country and region themed areas, [and] enjoy international food trucks, live music, vendors, and a park full of fun and discovery” according to the post, which said the event would also feature a Kids Zone, shopping and more. The event is open to dogs who are “vaccinated, healthy, well-behaved with people and dogs, and comfortable on a leash,” the post said.

• Pembroke and Allenstown’s Old Home Day returns on Saturday, Aug. 22, with homemade crafts, merchants, information booths and more, according to pembrokeallenstownoldhomeday.org, where you can check back for updates on this year’s events.

• The Capital Mineral Club Show will take place Saturday, Aug. 29, and Sunday, Aug. 30, at the Everett Arena in Concord, according to capitalmineralclub.org, where you can find updates on the show.

• The Hopkinton State Fair bills itself as a Labor Day weekend tradition happening this year from Thursday, Sept. 3, to Monday, Sept. 7, at the fairgrounds (392 Kearsarge Ave., Contoocook). There will be livestock shows, a demolition derby, carnival rides, monster trucks, live entertainment, food and more. The fair hours are 5 to 10 p.m. on Thursday; 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday, according to hsfair.org.

• Cruisin’ Downtown, billed as New England’s largest classic car show, will take place Saturday, Sept. 5, on Elm Street in downtown Manchester, and feature vendors, music on two stages and more, according to cruisingdowntownnh.com.

• The 2026 Exeter UFO Festival will take place Saturday, Sept. 5, and Sunday, Sept. 6, with a lineup of speakers as well as family-friendly festival activities (costume contests for people and pets, a parade, a dance party and more), according toexeterufofestival.org.

Art galleries
Find art shows, openings and other gallery happenings each week in our Arts listings. Have a summer art exhibition or other event? Let us know at adiaz@hippopress.com.

Arts events

• The Craftworkers’ Guild Spring Fair Craft Shop at Oliver Kendall House (3A Meetinghouse Road in Bedford, behind the Bedford Public Library) is open through Sunday, May 24, Thursdays through Sundays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. See thecraftworkersguild.org.

• The 2026 Nashua International Sculpture Symposium continues at the Picker Artists building, 3 Pine St. in Nashua, with a closing ceremony and visit to the sculptures’ installation sites on Saturday, June 6, at 1 p.m. During the symposium you can watch the sculptors work at the Pine Street site. See NashuaSculptureSymposium.org.

• NH Alt Market will be held Saturday, May 23, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at The Newmarket Millspace, 55 Main St., Suite 132, in Newmarket, according to nhaltmarket.com.

• The Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire will hold an unveiling of a mural of Ona Judge Staines at 222 Court St. in Portsmouth on Saturday, May 23, with events starting at 11 a.m., according to blackheritagetrailnh.org, where you can find a schedule of events. “Born enslaved to George and Martha Washington at Mt. Vernon around 1773, Staines … escaped [from the family’s Philadelphia residence at the age of 22 in 1796] with the help of members of Philadelphia’s free Black community, with whom she had built relationships during earlier visits. She hid on a boat destined for Portsmouth. … Staines spent the rest of her life as a free woman in New Hampshire, where she married and had three children,” according to the website.

• The Concord Arts Market will return to Rollins Park in Concord for another season of Arts in the Park dates starting Saturday, June 6, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and running one Saturday a month through October, according to concordartsmarket.org. The Concord Arts Market will also be at Concord’s Market Days Festival in the downtown.

• “Art in Bloom Celebration” will take place Friday, June 12, through Sunday, June 14, at the Center for the Arts Members Gallery, 428 Main St. in New London. Local garden clubs and florists will create floral interpretations inspired by selected works from “Emergence,” a spring juried members exhibition at the gallery, according to a press release. See cfanh.org.

• The 4th Annual Community Arts Festival at Castle in the Clouds in Moultonborough will be held Saturday, June 27, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., according to a press release. “The festival will feature dozens of crafters, artists, and community organizations in the field of this iconic destination,” the release said. The event is free to attend and will feature food trucks and a scavenger hunt, the release said. See castleintheclouds.org/event/community-arts-festival.

• Bike Night at the Currier Presented by Manchester Harley-Davidson will take place Thursday, July 9, from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Currier Museum of Art, 150 Ash St. in Manchester, in conjunction with the current exhibit “Danny Lyon: The Bikeriders,” in which 16 works by photographer Danny Lyon of the Chicago Outlaws Motorcycle Club are on display through Aug. 16 at the Currier Museum of Art in Manchester, according to currier.org. The event encourages people to “[b]ring your motorcycle to the Currier for a fun and free night out at the museum,” according to an email from the museum. See currier.org for details.

• Uncommon Art On the Common in the village of Goffstown takes place Saturday, Aug. 1, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., according to goffstownmainstreet.org/uncommonart, where you can check back for updates.

• The League of NH Craftsmen’s Annual Craftsmen’s Fair will take place Saturday, Aug. 1, through Sunday, Aug. 9, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily at Mount Sunapee Resort in Newbury, according to nhcrafts.org/annual-craftsmens-fair.

• The 73rd Greeley Park Art Show will take place Saturday, Aug. 29, and Sunday, Aug. 30, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Greeley Park in Nashua, 100 Concord St., according to a post on the Nashua Area Artists Association Facebook page.

Movies!
Find listings of specialty movie screenings and movie series this summer in the film listings, which appear in the Pop section most weeks, including on page 28 in this week’s issue.

Spectator sports

• The New Hampshire Fisher Cats at Delta Dental Stadium in downtown Manchester continue their run against the Hartford Yard Goats through Sunday, May 24, with games at 6:03 p.m. on May 21 and May 22 and 1:05 p.m. on May 23 and May 24. Catch after-show fireworks on Friday, May 22. Regular season games continue through Sunday, Sept. 13. See milb.com/new-hampshire for tickets.

• The Nashua Silver Knights, members of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League, will host their home opener at Holman Stadium (67 Amherst St., Nashua) on Wednesday, May 27, against the Vermont Lake Monsters at 10:30 a.m. followed by a game Saturday, May 30, at 6:30 p.m. against the Lowell Spinners. The first post-game fireworks will take place at the game on Friday, June 5, at 6:03 p.m. against the Worcester Bravehearts. Their last home game of the regular season will be on Friday, Aug. 7, at 6:03 p.m. against the Norwich Sea Unicorns. See nashuasilverknights.com.

• NH Roller Derby continues its season with a doubleheader on Saturday, May 30, at 4 p.m. at JFK Coliseum, 303 Beech St. in Manchester, according to nhrollerderby.com. Up next, a doubleheader on Saturday, June 27, at 4 p.m. and the Granite Skate Invitational on Saturday, July 18, and Sunday, July 19, according to NH Roller Derby’s Facebook page, where you can find updates on their events.

• The 2026 New Hampshire Soap Box Derby Local Championship will be held on Sunday, May 31, at 120 Broadway in Dover — check-ins begin at 7:45 a.m., with competitions (between drivers ages 7 to 20) starting at 10 a.m. Spectators can cheer on the races for free. See nh.soapboxderby.org

• The Special Olympics New Hampshire State Summer Games take place Friday, June 12, and Saturday, June 13, at the University of New Hampshire (105 Main St., Durham). The games include competition in athletics, bocce, equestrian, powerlifting, unified sprint triathlons and swimming, according to sonh.org.

• Dartmouth Health Children’s NH East-West All Star Football Game featuring “the state’s best graduating high school football players together” will take place Friday, June 26, at 6 p.m. at the Grappone Stadium at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, according to childrens.dartmouth-health.org/events, where you can purchase tickets.

Day at the museum
Looking for a few hours of local history and culture? Check out “Granite State Curiosities,” our May 14 cover story on local museums. Find the issue in the digital library at hippopress.com. The story starts on page 8.

Nature events

• The NH Audubon and the Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire are partnering on a Black Birders Week 2026 Tour on Saturday, May 30, from 9 to 11:30 a.m. in Portsmouth, according to nhaudubon.org, where you can purchase tickets.

• New Hampshire Audubon’s Massabesic Center (26 Audubon Way in Auburn, nhaudubon.org) will hold Garden Tours on Tuesday, June 2, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. and Thursday, Aug. 6, from 5:30 to 7 p.m.; RSVP on the website to attend.

• The summer Free Fishing Day in New Hampshire takes place on Saturday, June 6, when residents and nonresidents can “fish any inland water — or saltwater — in New Hampshire” without a fishing license, according to wildlife.nh.gov, which noted that season dates and other fishing regulations still apply.

• The NH Audubon’s McLane Center, 84 Silk Farm Road in Concord, will hold a Pollinator Fest & Native Plant Sale on Saturday, June 6, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. featuring local artisans, pollinator groups, food trucks, live music and more, according to nhaudubon.org.

• The 37th Annual Pocket Gardens of Portsmouth Tour, a fundraiser for South Church, will take place Friday, June 19, from 5 to 8 p.m. and Saturday, June 20, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., according to southchurch-uu.org/what-we-offer/pocket-garden-tour. “This year’s tour returns to the historic South End neighborhood and features 10 private gardens and the Goodwin Garden at Strawbery Banke Museum. Along the route you will find musicians, artists, and refreshments,” the website said.

• The Palace Theatre’s Red, White and Bloom Garden Tour 2026 takes place Saturday, June 20, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. with a self-guided tour of public and private gardens throughout Manchester, according to palacetheatre.org, where you can purchase tickets.

• The Seacoast Science Center at Odiorne Point State Park in Rye celebrates World Oceans Day on Saturday, June 20, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., with “hands-on games, educational activities, naturalist-led tide pooling sessions, food trucks, and more,” according to seacoastsciencecenter.org, where you can purchase tickets for the event.

• Heritage in Bloom: A Garden Tour held by the Garden Club of Deerfield will take place Saturday, June 27, from 3 to 7 p.m. and feature “a self-guided tour through the gardens of historic homes and properties throughout Deerfield. Guests will have the opportunity to explore beautifully maintained landscapes rooted in the town’s rich agricultural and cultural history while enjoying the magic of a New England summer evening during the golden hour. More than a traditional garden tour, Heritage in Bloom offers a thoughtfully curated experience where music, art, and nature come together. Throughout the gardens, visitors will discover local musicians, artists, and special touches …,” according to a club press release. See givebutter.com/heritage-in-bloom for tickets.

• New Hampshire Audubon’s McLane Center (84 Silk Farm Road in Concord) will hold Pollinator Garden Tours on Thursday, July 9, from 4 to 6 p.m. and Thursday, Aug. 13, from 4 to 6 p.m. according to nhaudubon.org, where you can RSVP to attend.

• The Granite VNA Hospice Home & Garden Tour will take place Wednesday, July 15, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., according to granitevna.org/ways-to-give/hospice-home-garden-tour, where tickets will be on sale in late May. “This year’s tour features a wonderful mix of homes on or near the waterfront of Lake Winnipesaukee, from sprawling estates to charming cottages, open-air retreats to rustic getaways,” the website said.

• The Second Annual Five Sense Tour at Tiffany Gardens, a fundraiser for Community Caregivers of Greater Derry, will take place Saturday, July 25, and Sunday, July 26, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the private Tiffany Gardens, a one-acre residential garden with more than 20 garden beds, according to comcaregivers.org/garden-tour, where you can purchase tickets.

• New Hampshire Audubon’s McLane Center (84 Silk Farm Road in Concord) will hold the Capital Area Butterfly Survey on Saturday, July 25, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., according to nhaudubon.org, where you can register to participate.

Concerts
Find ticketed shows this summer for rock, country, pop and more in our Concerts listing, which runs weekly in our Nite section. Look for classical, classical pops, folk and more in the Classical Music listings, which appear each week in our Arts section. Have a show schedule on the summer schedule? Let us know at adiaz@hippopress.com.

Music festivals

• Synthfest 2026, an evening of live electronic music, will take place Saturday, May 30, from 5 to 8 p.m. in Rollins Park Gazebo in Concord, according to boseyjoe.com/synthfest. The lineup includes Bosey Joe, Green Leader and Hyponova, according to the website.

• The Granite State 2026 Blues Challenge will take place Sunday, May 31, at noon at the Brickhouse Restaurant and Brewery, 241 Union Square in Milford, according to granitestateblues.org.

• Halcyon Music Festival, which “brings world-class musicians and talented young professionals to live, work, and perform together … to create a community where chamber music will be explored and presented at the highest artistic level,” will offer six concerts Thursday, June 11, through Saturday, June 20, at 7 p.m. at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Portsmouth, according to halcyonmusicfestival.org, where you can purchase tickets including ticket packages for multiple concerts. Shows are “In the Americas” on June 11, featuring the music of Schubert, Beach, Villa-Lobos and Barber; “Otherworldy” on June 12, featuring the music of Mozart, Ives and Beethoven; “All’Ongarese” on June 13, featuring the music of Foote, Haydn, Schulhoff and Brahms; “Breath of Inspiration” on June 18, featuring the music of Williams, Brahms and Price; “Music of the Sea” on June 19, featuring the music of Fauré, Shostakovich and Herrmann, and “Pinnacles” on June 20, featuring the music of Mozart, Bernstein and Mendelssohn.

• Northlands Music and Arts Festival will take place Friday, June 19, through Sunday, June 21, at the Cheshire Fairgrounds in Swanzey, according to northlandslive.com, where you can purchase passes to the festival for three days or one day and find information about camping and parking. You can also find the lineup of bands on each day on the website as well as information on food, craft and art vendors, health and wellness activities and kids’ activities.

• The New Hampshire Music Festival runs Tuesday, July 7, through Thursday, July 30, with four chamber music concerts and four orchestra concerts all at the Plymouth State University Silver Center for the Arts in Plymouth, according to nhmf.org, where you can purchase tickets to individual shows or the season. This summer’s theme is “A Musical Traverse,” described as “ a sweeping journey across cultures, centuries, and sound worlds. … [O]ur musicians will explore music that moves from intimate reflection to dazzling spectacle, tracing pathways between American voices and treasured international masterworks.
As we mark the United States of America’s 250th anniversary, this season proudly celebrates the richness and diversity of American artistry, placing it in vibrant conversation with music from around the globe,” the website says.

• The Kinfolk Music & Arts Festival, described as “A day where reggae drifts into roots, jam bands run into songwriters, and by the end of the day it somehow all makes perfect sense,” will take place Saturday, July 25, from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. at Ragged Mountain Resort in Danbury, according to raggedmountainresort.com/event-overview, where you can purchase tickets. In addition to a lineup of musicians (which you can see on the website, with a headliner to be announced June 22), the day will feature 65 artisan booths, interactive activities and demos, family fun, food trucks, a beer garden and more, according to a press release about the event.

• Pizzastock 10, a fundraiser put on by the Jason R Flood Memorial featuring 12 bands on two stages, will take place Saturday, Aug. 1, from noon to 6 p.m., according to a post on the Jason R Flood Memorial Facebook page. The event is geared toward all ages with games including wiffleball and cornhole, activities for little kids, community organizations with information available, pizza slices from Kendall Pond Pizza as well as other food vendors, raffles and merch, the post said. See pizzastock.org for more on the event and organization.

• The Granite State Blues Festival will take place Saturday, Aug. 1. Check back at granitestateblues.org for updates on this year.

• The Mountain Music & Arts Festival 2026 will take place Friday, Aug. 7, and Saturday, Aug. 8, at Melody Mountain Farm in Warren, according to a post on the farm’s Facebook page. See melodymountainfarm.com for tickets and information on camping. The festival will feature headliners Dead Ahead and The Rins as well as a lineup of other bands and artists, food and other local vendors, the post said.

• Continuum Arts Collective will present Revel in the Meadow 2026 at Dover Elks Field, 282 Durham Road in Dover, on Saturday, Aug. 15, from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., according to continuumarts.org, where you can purchase tickets. The day will include two music stages, art activities for kids, more than 20 artisans and headlining acts “A Band of Brothers: An Allman Brothers Tribute, Seacoast Last Waltz Band, Ramble on Rose Band, Terrafunk, and Lightheaded Collective,” the website said.

• The NH Irish Festival takes place at the Palace Theatre, 80 Hanover St. in Manchester, on Saturday, Aug. 22, from 5:30 to 8 p.m. and is slated to feature Screaming Orphans, The Spain Brothers, The Jordan Tirrell-Wysocki Trio and Rory Makem, according to palacetheatre.org, where you can purchase tickets.

• The Keene Music Fest will take place Saturday, Sept. 5, according to facebook.com/KeeneMusicFestival, where you can find updates.

Comedy
Find spots to get laughs each week this summer in our Comedy This Week listing, which runs weekly in our Nite section. Have a comedy show on the summer schedule? Let us know at adiaz@hippopress.com.

Outdoor theater

• The Powerhouse Theatre Collaborative will hold their Play Festival Saturday, May 30, and Sunday, May 31, at Prescott Farm Environmental Education Center, 928 White Oaks Road in Laconia, according to powerhousenh.org.

• The Prescott Park Arts Festival’s outdoor production in Portsmouth this summer is Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella, which will run June 19 through Aug. 9, with performances most Thursdays through Sundays at 7 p.m., with some matinee performances, according to prescottpark.org, where you can reserve blanket or table space.

• Theatre Kapow will present William Shakespeare’s As You Like It for this summer’s Shakespeare on the Green at Saint Anselm College in Manchester from Thursday, July 23, through Saturday, July 25, and Thursday, July 30, through Saturday, Aug. 1. See tickets.anselm.edu for updates.

• Nashua Theatre Guild will present William Shakespeare’s The Tempest Friday, July 31, through Saturday, Aug. 8, with shows Fridays at 7 p.m. and Saturdays at 2 and 7 p.m. in Greeley Park in Nashua, according to nashuatheatreguild.org.

• Advice to the Players will present Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet at Quimby Park in Sandwich at 5 p.m. on July 31, Aug. 1, Aug. 8 and Aug. 9 and at the Castle in the Clouds in Moultonborough at 4:45 p.m. on Aug. 2 and Aug. 5-7, according to advicetotheplayers.org, where you can purchase tickets.

• The Prescott Park Arts Festival’s Camp Encore student performers will present Mean Girls Jr.Saturday, Aug. 1, and Sunday, Aug. 2, at 1 p.m. and Willy Wonka Kids on Saturday, Aug. 8, and Sunday, Aug. 9, at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., according to prescottpark.org, where you can reserve blanket or table space.

Summer fun for kids
Looking for more fun to keep the kids busy this summer? Check out our Feb. 26 round-up of summer day camps; you can find that issue in the digital library at hippopress.com. And be sure to pick up our Kid’s Guide to Summer issue, slated to come out in early June. Have an event for the kids this summer? Send it to adiaz@hippopress.com.

Summer playhouse theater

• The New London Barn Playhouse, 84 Main St. in New London, will feature shows Friday, May 29 through Sunday, Sept. 6, with most productions running about two weeks, according to nlbarn.org/summer-season, where you can see the full schedule and purchase tickets. The season begins with Man of La Mancha in concert May 29-31, the New London Playhouse Straw Hat Revue on June 3-7 and Million Dollar Quartet June 10-21, the website said.

• The Winnipesaukee Playhouse, 33 Footlight Circle in Meredith, has seven professional company shows on the schedule through the end of 2026 with five running this summer: Come From Away (June 11-27), The Complete History of America (July 3-11), The Odd Couple (July 17-25), Wait Until Dark (July 31-Aug. 8) and The 39 Steps (Aug. 14-23), according to winnipesaukeeplayhouse.org, where you can purchase tickets.

• Andy’s Summer Playhouse, 582 Isaac Frye Highway in Wilton, features productions and workshops for kid and teen performers, according to andyssummerplayhouse.org, where you can find the schedule of productions to which audiences can purchase tickets. First up is Welcome to the Hilltop, a night of plays by young artists on Saturday, June 27, at 7 p.m., followed by A Staged Reading Through the Greenhouse Initiative: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd on Friday, July 3, at 7 p.m., the website said.

More theater
Find more theatrical productions this summer in our theater listings, which run each week in our Arts section. Have a show hitting the stage? Let us know at adiaz@hippopress.com.

Food events

• The Friends of the Library of Windham will hold the 41st annual Strawberry Festival & Book Fair on Saturday, May 30, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Windham High School, according to facebook.com/FlowWindham. In addition to strawberry shortcake, the day will feature other food vendors, entertainment, raffles, a children’s bike parade at 1 p.m. and more, according to the post and to flowwindham.org.

• Sip and Sun Brew Fest will take place Saturday, May 30, from noon to 4 p.m. at Mel’s Funway Park in Litchfield, featuring tastings from local breweries, live music from The Slakas, food trucks and more, according to melsfunwaypark.com, where you can purchase tickets.

• The Palace Theatre’s annual Kitchen Tour will take place Sunday, May 31, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. featuring a self-guided tour of kitchens in southern New Hampshire, according to palacetheatre.org, where you can purchase tickets (a lunch is included).

• The Taste of Downtown Nashua is slated for Wednesday, June 3, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., according to downtownnashua.org/taste-of-downtown, where you can check back for updates and to purchase tickets.

• The NH Herbal Network will hold its annual Herb & Garden Day on Saturday, June 6, from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Society for the Protection of NH Forests in Concord, featuring workshops and a vendors market, according to nhherbalnetwork.org/herbday, where you can purchase tickets

• Hampstead Congregational Church, 61 Main St. in Hampstead, will hold a Strawberry Festival featuring crafters, raffles, a bake sale and strawberry shortcake on Saturday, June 6, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., according to hampsteaducc.org.

• The Rhubarb Festival takes place in Sawyer Memorial Park, 148 Route 202 in Bennington, on Saturday, June 6, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. featuring “[c]raft fair, vendors, food trucks, children’s activities, petting zoo, story walk, music, plants, baked goods, jams, beverages and more,” according to townofbennington.com/rhubarb-festival.

• 97.5 WOKQ Chowder Festival Summer Kick Off will take place Saturday, June 6, from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Prescott Park in Portsmouth featuring live music, lawn games and chowder, according to prescottpark.org, where you can purchase tickets.

• The NH Bacon & Beer Festival will take place Saturday, June 6, from 1:30 to 5 p.m. in Arms Park in Manchester, according to nhbaconbeer.com, where you can purchase tickets. A fundraiser for High Hopes Foundation, the festival will feature live music from The Slakas, bacon creations from more than 20 restaurants, vendors selling additional food and samples from local brewers, the website said.

• Applecrest Farm Orchards, 133 Exeter Road in Hampton Falls, has a series of festivals throughout the summer and into the fall on select weekends, kicking it off with a Strawberry Festival on Saturdays, June 13 and June 20, and Sundays, June 14 and June 21, according to applecrest.com. Other festivals include a Blueberry Celebration July 12, a Blueberry Festival July 25-26, Blueberry & Peach Celebration Aug. 2, Peach Festival Aug. 15-16, Fall Harvest Kick-Off Aug. 29-30 and Labor Day weekend Sept. 5-7.

• Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, 68 N. State St. in Concord, will have a meal to go featuring gyro, fries and a Greek salad for pick-up on Sunday, June 14, according to a post on the church’s Facebook page. Call 225-2961 or go to holytrinitynh.org for details on ordering.

• St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in Portsmouth (at 40 Andrew Jarvis Drive) will hold its annual Greek Festival Friday, June 19, and Saturday, June 20, from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. featuring food service, music, a kids’ corner, Greek dancing, church tours and more, according to stnicholasgreekfestival.com, where you can find the schedule of events.

• The New London Parks and Recreation Department will hold its ninth annual Strawberry Fest on Saturday, June 20, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the town green featuring strawberries and strawberry shortcake for sale (cash or check only), as well as other food and vendors and entertainment, according to newlondon.nh.gov/recreation and a post on the department’s Facebook page.

• St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, 1160 Bridge St. in Manchester, will hold its Lamb BBQ and Food Festival on Saturday, June 20, from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Sunday, June 21, from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., according to a church email. Check back on the church’s socials or at stnicholasgreekchurch.com for updates.

• Susie Q’s Bakery in Deerfield will hold Cakefest 2026 at the Old Town Hall in Deerfield on Saturday, June 27, from 1 to 3 p.m., according to susieqscakery.com/cake-fest-2026. “Bring a cake, share a cake,” the website said. “[E]ach guest will get 7 minutes to wander on the cake walk to gather their slices of cakes.” See the website to purchase tickets and for additional details about participating in the event.

• Lavender Fields at Pumpkin Blossom Farm in Warner will hold a Lavender Garden Party on Saturday, June 27, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. featuring farm-to-table dishes and lavender cocktails and beverages, according to pumpkinblossomfarm.com, where you can purchase tickets to the event.

• The New Hampshire Beer Trail Festival takes place Saturday, June 27, noon to 4 p.m. at Tuckerman Brewery in Conway featuring more than 40 breweries with more than 100 craft beers as well as live music, food trucks, local vendors and makers, sales of the Beer Trail Guidebook and more, according to nhbrewers.org, where you can purchase tickets.

• Heritage Harvest Project will hold Farm-a-Cue, “a day of celebration, education, and delicious local food at Tuckaway Farm in Lee,” on Sunday, June 28, from noon to 5 p.m., according to heritageharvestproject.org, where you can purchase tickets. The day will include samples of dishes with local ingredients, information about heritage crops, an opportunity to meet farmers and food producers, local craft beer and beverage tastings (with purchase of drink bracelet) and family-friendly activities, the website said.

• The Strawberry Festival held by the Hollis Town Band and Congregational Church of Hollis will be held Sunday, June 28, from 2 to 4 p.m. at Monument Square in Hollis featuring strawberry shortcake for purchase with locally sourced strawberries as well as a concert by the Hollis Town Band, according to hollistownband.info.

• The Southern New Hampshire Food Truck Festival will take place Saturday, Aug. 1, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday, Aug. 2, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the Hampshire Dome on Emerson Road in Milford and feature food trucks, live music, a craft market and a kids’ zone, according to gnefoodtruckfest.com (tickets available for purchase at the gate).

• The New England Hot Sauce Fest will be held Saturday, Aug. 1, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., at the Strawbery Banke Museum in Portsmouth featuring hot sauce samples, food trucks, beer, contests, bounce houses and more to benefit Blue Ocean Society and Seacoast Science Center, according to newenglandhotsaucefest.com, where you can purchase tickets.

• Mahrajan Middle Eastern Food Festival is held toward the end of August at Our Lady of the Cedars Church, 140 Mitchell St. in Manchester. Check back at bestfestnh.com for updates on this year’s event.

• Greekfest, a celebration of Greek food and culture, will take place at Assumption Greek Orthodox Church, 111 Island Pond Road in Manchester, on Saturday, Aug. 29, from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday, Aug. 30, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., according to an email from the church. The event, held underneath a tent rain or shine, will feature Greek food and pastries, raffles, kids activities and vendors, the email said. See assumptionnh.org.

• Granite State PoutineFest will take place Saturday, Aug. 29, from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at 603 Brewery in Londonderry, according to poutinefest.com, where you can purchase tickets.

• The Gluten Never Ever Expo will be held Saturday, Sept. 5, and Sunday, Sept. 6, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the Hampshire Dome on Emerson Road in Milford and will feature 100 booths, food trucks, workshops, live music, a kids’ zone and more, according to glutennevereverexpo.com .

Beach stuff
Looking for more events on the Seacoast? Check out the seasonal publication Seacoast Scene at seacoastscene.net, where you can find current and previous issues.