Category: Cover Stories

Test your knowledge at trivia night, live out your rock star dreams and win prizes by listening to your favorite tunes.

New Hampshire’s nightlife scene has plenty to offer, with games and events happening at local bars, restaurants and pubs nearly every night of the week. Check out where you can go to test your knowledge with trivia nights, live out your rock star dreams with karaoke nights, or even win prizes by simply listening to your favorite tunes with musical bingo.

Name that tune

Listen to music, win prizes during musical bingo

By Matt Ingersoll

mingersoll@hippopress.com

Musical bingo is exactly what it sounds like. Instead of letters and numbers like in a traditional game of bingo, you’re given a card filled with squares of song titles and recording artist names. The DJ or event host plays a clip of a song, and it’s your job to identify a match shown on your bingo card. In a normal game, the clips continue until the first player is able to match five squares in a row on their card, whether it be vertically, horizontally or diagonally.

It’s a weekly activity at area bars and restaurants that finds a happy medium between trivia and karaoke nights for its interactivity, said Gregory Nickerson, owner and founder of Musical Bingo Nation. Since launching in 2018, the entertainment company has grown to now host several public musical bingo events at venues across southern New Hampshire, as well as Massachusetts and Florida. Musical bingo is played every Wednesday night at Shopper’s Pub + Eatery in Manchester and at The Barnyard Venue in Candia, for instance, and on Thursday nights you can play at Backyard Brewery & Kitchen in the Queen City or at Main Street Grill and Bar in Pittsfield. All public musical bingo events are free to play, with the chance to win prizes. The company also offers private musical bingo events and even virtual events via Zoom.

Nickerson, a professional DJ for more than a decade playing in venues across New England, said he got the idea of launching Musical Bingo Nation after coming across the game online.

“I was really intrigued by the concept, because it created an engagement that I had never found at an event, other than playing the right music for a specific crowd that’s there for it,” he said.

Each game consists of different rounds, featuring songs that encompass a specific genre, decade or theme of music. You could be playing in a classic rock or reggae round, for instance, or a “one-hit wonders” theme — more than 50 different music rounds are featured across each event.

“We play enough of the song for the player to essentially try and figure it out, so songs like ‘Sweet Home Alabama,’ or ‘Crazy,’ by Gnarls Barkley, for instance … you can hear [the name] multiple times in the chorus,” Nickerson said. “There are a couple of cool things we do like that, to be able to help engage players that might not know the song off the top of their head. … It’s also a cool way to make new friends, because we encourage players at our events to ask the table next to them if they might not know the song, and one table could share a song with another.”

Musical Bingo Nation has a whole team of DJs and event hosts, and you’ll never know which themes will be featured at each public musical bingo event until you actually sit down and play.

“We like to make it a surprise, and that allows our hosts to be flexible too,” Nickerson said. “If we were planning on doing ‘top hits of the 2000s’ but it’s a classic rock crowd, then they can swap that. It allows us to … cater to whatever age, demographic or crowd is in front of us.”

Jennifer Mitchell of Good Vibes Music Bingo, which holds free public events at Salona Bar & Grill in Manchester on Monday nights and at Backyard Grill Burgers & Wings in Seabrook on Tuesday nights, said she got into hosting the game after trying it out as a player. Her games also randomly shuffle the theme of the songs played each night and, prior to the start of every game, players are given a free space that they can pick anywhere on their card.

“I give them anywhere from 20 to 30 seconds of the song, and typically in that amount of time will be the song title,” Mitchell said, adding that, depending on the venue, players sometimes may be allowed to use song recognition apps like Shazam or SoundHound to help them out.

Prizes normally include gift cards or certificates to whichever restaurant, bar or venue you’re playing in. Mitchell said she has also seen some venues give out scratch tickets, or various swag such as T-shirts, keychains and beer koozies. Salona Bar & Grill even has a cash coverall, or a jackpot cash prize that rolls over each week, for anyone who can mark every single square on their bingo card within a certain amount of songs played.

But while everyone loves winning prizes, Nickerson added that the game has also proven to be a fun way for players to broaden their musical knowledge and horizons.

“In my eyes, one of the reasons I started this company was because I felt like I was keeping music history alive … [and] all those songs that are essentially disappearing off the radio,” he said. “We’re keeping them in play on a regular basis to hundreds and sometimes thousands of people each week, so that was the beauty of it. … I feel like it’s the best music game out there.”

Where to play musical bingo

Here’s a list of local restaurants, bars and pubs where you can go every weeknight to try your luck at a game of musical bingo. Know of a spot not listed here? Let us know at music@hippopress.com to include in our weekly Music This Week listings.

Backyard Brewery & Kitchen
1211 S. Mammoth Road, Manchester, 623-3545, backyardbrewerynh.com
When: Thursdays, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Featuring: Musical Bingo Nation, musicalbingonation.com

Backyard Grill Burgers & Wings
5 Provident Way, Seabrook, 760-2581, backyardgrillnh.com
When: Tuesdays, 7 to 9 p.m.
Featuring: Good Vibes Music Bingo, jennifermitchellmusic.com

The Barnyard Venue
285 Old Candia Road, Candia, 483-4888, barnyardvenue.com
When: Wednesdays, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Featuring: Musical Bingo Nation, musicalbingonation.com

Fody’s Tavern
9 Clinton St., Nashua, 577-9015; 187 Rockingham Road, Derry, 404-6946; fodystavern.com
When: Tuesdays, 8 to 10 p.m. (Nashua); Thursdays, 8 to 10 p.m. (Derry)
Featuring: JB Entertainment, find them on Facebook

The Goat Bar and Grill
142 Congress St., Portsmouth, 590-4628, goatnh.com
When: Mondays, 7 to 9 p.m.
Featuring: Musical Bingo Nation, musicalbingonation.com

JB’s on the Boardwalk
187 Ocean Blvd., Hampton Beach, 926-1420, jbsnh.com
When: Tuesdays, 8 to 11 p.m.
Featuring: Music Bingo by Ironic, ironic.it/musicbingo

Logan’s Run Restaurant & Sports Bar
816 Lafayette Road, Hampton, 926-4343, logansrunrestaurant.com
When: Tuesdays, 6 to 8 p.m.
Featuring: Game of Tunes, gametimetrivia.com

Main Street Grill and Bar
32 Main St., Pittsfield, 435-0005, mainstreetgrillandbar.com
When: Thursdays, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Featuring: Musical Bingo Nation, musicalbingonation.com

McGarvey’s Saloon
1097 Elm St., Manchester, 627-2721, mcgarveysnh.com
When: Wednesdays, 9 to 11 p.m.
Featuring: Perfect Entertainment, perfectne.com

Saddle Up Saloon
92 Route 125, Kingston, 347-1313, saddleupsaloonnh.com
When: Wednesdays, 7 to 9 p.m.
Featuring: Musical Bingo Nation, musicalbingonation.com

Salona Bar & Grill
128 Maple St., Manchester, 624-4020, find them on Facebook @salona
When: Mondays, 6 to 8 p.m. (no bingo on Sept. 5)
Featuring: Good Vibes Music Bingo, jennifermitchellmusic.com

Shane’s Texas Pit
61 High St., Hampton, 601-7091, shanes-texas-pit.com
When: Tuesdays, 6 to 9 p.m.

Shopper’s Pub + Eatery
18 Lake Ave., Manchester, 232-5252, shoppersmht.com
When: Wednesdays, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Featuring: Musical Bingo Nation, musicalbingonation.com

Smuttlabs Brewery & Kitchen
47 Washington St., Dover, 343-1782, smuttynose.com
When: Fridays, 6 to 8 p.m.

Wally’s
144 Ashworth Ave., Hampton, 926-6954, wallysnh.com
When: Tuesdays, 9 to 11 p.m.
Featuring: Musical Bingo Nation, musicalbingonation.com

Whym Craft Pub & Brewery
853 Lafayette Road, Hampton, 601-2801, whym.beer
When: Thursdays, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Featuring: Music Bingo by Ironic, ironic.it/musicbingo

Sing your heart out

A look at southern New Hampshire’s thriving karaoke scene

By Katelyn Sahagian

ksahagian@hippopress.com

Karaoke is more than just singing along to some song on an old stereo system into a half-dead microphone and reading lyrics from a tiny monitor. Many DJs and venues in New Hampshire take it to the next level, featuring specialty equipment and live bands.

George Cox of Cox Karaoke, based in Manchester, said that karaoke should feel like you’re a rock star playing your own concert.

“I love the fact that people can get up and perform in front of an audience,” Cox said. “It brings a lot of people together.”

While almost all karaoke nights will have singers choose a song from a list, sign up for a designated time and sing away, Cox said he tries to make the experience much more special. From a hard drive with more than 100,000 songs to sound systems that add layered vocal effects to the singers, Cox said he is focused on giving the best experience possible to performers.

“When you come to one of my shows, it sounds like a professional show,” Cox said. “It’s like singing at your own concert.”

Cox was the DJ for Manchester Idol, a local singing competition held at The Goat Bar and Grill in Manchester earlier this summer. It was so popular, he said, that people came from as far as Boston, Connecticut and Rhode Island for their shot at winning a $3,000 grand prize.

“I couldn’t believe the amazing talent [of] the people who came,” he said. “There was a line out the door.”

Erica Fleury, one of the co-owners of The Goat, said that she had known the competition would be popular since she had competed in one years ago with a much smaller prize.

“We just wanted to give … a huge prize away to get some real talent to come out,” Fleury said, adding that Cox’s fans coming to the competition made it even more popular than she had hoped for it to be. “I was surprised it did even better than I thought.”

While there’s no set date yet, Fleury said she is planning to host another Manchester Idol competition sometime later this winter. Right now, karaoke will continue at The Goat through the summer. Fleury said that she wants to see how it does with college students to see if it’ll continue being a weekly event — or if it will slow down to every other week or stop altogether until the next competition.

Cox, who has been working as a karaoke DJ for a decade in southern New Hampshire, said that he’s seen nothing but a boom in popularity for the activity over the years. Even with the pandemic causing most events to close, Cox said that he worked with South Side Tavern, across the Queen City on South Willow Street, to set up an outdoor karaoke night.

“It was the biggest gig of my karaoke career,” Cox said. “I didn’t think people would show but it was packed. There were about 50 singers and a lot of newcomers.”

Fleury said that karaoke will be around for a very long time. She and her husband also own Wally’s in Hampton, where they have a live band performing the karaoke set. The goal, she said, is for you to feel less like you’re just singing for a crowd of people and more like you’re the headliner at your own concert.

“You’re able to be your alter ego when you get up there on stage,” Fleury said. “People like to do things when they go out other than just sit at a bar. It just gets the energy going in the room and livens up the night.”

Where to sing karaoke

Check out this list of venues in southern New Hampshire that offer karaoke. In most cases, singers can choose a song from a pre-selected list and sign up to sing at a designated time. Know of a spot not listed here? Let us know at music@hippopress.com to include in our weekly Music This Week listings.

American Legion Post 31
11 Charles St., Penacook, 753-9372, nhalpost31.org
When: Fridays, 7 p.m.
Featuring: JMitch Karaoke

Angel City Music Hall
179 Elm St., Unit B, Manchester, 931-3654, angelcitymusichall.com
When: Sundays and Tuesdays, 8 p.m.
Featuring: DJ Clashious Clay

The Bar
2B Burnham Road, Hudson, 943-5250
When: Mondays, 7 p.m.

Boonedoxz Pub
95 Park St., Northfield, 455-3755, find them on Facebook
When: Fridays, 7 p.m.
Featuring: DJ Oz

Crow’s Nest Pub & Grill
181 Plaistow Road, Plaistow
974-1686, crowsnestnh.com
When: Thursdays, 7:30 p.m.

Fody’s Tavern
9 Clinton St., Nashua, 577-9015; 187 Rockingham Road, Derry, 404-6946; fodystavern.com
When: Mondays and Thursdays, 9:30 p.m. (Nashua); Wednesdays, 7 p.m. (Derry)
Featuring: DJ Rick (Nashua); DJ Jay (Derry)

The Goat Bar and Grill
50 Old Granite St., Manchester, 844-603-4628, goatnh.com
When: Thursdays, 8 p.m.
Featuring: Cox Karaoke

L Street Tavern
17 L St., Hampton, 967-4777, lstreettavern.com
When: Wednesdays, 9 p.m.
Featuring: DJ Jeff

Lynn’s 102 Tavern
76 Derry Road, Hudson, 943-7832, lynns102.com
When: Thursdays and Fridays, 8 p.m.
Featuring: DJ George Bisson

Millyard Brewery
25 E. Otterson St., Nashua, 722-0104, millyardbrewery.com
When: Every other Thursday, 6 p.m.
Featuring: Bobby Lane

Raga Contemporary Kitchen
138 Main St., Nashua, 459-8566, find them on Facebook @raganashua
When: Tuesdays, 7:30 p.m.

Saddle Up Saloon
92 Route 125, Kingston, 347-1313, saddleupsaloonnh.com
When: Thursdays, 7 p.m.
Featuring: DJ Jason

South Side Tavern
1279 S. Willow St., Manchester, 935-9947, southsidetavernnh.com
When: Thursdays, 9 p.m.
Featuring: Cox Karaoke

Stark Brewing Co.
500 N. Commercial St., Manchester, 625-4444, starkbrewingcompany.com
When: Mondays, 8 p.m.
Featuring: Cox Karaoke

Stonecutters Pub
63 Union Square, Milford, 213-5979, find them on Facebook @stonecutterspubmilfordnh
When: Fridays, 9 p.m.
Featuring: KJ-Dave O.

Tower Hill Tavern
264 Lakeside Ave., Laconia, 366-9100, towerhilltavern.com
When: Thursdays and Sundays, 8 p.m.; and Saturdays, 9 p.m.
Featuring: DJ Tim and guest hosts

Knowledge is power

Flex your mental muscles during trivia night

By Hannah Turtle

hturtle@hippopress.com

Bill Seney, local host of the trivia event named “Best Weekly Bar Event” in Hippo’s readers’ poll this year, believes a good trivia contest comes down to two things.

“One: It’s interactive, there’s some competition, and people like that. Two: It’s kind of like dinner theater. It’s entertaining,” Seney said.

Trivia is easy to jump into. Everyone can participate because everyone knows something, but nobody knows everything. Typically, bar trivia is free to attend, the only price being that of the drinks and food offered by the bar. A typical bar trivia event lasts about two hours.

For Marc Chamberland of Game Time Trivia, the special ingredient to a successful trivia night comes down to the host. Game Time Trivia is a regular at several local spots, including The Thirsty Moose Taphouse in Merrimack (on Mondays) and in Manchester (on Wednesdays).

“They’ve got to be personable. They can’t be a robot reading questions, [and] they have to make it entertaining for everyone,” Chamberland said.

Chamberland’s trivia events, like many, consist of themed rounds. Teams answer a set of questions, turn in their answers, see how their scores rank in the group, and move to the next round, with scores accumulating. It’s a system that allows players with different skill sets all to show their stuff.

Seney, who hosts weekly trivia nights at The Hop Knot, Shopper’s Pub + Eatery and Backyard Brewery & Kitchen in Manchester, points to the art of writing the questions as the most important facet of a successful trivia night.

“What I’ve learned from hosting is that nobody is really there to get stumped,” he said. “You have to have good questions. Not too hard, [but] not too easy either. My criteria is this: People should have at least heard of the answer.”

He gave an example of how he goes about writing a question.

“If I ask, ‘College Dropout and Late Registration are two albums by what famous rapper?’ And the answer is Kanye West, you might not have known that, but at least you know who Kanye West is,” Seney said. “If I ask the question in the reverse order, ‘What are the names of Kanye West’s first two albums?’ You might think, ‘Well, I never would have gotten that.’”

Seney uses an online scoring system, allowing guests to submit answers through their phones.

With the formula perfected, it’s up to trivia-goers to create their teams and try their hand at bar glory. Seney’s Instagram page, @trivianightwithbillseney,shows the names of some teams celebrating their hard-fought wins. Champions include “Quiz Free or Die,” “The Boothday Truthers,” “Have Kids They Said – It’ll Be Fun They Said,” “Boys’n Berries,” and “Only Here for the Beer.”

Where to check out local trivia nights

Here are some of the local trivia offerings. Some trivia nights happen many but not all weeks; contact the venue before gathering your team for the evening. Know of a regular game night not mentioned here? Let us know at music@hippopress.com.

Area 23
254 N. State St., Concord, 760-7944, thearea23.com
When: Tuesdays, 7 p.m.

Backyard Brewery & Kitchen
1211 S. Mammoth Road, Manchester, 623-3545. backyardbrewerynh.com
When: Wednesdays, 6 p.m.

The Bar
2B Burnham Road, Hudson, 943-5250
When: Wednesdays, 7 p.m.

Battle of the Breweries Trivia
When: Third Thursday of every month, 7 p.m.
Where: Join from Great North Aleworks (1050 Holt Ave., Manchester), To Share Brewing Co. (720 Union St., Manchester), Rockingham Brewing Co. (1 Corporate Park Drive, No. 1, Derry), From The Barrel Brewing Co. (1 Corporate Park Drive, No. 16, Derry), or Daydreaming Brewing Co. (1½ E. Broadway, Derry).

Chunky’s Cinema Pub
707 Huse Road, Manchester, 206-3888, chunkys.com
When: Thursdays, 8 p.m.

Crow’s Nest
181 Plaistow Road, Plaistow, 817-6670, crowsnestnh.com
When: Mondays, 8 p.m.

Downtown Cheers Grille and Bar
17 Depot St., Concord, 228-0180, cheersnh.com
When: Fridays, 8:30 p.m.

The Farm Bar and Grille
1181 Elm St., Manchester, 641-3276, farmbargrille.com
When: Wednesdays, 8 p.m.

Fody’s Tavern
9 Clinton St., Nashua; fodystavern.com
When: Wednesdays, 8 p.m.

Great North Aleworks
1050 Holt Ave., Manchester, 858-5789, greatnorthaleworks.com
When: Thursdays, 7 p.m.

The Hop Knot
1000 Elm St., Manchester, 232-3731, thehopknot.com
When: Thursdays, 8 p.m.

KC’s Rib Shack
837 Second St., Manchester, 627-7427, ribshack.net
When: Wednesdays, 7 p.m.

Lakehouse Tavern
157 Main St., Hopkinton, 746-1800, lakehousetavern.com
When: Saturdays, 8 p.m.

Main Street Grill and Bar
32 Main St., Pittsfield, 435-0005, mainstreetgrillandbar.com
When: Wednesdays, 7 p.m.

Millyard Brewery
125 E. Otterson St., Nashua; 722-0104, millyardbrewery.com
When: Wednesdays, 7 p.m.

Peddler’s Daughter “Geeks Who Drink” trivia
48 Main St., Nashua, 821-7535, thepeddlersdaughter.com
When: Tuesdays, 8:30 p.m.

Popovers on the Square
11 Brickyard Square, Epping, 734-4724, popoversonthesquare.com
When: Wednesdays, 6:30 p.m.

The Shaskeen Pub & Restaurant
909 Elm St., Manchester, 625-0246, shaskeenpub.com
When: Mondays, 7:30 p.m.

Shopper’s Pub + Eatery
18 Lake Ave., Manchester, 232-5252, shoppersmht.com
When: Tuesdays, 6 p.m.

Station 101
193 Union Square, Milford, 249-5416, station101nh.com
When: Thursdays, 6:30 p.m.

The Thirsty Moose Taphouse
360 Daniel Webster Hwy., Merrimack, 670-0270; 795 Elm St., Manchester, 792-2337; 21 Congress St., Portsmouth, 427-8645; thirstymoosetaphouse.com
When: Mondays, 7 p.m. (Merrimack); Wednesdays, 7 p.m. (Manchester and Portsmouth)

Featured photo: Courtesy photo.

The Manchester International Film Fest is ready for the big screen

How to make a film festival

The Manchester International Film Festival, year one

By Katelyn Sahagian

ksahagian@hippopress.com

The Rex Theatre will again become a venue for a weekend of movies with the inaugural Manchester International Film Festival, happening over the course of three days from Friday, Aug. 12, through Sunday, Aug. 14.

Some of the movies are from New England-based filmmakers, while others are cult classics, like An American Werewolf in London (R, 1981) and Slap Shot (R, 1977).

Festival director Warren O’Reilly said that it was important to him to highlight not just the established film world but the growing filmmaking scene in the Granite State as well.

“There’s a lot of exciting filmmaking happening in New Hampshire,” O’Reilly said. “We’re happy to be a place [where] people … can actually have their movie shown on the big screen.”

Four of the featured films are directed by New Englanders — two of whom are Granite Staters, O’Reilly said, adding that that number was approximately a third of the blocks of movies.

“Like the three legs of a stool, a third of the stuff that we’re showing is international, a third of it is cult and stuff that people recognize from their childhood, and then a third of it is New England-based filmmakers,” he said.

With exposed brick walls, a large stage, thick carpeting, a bar and the balcony from its original iteration as a theater, the Rex seats about 300 people. Perhaps the biggest highlight is the digital 4K wall along the back of the stage — the main reason for the film festival in the first place, O’Reilly said, as plans had been in the works to hold the event before the pandemic hit.

“It opened and then Covid hit and it closed down,” he said. “This was the first year that everything had reopened long enough for us to put out the feelers for the festival.”

Manchester International Film Festival
Where: The Rex Theatre, 23 Amherst St., Manchester
When: Friday, Aug. 12, through Sunday, Aug. 14; films are screened at various times throughout each day
Cost: $20 for a one-day pass ($10 for students), or $50 for a weekend pass
Visit: palacetheatre.org/film

Making movie magic

O’Reilly, who has worked in the film industry in both Los Angeles and Massachusetts, said that it was easy getting submissions. He even has friends who work around the world — that’s how he received submissions of independent international films, like Alice? (Short 2020) from New Zealand.

A total of 970 film submissions were received — of those, a panel narrowed it down to 400, and only a handful of those will be shown over the three-day event. David Humphreys, a film professor at Southern New Hampshire University, said that it’s extremely common for filmmakers to submit whatever they have to any festival, even if it doesn’t align with the event.

“You have to start with weeding out the ones that aren’t a good fit for whatever reason,” Humphreys said. “You can be running a documentary film fest and you’ll get fiction films.”

Pat Kalik and Ross Fishbeins, the co-chairs of the New Hampshire Jewish Film Festival, said that they will go through watching at least 60 movies for their festival which will end up showing about a dozen movies.

“I never decide what will be in the festival until I’ve seen at least 40 [films],” Kalik said.

Their festival primarily focuses on movies made by Jewish filmmakers for Jewish audiences.

“You need to balance everything,” Kalik said. “You can’t have too many movies about the Holocaust, but you also can’t have too many movies that are comedies.”

Kalik said that the Jewish Film Festival differs from the Manchester International Film Festival in that it doesn’t have a home theater for showing movies. Instead, they partner with small theaters across New Hampshire. In the future, Kalik hopes to partner with the Rex to show movies during their own festival. One of the movies cut from their program, Haute Couture (2021), directed by Sylvia Ohayon, will be shown at the Manchester International Movie Festival on Sunday.

Despite the long hours of movie watching, note taking, debating and decision making, Fishbeins said he was excited to start.

“It’s a great community activity for me … and I love films,” he said. “Everyone loves to go to the movies and talk about it after.”

For the love of movies

While O’Reilly wasn’t the mastermind behind the idea of the festival, he said he definitely was a driving force in getting it launched this year — a new event to match the growing artistic vibe of Manchester.

“This is an exciting time for downtown Manchester,” O’Reilly said. “There’s a bunch of new people moving into town and people want to go out and see movies. It’s the perfect recipe for a film festival.”

In addition to the film screenings, the festival will have conversations and Q&A sessions with directors and crew members who worked on different films. Local comedian Jimmy Dunn will also provide commentary on the 1977 sports comedy film Slap Shot on Friday, while Tony and Emmy Award-winning actor John Lithgow will host a conversation about his career at the Palace Theatre on Saturday.

Humphreys, along with his colleague Vincent Corbo, a Southern New Hampshire University psychology professor, will also be part of the festival’s live entertainment. The two professors run the podcast “A Dark Impression,” in which they dive into the psychology behind horror movies.

After Saturday’s screening of An American Werewolf in London (1981 R), Humphreys and Corbo will host a live recording of their show.

“The stage will be a new location for me,” Corbo said, adding that he believes most people seeing the cult horror classic “will want to see it and have that theater experience.”

The experience is what makes a film festival, Humphreys said. According to him, festivals are meant to be events in which people take in a film and then discuss it either amongst themselves or with the filmmakers.

“You go and share this space with other people,” Humphreys said. “I think that [is] something we’re losing with Netflix and home streaming, is having a conversation about the movies afterward.”

Corbo agreed, saying that those conversations are what makes film festivals so important.

“It enhances that personal and emotional experience,” Corbo said. “It’s much richer from the moviegoer perspective.”

Featured films

Film descriptions and times are according to the schedule at palacetheatre.org/film.

Friday, Aug. 12

Sherlock Jr. (1924)
Directed by Buster Keaton
A film projectionist longs to be a detective, putting his meager skills to work when he is framed by a rival for stealing his girlfriend’s father’s pocket watch. (The screening will include live musical accompaniment by Jeff Rapsis). 5:45 p.m.

The Egg (Short 2021)
Directed by Terrence Fitzgerald Hayes
Days into a pandemic, Tristan sets sail to escape a world wrought with violence, racism and greed in search for a fresh start. The film is “a story of torment, isolation and introspection.” Shorts program, 6 p.m.

Four Pins (Short 2022)
Directed by Matthew Beltz
A young man named Tommy Graves spends his days tending to the declining lanes of the local bowling alley. In this place time feels stuck, as does Tommy. Shorts program, 6 p.m.

Slap Shot (1977)
Directed by George Roy Hill
Coach Reggie Dunlop (Paul Newman) lets his failing mill town minor-league ice hockey team play their own distinct brand of violent hockey, in hopes of drawing a big crowd. 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, Aug. 13

Shrek (2001)
Directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson
A mean lord exiles fairytale creatures to the swamp of a grumpy ogre, who must go on a quest and rescue a princess for the lord in order to get his land back. Noon.

The Last American Colony (2019)
Directed by Bestor Cram
The Last American Colony traces the life of Juan Segarra, who graduates from Harvard and sets off on a treacherous path to fight for Puerto Rico’s independence — a struggle that he rightly assumes will lead to either jail or death. 2 p.m.

Man (Short 2018)
Directed by Oksana Artemenko
A little boy is scared of using the toilet. His father, a military soldier, taught him, “A real man should pee in the toilet, not the pot.” The father goes to war and doesn’t come back home. “Son should become man now.” Shorts program, 4 p.m.

Thunder (Short 2022)
Directed by Orest Smylanetz
This film was shot during the air raid on the 77th day of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. Shorts program, 4 p.m.

Marsh Clouds: The Oysters of Harris Neck (Short 2022)
Directed by Kevin Mannens
The Timmons family has been picking oysters in Harris Neck, Georgia, for more than 100 years. The land they call home has a tragic history. Marsh Clouds tells “a story of trauma and racism — and the perseverance to overcome against all odds.” Shorts program, 4 p.m.

Alice? (Short 2020)
Directed by Grace Hood-Edwards
A starry-eyed plus-size teenager actively reimagines the world around her as she experiences first love and first heartbreak. Shorts program, 4 p.m.

Conservative Horses (Short 2022)
Directed by David Manitsky
In the mid-1950s, a Los Angeles television show that does weekly interviews with B-list celebrities goes to Vermont to interview Hollywood’s premiere horse trainer, Richard Turgidson (Jack Barron), and his wife, Kitty (Delaney Spink). Shorts program, 4 p.m.

About Him (Short 2015)
Directed by Rick Dumont
Adapted from the short story by New Jersey author Adele Schwartz, this dark comedy tells the story of a lonely woman trying to find her soulmate in the personal ads of newspapers. Shorts program, 4 p.m.

Finding Sandler (2022)
Directed by David Seth Cohen
Director David Seth Cohen embarks on a quest to find Adam Sandler and finally have that beer Adam asked him to have back in 1998. Will David find Adam Sandler? Will they have that drink? 6 p.m.

An Evening with John Lithgow
At the Palace Theatre, 80 Hanover St., Manchester (tickets for this event are separate from the Saturday pass).
Join the Tony and Emmy Award-winning actor for a heartwarming conversation to reflect on his life on stage and screen from his decades-long career. 7:30 p.m.

An American Werewolf in London (1981)
Directed by John Landis
Two American college students on a walking tour of Britain are attacked by a werewolf that none of the locals will admit exists. (The screening will be followed by a live podcast recording with the hosts of the local podcast A Dark Impression.) 9 p.m.

Sunday, Aug. 14

Spin (Short 2021)
Directed by Lisa Marie Tedesco
When the curtain descends on their final performance of Romeo and Juliet in drama club, high school seniors Abigail and Sky bid a fair adieu to the stage they loved while letting their deepest desires for one another surface at the cast party.

Whale Fall (Short 2021)
Directed by Katie McNeice
“A glimpse beneath the surface of a relationship bonded by books, whales and love.”

Parrot (Short 2021)
Directed by Kyle B. Thompson
A drag queen protects a child during a crisis as prejudices reach a breaking point.

Love is Strange (2014)
Directed by Ira Sachs
While struggling with the pain of separation, Ben and George are further challenged by the intergenerational tensions and capricious family dynamics of their new living arrangements.

Haute Couture (2021)
Directed by Sylvia Ohayon
Instead of calling the police on the girl who stole her handbag, Esther decides to pass on her skills, the craft of dressmaking. Presented in partnership with the New Hampshire Jewish Film Festival. 2p.m.

Summer (Short 2020)
Directed by Nick Czerula and Anna Belmonte
Following the death of their father, a set of siblings find a figurative skeleton in his closet and must find a way to discreetly dispose of it, so as not to tarnish their family’s good name. 4 p.m.

Filmmaker Q&As

Meet the directors behind some of the festival’s films

By Hannah Turtle

hturtle@hippopress.com

David Seth Cohen, Director of Finding Sandler (2022)

The biggest premiere of the festival, Finding Sandler has an interesting backstory. In 1998, director David Seth Cohen was working as a production assistant on the Adam Sandler film Big Daddy. While tasked with dropping off a suit to Sandler’s hotel one day, Cohen was invited by the actor himself to have a drink with him — an offer Cohen declined, as he was running on a busy schedule. Years later, while living in his grandmother’s basement with his filmmaking dreams cast aside, Cohen began to wonder if his life might have been different had he gotten that drink with Adam Sandler. He set out to finally get that drink, getting a small film crew together in search of Adam Sandler and making friends along the way.

In your own words, can you tell me a little bit about the film?

Well, when I went to drop off the suit, it was rushed. I had to double park in Manhattan, and I left another [production assistant] named Autumn with the car. If you’ve ever double parked in Manhattan, you’ll know that’s an emergency situation. At the time, in 1998, I was a poor 22-year-old kid with no cell phone, so I really had to hurry. I went upstairs and knocked on the door, and he [Sandler] started messing with me through the door. … You know how he yells in his movies? He yelled at me like that: ‘Who is it? What do you want?’ I tell him who I am, [and] he opens the door and has a big smile on his face. He invites me in to come have a drink and hang out. I froze. There were all these thoughts going through my head, like, ‘Autumn’s in the car, you’re double parked, you have no way of contacting her, if you leave her there, you’re totally fired and you’ll never get a job in the movie industry again.’ The other part of my brain was saying, ‘Stay, he’s your hero, this is the opportunity of a lifetime to hang out with your hero.’ The angel part of my brain won and told me to leave and do the right thing. So, I left. … Fast forward years later, [and] I was tossing and turning in my bed at night, wondering what might have happened if I had stayed with Adam Sandler. Would he have given me advice, or would something he said have triggered me to take a different path? … Finally, one night, I had this dream where I went to California and went looking for Adam. … Somehow in my dream I found him, and when I woke up, right then, I decided I had to do something about this whole thing, or I’d regret it for the rest of my life. That’s where the idea came from.

How long did it take from the inception of the idea to the creation of the film?

As soon as I had the idea, I knew I had to call my business partner. At the time, I was working at a Catholic TV station … but I also had a small production company where I did videos for sporting events, and I called [my business partner] at 6 in the morning, all amped up, and said, ‘Dan, I want to make a movie. Can you help?’ He responded with, ‘It’s 6 in the morning, can we talk about this later?’ … So I got up, got dressed, went to the TV station, and told my production assistant, Vinnie, about the idea. He said he was in, and the whole day I was telling people, and some were interested, and some said it was the stupidest idea they had ever heard. But it really just took off from there. … The film got held up for a number of years in the editing room, going through revisions, and I never quite liked it … but finally we got an edit I really liked, and at the beginning of 2022 we completed it.

What were you planning to do if you couldn’t end up finding Adam Sandler?

I was hoping that, no matter what, it would inspire people to follow their dreams. At the end of the day, there’s that line from The Rolling Stones: ‘You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you might find, you get what you need.’I always wanted to make a movie, so I knew that no matter what, if I finished the movie, I’d achieve a goal.

Throughout the journey of making this film, were there any unexpected moments that made the film what it is?

Tons. When we first started making this thing, we didn’t really know what was going to happen. It’s a documentary, so nothing was set up. It was a lot of just seeing what happened. The first cool thing was that we found out Emeril Lagasse, the celebrity chef, was doing a book signing right by where we lived. So we decided to go and ask Emeril to cook appetizers for the drink with Adam. Then we found out that Billy Joel was heading to the Long Island Music Hall of Fame, so we decided to find him and ask if he’d play the piano while we had this drink, and so all these crazy things were popping up, all these surprises along the way. … When we went to Manchester, we decided we wanted to get into the school to talk to his [Sandler’s] teachers. At the time, I called the principal about six times, and every time I got the same assistant, and she wouldn’t let me talk to the principal. So when we went to Manchester, we weren’t hopeful that we would be able to get into the school. … When we got there, we went to the Red Arrow Diner and had the Adam Sandler Burger, and learned a little bit about him from the people there. Then we went to the Puritan Backroom, and we were just talking to random people there, and we ran into Jane Clayton, who, at the time, was a gym teacher at Manchester Central [High School]. She heard our story and made some calls, and then all of a sudden we got to go in and talk to everyone at the school. … It was just a ton of unexpected stuff, like throwing a bunch into the wind and seeing what catches.

So, did you end up getting a drink with Adam Sandler?

You’ll have to come see the movie to find out. What I want to ask is, how can we lure Adam Sandler back to come to the film festival?

Matthew Beltz, Director of Four Pins (Short 2022)

Four Pins is a short film that follows a young man, Tommy Graves, as he works at a bowling alley in western Massachusetts. At the same time, Walter, an older man experiencing memory loss, comes in to play a game with his grandson. When his grandson doesn’t come, the two men reckon with their lives and their futures as they bowl together. Matthew Beltz, the film’s director, has worked as a production assistant on Ghostbusters (2016), and Black Mass (2015), and as a location manager for The Purge: Election Year (2016), as well as the television miniseries Dexter: New Blood and, most recently, HBO’s Julia, about acclaimed chef and cookbook author Julia Child.

What led you to this story?

My partner Jimmy Luc and I had just done another short film together, and we wanted to try our hand at another. We were working on a TV show at the time, and there was this great bowling alley close by. It was one of the oldest candlepin bowling alleys in America. It really started with this great location. Mostly it was born of that, and [because] Jimmy and I wanted to keep working together, to sort of keep the ball rolling.

What were some of the challenges you faced along the way?

Every project has its own unique challenges. The biggest challenge for this project wasn’t even in the filming of it, or in pre-production. The real challenge was in post-production, [and] in how to best tell the story we were trying to tell. We were very cognizant of wanting to ‘show’ and not ‘tell,’ so [during] the editing process we had all this footage to whittle down, to best get across the idea that our main character, Walter, is in the early stages of dementia without any of the characters coming out and saying that. It was really about finding the rhythm of the story in the editing room, and figuring out how to best tell this story.

What do you hope the audience gains from your film?

With any project, you hope that first and foremost … [they] enjoy it. I hope that anyone who sees it, when they walk away, doesn’t say to [themselves], ‘Well, that was time wasted.’ That’s definitely the first priority. I think that’s the only thing I can really hope for. Everyone sees a project in a different way, and everyone takes something unique away from every movie they go to see, and if something resonates with them, or if they connect with something, I would love that.

What’s next for you?

We’ve got another project that’s currently in post-production … called Nuclear. It’s a short film about a father and a son during the Cuban Missile Crisis, [and they are] dealing with a death in the family. They get brought together again because of a cartoon turtle. We’re hoping to release a trailer for that in September on our website, [which is] gonfalonpictures.com.

Nick Czerula and Anna Belmonte, Directors of Summer (Short 2020)

Summer, a short film shot on location in Concord, follows two siblings as they clean out their father’s apartment after his death. Their father, a pillar of the community, has a proverbial skeleton in the closet. To protect their father’s reputation, the siblings have to dispose of the item without anyone in town finding out. Czerula also owns Cz Video Productions, based in Concord.

Can you talk a little bit about the process of getting this film off the ground?

Belmonte: We had the script ready to go in early 2020, and we had planned to have a 30-person crew — hair, costumes, makeup, grips, lighting, all of it. We were planning to bring people in from New York, and then Covid hit, so we had to put it on hold. Then, later, when things were a little bit better, we decided to make this safely, and cut the crew down to five people on set maximum at a time. There was a funeral scene that was originally supposed to have as many extras as possible, but we had to cheat some camera angles and make everything with a fraction of what we originally planned.

What was it like shooting in Concord?

Czerula: Filming with locations in New Hampshire offered a very unique experience and opportunity for us. It’s not spoiled like other places. We’d call businesses and say, ‘We want to film there, [but] not during business hours,’ and they’re much more receptive to it than somewhere that has that happen all the time. It went very smoothly. … For example, we had this scene where we had the actors loading a body into a car off the street, and we had to tell the Concord police in advance what was going on, and they were very understanding. The whole thing was kind of a pleasure.

Belmonte: Everywhere we went, everyone was so eager to be a part of it. We went to a hardware store, and they offered to let us stay after hours, and invited their whole staff to come and watch, and everyone was not only accommodating but really went above and beyond. There was a lot of enthusiasm.

Aside from the Covid elephant in the room, were there other challenges you faced in the filming of this project?

Czerula: We were really blessed as far as locations were concerned, and the crew was great, so we had a pretty smooth process. A lot of it came down to making it work with what we had, so for the funeral scene, since we couldn’t have a ton of extras, we really had to step back and think, and we came to the conclusion that the funeral scene doesn’t really add a ton to the story. … So we changed it to a post-funeral scene, and it really worked.

Belmonte: Well, the biggest challenge was probably the doll [a large doll that gets carried around through the majority of the film]. It was honestly like having another actress. Tripping over her, bending her arms back into place, brushing her hair, [and] shoving shoes on her rubbery, wiggly toes.

Czerula: A funny story is that we lost this eyeball for the doll, and I was trying to buy eyeballs everywhere I could that would match, but none of them did. I ended up finding a doll dealer in Texas who had an assortment of eyeballs in stock. I had to call this guy and ask him to send me a whole bunch of eyeballs to try. But I wasn’t really being forthcoming about what we were doing, since at the time we were keeping the idea pretty close to the vest. So I had to make up a story about why I needed eyeballs.

What are you hoping audiences gain from your film?

Czerula: Acceptance. But really, just to laugh. At a time when there’s not a whole lot of fun happening in the world, I just hope people can laugh at it and forget everything else for a little while.

Belmonte: It’s really about family bonding through unexpected, silly obstacles. But especially having been made during Covid, [the film] will be a little microcosm of levity in a rough time.

Rick Dumont, Director of About Him (Short 2015)

About Him follows Corrine on her search to find her soulmate through a personal ad in the paper. After escaping an abusive relationship, she recruits a friend on a search for the right kind of partner. The film is based on a short story by Adele Schwartz. Director Rick Dumont runs Sweaty Turtle Entertainment, a production company based in Madbury.

So, a personal ad?

It’s kind of old-school. … It’s a period piece, or a period-ish piece, set in the pre-internet days. Back then, personal ads were the thing — the original dating app, if you will. Today’s ways of connecting with a partner have changed so dramatically. It’s not necessarily less personal than an ad in the paper, but it has definitely changed.

What was the process like of getting this made?

We shot it in about four days, four very long days, [during] one of which we went to Portsmouth to shoot a restaurant scene. We shot at a place called Massimo, and we wrapped there after midnight. Then we had to immediately pack up and go to Salem to shoot another scene. But we had a great crew and a great cast, and it was a lot of fun to do.

What are you hoping audiences get out of this film?

Mostly, I hope people are entertained, and maybe it gives them a little bit of thought about how we interact with each other … but I don’t like telling people what they should think. I remember the second feature I did. A reviewer reached out to review my film, and after he watched it, he asked, ‘What was I supposed to think?’ … and I said, ‘Exactly that.’ That’s what you felt, so go with it. I would say go see the film [and] see what you think. It’s a great thing, the festival. It’s a chance to see the work of great artists in the area. I think it’s important to support artists, especially the ones in our community who are really working hard to create something beautiful and intriguing. Sometime in the future, we might be able to say, ‘I saw the new Scorcese’s first film at the Manchester International Film Festival.’

Where did the name ‘Sweaty Turtle’ come from?

It’s an homage to my wife. … People are always confused when I say that. Several years ago, I had called my wife ‘My Sweet Eternal,’ and she is a very talented artist, but also a little kooky, and she says, “Did you just call me a sweaty turtle?” … So, she became my sweaty turtle, and later on, when I started my company, it became my honorarium to her.

Featured photo: Finding Sandler. Courtesy photo.

A look at the spicy world of New Hampshire’s craft hot sauces

Growing up in an ethnically diverse community in northern New Jersey, Gabe DiSaverio was introduced to spicy foods at a young age.

“A lot of my friends growing up were Asian and Indian … and I was eating hot food before I was even 10 years old. I remember always going to a fast food place in New York City that was called Curry in a Hurry,” he said. “Even as teenagers in high school, my friend group and I were doing all these eating challenges, like who could eat the hottest, spiciest, most unique foods.”

New England Hot Sauce Festival
Where: Smuttynose Brewing Co., 105 Towle Farm Road, Hampton
When: Saturday, July 30, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Cost: $10 in advance online and $15 at the door; kids ages 10 and under are free
Visit: newenglandhotsaucefest.com

DiSaverio originally started making his own hot sauces “kind of casually” before eventually, with the help of his culinary-minded sister, Adriana, deciding to jumpstart his passion into a business. Today he owns The Spicy Shark, a line of products that includes seven craft hot sauces, a wing sauce, a Sriracha, a hot honey and two hot maple syrups using all natural ingredients. A self-described “Jaws fanatic” since the age of 8, DiSaverio said the “shark” part of the business comes from combining spicy foods with his other lifelong passion, shark conservation.

Since selling its first bottle in early 2019, the Portsmouth-based company has gone on to win multiple national awards for its sauces, and DiSaverio and his team have participated in various hot sauce festivals and expos all over the country. But all the while, these experiences led him to a pivotal question: Why wasn’t there such an event anywhere in New England?

“These festivals are awesome, and I kind of said to myself that since I’ve heard nothing of someone putting one on around here anytime soon, then the heck with it. I’ll do it,” he said.

The inaugural New England Hot Sauce Festival, happening on Saturday, July 30, at Smuttynose Brewing Co. in Hampton, has already generated substantial buzz among its participating vendors. Nearly 30 New England and Northeast-area hot sauce companies will be there, and that doesn’t include the more than 20 others that had to be placed on a waiting list. Food challenges, including hot pepper and hot wing eating contests — and a world record attempt by Canadian competitive eater Mike Jack — are planned throughout the day, along with live music, food trucks and more.

DiSaverio is a regular proponent of Save the Sharks and several other nonprofits that focus on shark conservation and education. In keeping with his passion, proceeds from the festival will benefit the Blue Ocean Society in Portsmouth and the Seacoast Science Center in Rye.

For DiSaverio, the festival’s immense anticipation is a testament to a growing culture.

“I think it’s an understatement to say that New England is not exactly known as a ‘spicy’ region, and that’s fair, up until the last five years or so,” he said. “But as I’ve gotten more entrenched in the hot sauce community, the amount of new hot sauce companies that have popped up in New England is unbelievable. … I think a lot of it has to do with the ethnic diversity that continues to grow within our country … and there’s this growth of more people seeking out those cultures.”

With New England’s first hot sauce festival right around the corner, we took a deeper dive into New Hampshire’s growing hot sauce scene. Here’s a look at how some companies turn up the heat and enhance the flavor of their products, as well as what their top suggestions are for how you should use them.

Smokey Tom pineapple pulled pork
Courtesy of Dandido Sauce, dandidosauce.com

4 to 5 pounds pork butt
⅕ of a bottle of hot or medium Dandido Smokey Tom hot sauce
1 can pineapple chunks
1 sweet onion, thinly sliced
1 Tablespoon cumin

Combine ingredients in a slow cooker and set on high for 7 hours.

Coming in hot

DiSaverio, who worked for Boston Beer Co. for 17 years prior to founding The Spicy Shark, said the surging interest in craft hot sauces is not unlike that of the local craft beer scene.

“You go into any beer store now and there’s craft beer that’s falling off the shelf onto your head,” he said. “Where we were around 10 to 15 years ago with craft beer [is] where I feel like we are now with craft hot sauces. You’re starting to see this huge explosion.”

Phil Pelletier of Manchester, for instance, got into making his own sauces in 2017 when his wife, Melissa, bought him a ghost pepper plant. Her goal? She wanted to see if her husband, an avid lover of spicy foods, could handle the intense heat of the peppers.

“Every time we’d go out to eat … she’d always try to get me to get the spiciest thing to try,” Pelletier said. “So when I got that plant, I had to figure out what the heck I was going to do with all those peppers, because each plant will produce up to 200-plus ghost peppers, easily.”

The Pelletiers are now the husband-and-wife team behind Smokin’ Tin Roof, a specialty sauce company also offering items like a hot pepper jelly, a bacon stout mustard and a spiced pumpkin butter. All of their products, Pelletier said, are created using ghost peppers that are dehydrated and pulverized into a powder. He adds them in different amounts to control the heat level.

Smokin’ Tin Roof’s sauces include the Smoky Peppah, made with roasted red bell peppers; Grow a Pear, a sweeter pear-based sauce; and Burnin’ Raspberry, a raspberry-based sauce.

“The way I developed all of them was by creating a flavor first … and then I would add the ghost pepper powder to give it the amount of heat that I wanted to have,” Pelletier said. “We don’t want the flavor to get destroyed with the amount of heat that we add to it, which is key for us.”

Marshall Irving of the aptly named Hots Hoss, a small-batch producer of countless flavors of craft hot sauces, similarly began dabbling in his own unique flavors late last year.

“I’ve always been the spicy guy, even as a kid,” he said. “Last October, my mother came up from Florida and went to the Concord Farmers Market. I work in Concord, and so she visited me and handed me a bag of some ghost peppers she got from the farmers market. … Then literally that night, I went home and I looked up probably 10 or 20 different hot sauce recipes online.”

Since then, Irving has gravitated toward all types of other peppers, experimenting with other ingredients to create his own flavor profiles. He’s done everything from a strawberry carrot habanero hot sauce to a black truffle sauce with Fresno and habanero peppers. New flavors are regularly posted to Hots Hoss’s social media channels and when they’re gone they’re gone.

“I haven’t repeated a batch yet,” Irving said. “I’ve been working on making a bunch of different new recipes and just kind of seeing what sticks and what the crowd favorites are.”

According to DiSaverio, most of the bigger mass-market hot sauce brands — think Tabasco, TexasPete or Frank’s — are considered Louisiana-style and are known for their simplicity.

“They [contain] vinegar, mostly cayenne or tabasco peppers, and salt. That’s it, three ingredients,” he said. “They’re very vinegar-y, [but] that’s what Louisiana-style is.”

Chef Adam Parker, who founded NH Hot Sauce nearly 15 years ago, said he set out to make his own products after growing disenchanted with what was available on the market at the time. For each of his four sauces, he likes to individually roast and concentrate the peppers that are used.

“What that does … is it really starts to bring out the natural flavors that are in those peppers, as opposed to [the sauce] just being something spicy that you put on your food,” said Parker, who has most recently served as the owner of The Utopian, a cozy scratch-cooked bistro in Amherst.

Kevin Taillon, another chef by trade with his own craft hot sauce company on the side, bottled the first of what would become Naked Hot Sauces in 2015 — a green chile pepper-based sauce called Garden Variety. The sauce received such a positive reaction that it inspired Taillon, who co-owns Fire and Spice Bistro in Newfields with his wife, to make more. Eventually, he began experimenting with other types of sauces and started to sell them at local farmers markets.

Scale of spiciness

In 1912 a pharmacist named Wilbur Scoville created what he called the Scoville Organoleptic Test. Now more commonly referred to as the Scoville Scale, it’s used as a measurement method to determine the pungency of different types of peppers, with each being assigned a range of numbers, or Scoville Heat Units (SHU). The more units assigned, the hotter the pepper is.

“The Scoville Scale goes from zero to 16 million. It’s the scale of the amount of capsaicin, which is the portion of the pepper that causes the heat,” DiSaverio said. “So you’ve got this scale of 16 million, which is pure capsaicin, and even the hottest peppers are in the 1 to 2 million range. … That’s a measure of the pepper itself, and basically what it means is how many drops of water it would take to dilute that drop of capsaicin so that you wouldn’t be able to feel the heat.”

Even bell peppers without a trace of heat in them, Irving said, are technically on the Scoville Scale, but at zero units. As you move your way up the scale, you encounter different types of peppers assigned to different tiers based on their Scoville units — a jalapeno, for instance, sits at a range of about 2,500 to 8,000 units, while a much hotter habanero pepper is about 100,000 to 350,000 units. Ghost peppers are even higher, from 855,000 to just over 1 million units.

The hottest pepper on the Scoville Scale, ranked at about 1.4 million to 2.2 million Scoville units, is known as the Carolina Reaper. In fact, in 2017 Guinness World Records declared it the hottest pepper in the word, citing tests that were conducted by Winthrop University in South Carolina.

Ed Currie — a.k.a. “Smokin’ Ed” — of the PuckerButt Pepper Co. in Fort Mill, South Carolina, is the creator of the pepper. He also happens to be a friend of DiSaverio’s and will be supplying Carolina Reaper peppers for the New England Hot Sauce Festival’s pepper eating contest.

“There are so many more different peppers available now in the United States to buy because of the demand … and now you’re seeing people like Ed who are cross-pollinating and cross-breeding to make new peppers … and experimenting, just like with beer,” DiSaverio said.

The Carolina Reaper is used as a base pepper in several of Taillon’s sauces, like the Reaper Madness, and the Red Reaper, which blends them with red Fresno peppers. Dandido Sauce, based in Manchester, also offers its “extremely hot” Dandido Black — its newest product, according to sales consultant Jennifer Renaud. The sauce blends Carolina Reaper peppers with wasabi, hot cinnamon and ginger, among other fresh ingredients.

Can you take the heat?

Here’s a snapshot of various peppers most commonly used in New Hampshire’s craft hot sauces. Peppers are ranked using a method known as the Scoville Scale; each is assigned a range of numbers, or Scoville Heat Units (SHU), based on the amount of capsaicin, the active ingredient in the pepper. The more units assigned, the hotter the pepper is.

Nurse Shark, Thresher Shark or smoked maple Sriracha breakfast egg bake
Courtesy of The Spicy Shark, thespicyshark.com

12 eggs
½ of a bottle of Nurse Shark (jalapeno hot sauce), Thresher Shark (chipotle hot sauce) or smoked maple Sriracha
5 ounces baby kale
5 ounces baby arugula
1 small Vidalia onion, thinly sliced
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (optional)
2 three-finger pinches each of salt and pepper
Extra virgin olive oil (enough to coat the bottom of a large skillet)

Preheat the oven to bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Beat eggs in a large bowl and set aside. Heat oil in a large skillet on medium heat. Saute onions for a few minutes, or until translucent. Add salt, pepper, kale and arugula to the onions. Mix and cook for a few more minutes, or until the kale and arugula are wilted. Remove from heat. Coat a 9-by-12-inch baking pan with olive oil, nonstick spray, ghee or butter. Evenly spread the mixture from the saute pan into the baking pan. Sprinkle mozzarella over the mixture. Pour the eggs over the mozzarella. Gently move everything in the baking pan slightly with a fork, so the eggs can reach the bottom. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until lightly browned. Let it cool for a few minutes before cutting.

Universal flavor

When it comes to hot sauce, local makers say their usage opportunities are consistently endless.

“The interesting thing is … you can have it [with] your breakfast, lunch or dinner and it can still be amazing in every way, shape and form,” Parker said. “I like using it on eggs. … Sometimes I’ll mix some into a sour cream or even some yogurt and use that as a dipping sauce.”

Depending on the flavor, Pelletier said, his sauces are great for everything, from ingredients in tacos and nachos to their use as salad dressings or chicken or pork marinades. A regular client even purchases his raspberry sauce by the half-gallon to use as an ice cream topping.

“We get more ideas as people talk to us and come back to buy more when they see us at a show,” he said. “They’ll go, ‘Oh, yeah, I put this sauce on this and, boy, did that make a difference!’”

Most of Dandido’s sauces are also great when incorporated into your cooking — or even as ingredients in shrimp cocktail sauces, co-owner Ed Baroody said.

“It’s not just something to put on top,” Renaud said. “You can build a chili off of it, [or] you can add it to your baked potato in your sour cream. … I’ve even scrambled it into my eggs.”

Irving’s best friend, Rylan Hill, is the head chef of New Hampshire Pizza Co. in Concord — the eatery has incorporated Hots Hoss into its specials, notably using a blackberry hot sauce Irving made for a Delmonico steak pizza special that was topped with chimichurri, pickled red cabbage, leeks, mozzarella and Gouda.

“I put my hot sauce on everything,” Irving said. “That’s the thing about hot sauce. It’s a topping, it’s a condiment, it’s a dipping sauce. … You can do anything with it.”

Scovie Awards
Dubbed the “Oscars of hot sauce” by Gabe DiSaverio of The Spicy Shark in Portsmouth, the annual Scovie Awards recognize the most acclaimed fiery foods and spicy products from around the world. The awards ceremony is held every year at the Sandia Resort & Casino in Albuquerque, New Mexico, usually the first weekend in March — a panel of judges rates all applicable submissions in various categories like appearance, aroma, texture, originality, flavor and overall impression.

To date, The Spicy Shark has taken home a total of 11 Scovie awards in either first, second or third place categories for its products. DiSaverio said he is most proud of two of those awards in particular: winning first place last year for his Hammah Gatah 7 Pot Primo pepper sauce, and winning Best in Show, the grand prize award, in 2020 for his hot maple syrup. Manchester’s Smokin’ Tin Roof has a Scovie Award of its own — its Smoky Peppah sauce, made from ground ghost pepper and some pineapple and sweet red bell peppers, was awarded second place in 2021.

New Hampshire-made craft hot sauces

Here’s a list of some of the Granite State’s spiciest hot sauce companies — visit their websites directly or follow them on social media to find out how to order them or where to pick them up.

Dandido Sauce
dandidosauce.com, @dandidosauce
Try this sauce: The Dandido Black This “extremely hot” sauce, the company’s newest product, blends Carolina Reaper peppers with wasabi, hot cinnamon and ginger, among other fresh ingredients.

Effin Sauces Co.
effinsauces.com, @effinsauces
Try this sauce: Sweet Lava This apple cider-based vinegar hot sauce is made with bell and habanero peppers, offering a unique balance of sweetness and heat.

Hots Hoss
marshall4@hotshoss.com, @hots.hoss
Try this sauce: Strawberry carrot habanero One of the more recent offerings from Marshall Irving of Hots Hoss, a one-man operation of small-batch craft hot sauces in Manchester, this sauce combines habanero peppers with strawberry and carrot flavors.

Naked Hot Sauces
nakedhotsauces.net, @nakedhotsauces
Try this sauce: Reaper Madness One of several Carolina Reaper-based offerings from chef Kevin Taillon of Naked Hot Sauces, who also owns Fire and Spice Bistro in Newfields, the Reaper Madness is best recommended for use on tacos or cheesesteaks.

NH Hot Sauce
nhhotsauce.com, @nhhotsauce
Try this sauce: Pull Fire Pull Fire, made with red Fresno peppers and fresh garlic, is one of four products from NH Hot Sauce, brought to you by longtime local chef Adam Parker.

Philbur’s Hot Sauce
philburs.com, @philburs
Try this sauce: Philbur’s No. 21 Hot The hottest offering from Philbur’s of Portsmouth, this sauce starts with sweet roasted peppers, jalapeno and habanero, along with extra ghost and scorpion peppers and a fresh herb finish.

Pogo’s Peppers
pogospeppers.com, @pogospeppers
Try this sauce: Jalapeno lime Pogo’s Peppers of Rye creates this sauce using roasted jalapenos and bright lime flavors, making it a versatile addition to just about any dish.

Rubin’s Hot Sauce
rubinshotsauce.com, @rubinshotsauce
Try this sauce: Inferno This sauce features a unique proprietary blend of twice the normal amount of home-grown Carolina Reaper peppers that’s then infused with a citrus-based blend of tropical fruits.

Smokin’ Tin Roof
smokintinroof.com, @smokintinroof
Try this sauce: Smoky Peppah A 2021 Scovie Award winner, taking home second place in the national competition, Smokin’ Tin Roof’s Smoky Peppah sauce is made from ground ghost pepper and some pineapple and sweet red bell peppers.

The Spicy Shark
thespicyshark.com, @thespicyshark
Try this sauce: Megalodon Named after the largest shark that ever lived, this craft sauce is brought to you by The Spicy Shark of Portsmouth, featuring “a sweet cherry start with the blazing finish of the Carolina Reaper pepper.”

Volcanic Ash Hot Sauce
volcanicashhotsauce.com, @volcanicashhotsauce
Try this sauce: O.G. Volcanic Ash This small-batch sauce features a blend of fresh habanero peppers with slowly caramelized onions, garlic, premium olive oil and a touch of sea salt.

Waldo Pepper’s Hot Sauce
waldopeppershotsauce.com, @waldopeppershotsauce
Try this sauce: Chipotle Ghost Featuring a blend of chipotle and ghost peppers with other ingredients like cider vinegar, carrots, onions, ground garlic, ginger and lime juice, this sauce is great for spicing up your eggs, burgers or chicken.

Featured photo: Courtesy photo.

A look at New Hampshire’s world of tattoo artistry

By Katelyn Sahagian and Jack Walsh

listings@admin

Live Free or Die Tattoo Expo
Where: DoubleTree by Hilton Manchester Downtown, 700 Elm St., Manchester
When: Friday, July 22, 5 p.m. to midnight; Saturday, July 23, 11 a.m. to midnight, and Sunday, July 24, noon to 8 p.m.
Cost: $15 for a single-day pass, $20 for a two-day pass, or $25 for a three-day pass
Visit: livefreeordietattoo.com

On Friday, July 15, the air was buzzing with more than just the whir of tattoo machines at Tattoo Angus and Spider-Bite, Inc., a joint tattoo and body piercing shop in Manchester. Anticipation grew as artists and apprentices scurried across the main floor — those not currently getting inked or pierced looked through flash sheets and pointed out elegantly crafted adornments, occasionally stooping to pet one of the “shop dogs,” a black-and-white-colored pit bull named Bijou.

It’s nearly time for the long-awaited return of the Live Free or Die Tattoo Expo — the 14th annual event is a three-day affair packed with local vendors, contests and live music, returning to the DoubleTree by Hilton Manchester Downtown from Friday, July 22, through Sunday, July 24.

The largest event of its kind in the Granite State, the expo originally started in 2007 but hasn’t been held since 2019. Organizer Jon Thomas, who is also the owner of Tattoo Angus and Spider-Bite, said he never imagined it would be as successful as it has become.

“An hour before the show, people started piling up and I saw this huge line out there, and that feeling was amazing,” Thomas said. “We had a sold-out show.”

The expo will be a little smaller this time around, Thomas said, but there will still be more than 100 booths set up. Sideshows by Doctor Finnigan’s Circus and burlesque performer Marlo Marquis are also planned, as well as the return of the ever popular pin-up pageant.

“For the tattoo contest and pin-up contests, we went back to the classics,” Thomas said, adding that some past themes have complicated things. “It takes [the models] a lot more work. They all do a decent job, but every time we do a classic pin-up, it goes back four times bigger.”

Artists can participate in different competitions, like Best Cover-up, Best Half-Sleeve and Best Portrait in either color or black and gray. Each of the expo’s three days will culminate with an artist being awarded the Best Tattoo of the Day.

Smaller tattoos like scripts and dates, as well as images chosen from flash sheets, will make up most of the walk-in tattooing opportunities at the expo. Thomas said that a few of the artists will be fully booked for the competitions. He added that even with the smaller number of booths there will be no shortage of artists willing to do some quick work.

Thomas is even hosting a party at Angel City Music Hall, a bar below his shop, with a complimentary limo service to take people from the expo to there and back. There will also be live music, including performances from Bar Hoppers and The Dilemma.

Meet the artist
Sean Ambrose, Arrows & Embers Tattoo
117 Manchester St., Suite 3, Concord, 988-6067, arrowsandemberstattoo.com
Years of experience: 12
Appointments: arrowsandemberstattoo.com/contact
Ambrose started his first apprenticeship at the age of 18. “I knew I was going to be a tattoo artist from an early age,” he said. “It was meant to be.” Having opened Arrows and Embers in 2010, Ambrose has gone on to win awards and accolades, continuing to do what he loves today. As for his style, it’s hard to pin down. “I work in any style that is beautiful,” he said. “I follow my instincts, draw from classical art sources, any piece of art has a recipe, like baking a cake, more so than being a magical experience.”

Meet the artist
Jo-Jo Clark, Scaredy Cat Ink Tattoo
181 Route 13, Brookline, 347-8980, scaredycatinktattoo.com
Years of experience: 17
Appointments: scaredycatinktattoo.com (scroll down to the contact form)
Originally from Maine, Clark has been tattooing since 2005, opening Scaredy Cat Ink in 2018. Working in a lot of different styles, she specializes in watercolor tattoos, preferring to do things the old-fashioned way. “I like to sit down with the client and do an in-person consultation,” she said. “I love the opportunity to sit down with them and design it for them in the studio. That way any changes can be made right there, instead of messaging back and forth.”

Meet the artist
Sami “Moxi” Monoxelos, Scorpion Tattooing
10 Manchester Road, Derry, 434-4798, scorpiontattooing.com
Years of experience: 4 1/2
Appointments: smoxietattoo@gmail.com (not currently accepting bookings)
Monoxelos, who dresses up as her favorite characters from different fandoms and attends different conventions, specializes in doing fandom and anime tattoos. While she isn’t open for booking, her shop takes walk-ins and bookings with other artists.

A rapidly growing culture

Thomas organized the first Live Free or Die Tattoo Expo just one year after tattooing became legal in Manchester. In fact, he was a major part of getting that legislation passed in 2006.

“I tried to tell [the court] how safe shops would be, instead of people getting tattooed in basements,” he said. “I had Spider-Bite already. I showed them my aftercare sheets and other stuff. They finally broke down and gave it to me.”

A major part of tattooing is getting an apprenticeship. According to the Board of Body Art Practitioners, apprenticeships are required in New Hampshire for tattoo artists to become licensed. Apprenticeships must last at least a year, but most will extend for longer until the training artist is confident in their apprentice’s abilities.

Paul Teves of Blue Iris Tattoo in Merrimack has been practicing the art for more than 20 years in New Hampshire. Back then, Teves said, there was a huge social taboo hanging over the heads of artists and people covered with tattoos alike.

“When I first started, [tattoos were] really frowned upon,” Teves said. “I remember when older women would get up and sit on the other side of the bus from me. Now you can’t go [to] the hospital without seeing a nurse with a sleeve.”

Teves will be one of the featured artists at the expo. He said he is glad to see how the art form and its overall reception have evolved tremendously over the last few years.

Meet the artist
Abe Hilerio, Tat2abe
100 Main St., Nashua, 341-0145, tat2abe.com
Years of experience: 23
Appointments: Made via phone
To Hilerio, tattooing is more than just a profession — it’s his passion. He treats every day of work as a chance to better his skills and hone his craft, as well as making the best art he can for his clients. He specializes in black and gray realism tattoos, especially portraiture. Tat2abe, his shop, only accepts clients via appointment.

Abe Hilerio of Tat2abe, a private studio in Nashua, said tattooing has changed drastically since he began back in 1999. His career started in his home state of Massachusetts, where it was illegal for people without medical degrees to tattoo up until the year 2000.

“Back then tattooing wasn’t popular,” Hilerio said. “There were no reality shows, [and] it was more of an underground type of thing. It was still kind of cliché.”

Hilerio gained an apprenticeship by word of mouth — a friend boasted of his talents in illustration — as there was no social media for him to share his work.

Now, Hilerio said that tattooing has grown in acceptance, crediting the popularity of reality television shows. He said they have shaped the current industry and have shown the world the true diversity in art surrounding each tattoo artist and piece.

Hilerio spends hours studying and drawing his designs to perfection for each of his clients. He only takes on one client per day so that he can maintain complete focus.

“Everybody wants custom [tattoos], so we have to sit there and draw, and sometimes we have to figure out what it is the client wants us to do,” Hilerio said. “That takes a lot of time.”

Sami “Moxie” Monoxelos of Scorpion Tattooing in Derry said that in recent years tattoo culture has changed for the better. She started her career as an art student at Maine College of Art before transitioning to skin canvases.

“Almost any tattoo shop that I’ll go into, it doesn’t matter what walk of life, who you are, where you come from, [or] what you identify as, people are super accepting of it,” Monoxelos said.

Lloyd Goodwin of Magic Moon Tattoo in Nashua said that being personable is a huge part of the process nowadays, especially in having recurring clients.

“The business has changed a lot,” Goodwin said. “It used to be that somebody would come in, [and] they’d sit down, be quiet and get the tattoo.”

Originally taking up illustration in his early years, Goodwin worked in retail when he was told that he could make money in tattooing by an admirer of his art. Tattooing quickly became his passion, and he has been giving people permanent art for six years.

Meet the artist
Paul Teves, Blue Iris Tattoo
416 Daniel Webster Hwy., Merrimack, 505-7701, blueiristattoo.com
Years of experience: 23
Appointments: ptevesbookings@outlook.com
Teves received his first tattoo at the age of 13 and has been in love with the artform ever since. He began his career as a self-taught tattooer in 1999. A few years later he completed his apprenticeship in Massachusetts under longtime artist Mulysa Mayhem, ultimately returning to New Hampshire to fulfill his dream of owning his own shop. Teves owns Blue Iris Tattoos, where he is also a principal artist. The shop is by appointment only.

Meet the artist
Sarah Arnold, Apothecary Tattoo
141 Route 101A, Unit M4, Amherst, 521-7491, apothecarytattoonh.com
Years of experience: 8
Appointments: apothecarytattoonh.com/contact/
Arnold, who has been fascinated with art and drawing her whole life, said transitioning to tattooing in 2014 felt like a natural extension of that passion. She opened Apothecary Tattoo in 2020 as a joint tattoo shop and fine art gallery. She specializes in neo-traditional, illustrative, and cartoon tattoos. Apothecary Tattoo is open for walk-ins, as well as booked appointments for larger pieces.

Tattooing trends

While she favors creating unique fandom and anime pieces for her clients, Monoxelos said she has noticed over her four-and-a-half-year career that tattooing trends change frequently. Right now, she is seeing a spike in people requesting floral pieces.

“There’s so much that you can do with it, too. It flows naturally with the body, and it usually looks really good,” she said. She explained that any type of plant life, from forests to flowers, is considered a floral tattoo. “Black and gray floral, color floral, floral with a pet portrait, I’d say, [is] the going trend right now.”

Sarah Arnold, an artist at Apothecary Tattoos in Amherst, said that she’s seen a lot of tattoo trends come from social media.

“On TikTok, there was a girl [with] five butterflies going from her hand up her arm and the amount of people who wanted this tattoo was staggering,” Arnold said. “It was pretty, but I kept thinking, ‘Why do you all want the same thing?’”

Arnold said she has been obsessed with tattoos since she was 18, when she got her first piece done. She has been designing art and inking people since 2014, but said she has never before seen people embracing the art form like they are now.

“Everybody is getting tattoos now,” she said. “Everybody is going straight for hand, neck, face and that used to be the last thing you’d get done. You’d only do those spots when you ran out of space.”

Arnold said she won’t do faces, hands or necks for people unless they are already heavily covered. She said that a lot of young people don’t fully grasp the implications of what having tattoos in those spots could mean in the future.

A piece of advice Arnold has for people who are new to getting tattoos is for clients to not worry about offending artists if they don’t like the stencil. Arnold said that there’s no harm in turning away a drawing, because it’s the client’s body that will be permanently changed.

“Say something when you’re upset with the drawing. We have to look at it for a couple hours. You have to look at it for the rest of your life,” Arnold said. She added that offending an artist might be uncomfortable, but it outweighs the other option. “Their feelings will be fixed in an hour when they’ve forgotten you. You’d be stuck with a tattoo that you don’t want.”

Meet the artist
Lloyd Goodwin, Magic Moon Tattoo
38C E. Hollis St., Nashua, 320-9616, magicmoontattoo.com
Years of experience: 7
Appointments: form.jotform.com/magicmoontattoo/tattoo
Goodwin has been drawing and creating illustrations his whole life. While working in retail he was encouraged to take the plunge into tattooing, and he’s never looked back. Goodwin specializes in neo-traditional but is comfortable with all styles of tattooing. Magic Moon Tattoo does not take walk-in clients.

Meet the artist
Dave McCormick, Tattoo Angus
179 Elm St., Unit C, Manchester, 935-9398, tattooangus.com
Years of experience: 27
Appointments: fleshink@yahoo.com
McCormick does a mix of styles but said he specializes in photorealism and more classic styles. His process for designing a tattoo with a client is simple: “They just have to put me on a path,” he said. McCormick had an interesting start to his tattooing career. ”My wife bought me a ‘tattoo starter kit,’ with our tax money that we desperately needed to pay bills that year, and she said, ‘Get good quick,’” he said. “27 years later I’m still doing it.”

When it comes to trends, Goodwin said that there are often waves. He said that a lot of what people consider hot tattoos is based on the art notable celebrities get done.

“Rihanna’s pharaoh bird came out and that really set the trend for sternum tattoos,” Goodwin said. “It’s all based on what people see in the media.”

Goodwin added that now, more people are doing research on who they want to use as an artist rather than walking into a shop and picking the first artist that they happen to speak with.

Birth flowers, mandalas, dates and memorial tattoos take up about 30 to 40 percent of Goodwin’s business. The other 60 to 70 percent, he said, is based on his own creativity — he works with clients to design art that fits their body and will accommodate their special requests.

“People are beginning to see [the value of] going to see a specific artist because of the quality of the work, in comparison to just going everywhere and getting a bunch of work,” Goodwin said. “When I first started in the industry, it was more or less flash tattoos that people were doing.”

Despite the growing demand for custom tattoos, Arnold said that there isn’t any hostility amongst artists that she’s noticed in New Hampshire. She said that she’ll often refer people who are looking to get mandalas done to artists she knows who will excel at the geometric style.

“I feel we’re super lucky to have so many great artists concentrated in such a small state,” Arnold said. She said that there is competition, but it pushes her and other artists to do the best they can. “I feel like the community between artists … [is] not negative and super competitive in a bad way. We’re all proud of the accomplishments of each other.”

Tattooing styles
Source: Inked Magazine, inkedmag.com
• American traditional: A popular style of tattoo with thick black outlines, a minimal but bold color palette, and iconic tattoo imagery like skulls, snakes, knives, swallows and anchors.
• Black and gray: A style of tattooing that only utilizes black ink. The ink is diluted with water to get the gray tones for shading and highlighting.
• Cosmetic tattoo: A type of tattoo that is used to enhance features, much like make up. Common types are microblading, which is done to fill out eyebrows, as well as permanent lip and eye liner.
• Cover-up: A tattoo designed to hide an older tattoo in the new one. A good cover-up
will completely hide the old tattoo through strategic linework and color.
• Geometric: A style of tattooing that uses geometric shapes and linework with no shading. Mandalas are a popular form of geometric tattoo.
• Illustrative: A style of tattooing that combines aspects of realism and American traditional. It uses bold outlines and realistic shading to depict illustration designs.

Hannah Turtle contributed to this story.

Featured photo: Courtesy photo.

Explore camping, hiking and puzzle-solving at New Hampshire’s outdoor gems

New Hampshire has 93 state parks offering recreation for outdoor-lovers (or just the outdoor curious) of all interests. And not all the action is up north — there are several parks in and close to the southern part of the state providing you a place to camp, hike and have other adventures out in the fresh air. Looking for something new to do this summer? Here are some ideas to help you get the most out of our state parks.

Camp it up

Get away at a local state park

By Matt Ingersoll

mingersoll@hippopress.com

You don’t need to go far to find a campsite within New Hampshire’s state park system — there are 23 campgrounds statewide with a total of 1,419 campsites, offering a wide variety of opportunities from tents and cabins to some RV sites with water, sewer and electric hookups.

New Hampshire has experienced a steadily large increase in outdoor recreational activity across the board, including camping in state parks and private campgrounds. According to Shawn Hamilton, deputy supervisor of state park operations, the 2021 calendar year saw a record-breaking number of campers — more than 135,000 — within the state park system. Two years earlier, in 2019, a total of 118,000 campers utilized the parks, also a record at the time.

“We have campers who have been coming to the state parks every summer for 50 to 60 years, and that’s not an exaggeration,” Hamilton said. “It’s almost like a badge of honor for them, something that they take pride in. … It’s such a nostalgic experience for people to go back every summer and experience what they have with their parents, and now they share it with their kids.”

Campgrounds within the New Hampshire state park system are operationally self-funded, and there are all kinds of ongoing projects to improve their quality and accessibility. Bear Brook State Park in Allenstown, for instance, has 110 sites with recently renovated cabins, Hamilton said. Five dishwashing stations were also recently installed at Greenfield State Park’s campsites.

A majority of the state park campgrounds offer traditional tent camping or cabins, but there are three — Hampton Beach State Park, Franconia Notch State Park and Ellacoya State Park in Gilford — that have full-service RV parks with hookup sites.

“We just recently upgraded the amperage at Hampton Beach State Park to better accommodate some of the newer RVs that are coming on to the market,” Hamilton said. “We’re planning to do the same at Ellacoya in the near future.”

Other sites, like Pawtuckaway State Park in Nottingham, offer multiple activities to campers.

“You can go to the beach one day, rent some boats and go out on the water … but then at the same time, the next day you can go out on the hiking trails,” Hamilton said, “so I think that type of versatility in terms of what we offer is really what people respond to. … At most of the parks we offer playgrounds as well. We make a concerted effort to add and upgrade the playgrounds so that the kids are fully occupied and having fun for the whole day.”

While July and August are two busiest months of the year for camping in the state parks system, Hamilton said the season runs from April through October. Campsite reservations can be made on the state park’s website up to 11 months in advance of your arrival date.

“Some of the campgrounds offer a couple hundred sites just in and of themselves … so there’s a lot of opportunity within each park as well,” Hamilton said.

Where to camp at some of New Hampshire’s state parks

Here’s a list of southern- and central-area campgrounds and RV parks within New Hampshire’s state parks system. Campsite reservations can be made online 24 hours a day and up to 11 months in advance. Visit nhstateparks.org or call 1-877-nhparks (647-2757) to reserve your spot. Rates cover two adults and up to four children on the site (maximum number of adults per site is four, with a maximum of six people total). A fee of $6.50 applies for all reservations, with $10 per night for each additional adult and $5 per night for each additional child.

Bear Brook State Park
61 Deerfield Road, Allenstown, 485-9869
Cost: Ranges from $25 to $55 per night, depending on the site (no hookups)
At more than 10,000 acres, this is the largest developed state park in New Hampshire. Campers have two options within the park — Beaver Pond Campground (600 Lower Road, Deerfield), as well as the cabins at Bear Hill Pond (15 Bear Hill Pond Road, Deerfield), featuring two sizes occupying up to four or six people. The cabins are furnished but do not have electricity. There is also an Adirondack-style lean-to shelter overlooking Smith Pond. Renters have access to two wide wooden bunks, a stone cook place and two outhouses inside.

Ellacoya RV State Park
266 Scenic Road, Gilford, 293-7821
Cost: $47 per rig per night (includes water, electric and sewer hookups)
Located on the southwest shore of Lake Winnipesaukee, Ellacoya State Park features an RV campground with 37 available sites by reservation only. Each offers three-way hookups. All of the sites are open daily to reserve now through Columbus Day weekend (no tents or pets are allowed inside the RV park).

Greenfield State Park
52 Campground Road, Greenfield, 547-3497
Cost: $25 per night (no hookups)
This 400-acre park features 256 campsites that are available by reservation only, including family group campsites with two Adirondack-style shelters. RVs are welcome in sites where they fit, but no hookups are available. Leashed pets are permitted in the campground but are prohibited in the park’s day-use and beach areas.

Hampton Beach RV State Park
160 Ocean Blvd., Hampton, 926-8990
Cost: $50 per rig per night (includes water, electric and sewer hookups)
According to the New Hampshire state parks website, this is the only RV park directly on the coast, at the mouth of the Hampton River. The park is located south of the main part of Hampton Beach on Route 1A, at the Seabrook town line. There are 28 sites that are open for reservations now through Columbus Day weekend. Camping units must be able to hook up all three services (water, electric and sewer) and be self-contained — no pop-ups or tents are allowed.

Monadnock State Park
169 Poole Road, Jaffrey, 532-8862
Cost: $25 per night (no hookups)
Gilson Pond Campground became the first new camping area in the New Hampshire state parks system in more than 40 years when it opened in July 2010. Located just down the road from the headquarters area of Monadnock State Park, Gilson Pond Campground has 35 sites that can accommodate tents and pop-ups, as well as five remote hike-to sites. There are several trails leaving the area that lead to the summit of Mount Monadnock.

Mount Sunapee State Park
86 Beach Access Road, Newbury, 763-5561
Cost: Ranges from $23 to $29 per night, depending on the site (no hookups)
Mount Sunapee State Park has a campground with 11 sites that offer either lean-tos or tent platforms. The sites are wooded and are for tent camping. One campsite is non-reservable and available for walk-in campers.

Pawtuckaway State Park
7 Pawtuckaway Road, Nottingham, 895-3031
Cost: Ranges from $25 to $30 per night, depending on the site (no hookups); cabin reservations are $65 per night or $360 per week
This state park’s campground includes nearly 200 wooded sites, providing many views of Pawtuckaway Lake. Each campsite has an open fire ring, a picnic table, flat areas for a tent, and a parking space. There are no hookups at any of the sites, but the bathhouses are equipped with running water, flush toilets and 24-hour-access coin-operated showers. There’s also a camp store where canoe and kayak rentals are available, as well as a public canoe and kayak launch. Pets are not allowed in the campground or beach area of the park.

Pillsbury State Park
100 Pillsbury State Park Road, Washington, 863-2860
Cost: $23 per night (no hookups)
Pillsbury State Park’s campground is open for reservable stays now through Columbus Day weekend. Amenities include handicap-accessible pit toilets, a playground, a kayak and canoe rentals, firewood and a boat launch for non-motorized boats. Eleven of the 41 campsites are remote and accessible by foot or canoe only.

Parks and treks

Hike the day away in a local state park

By Katelyn Sahagian

ksahagian@hippopress.com

New Hampshire is home to a variety of state parks with trails carving through them, showing off the state’s beauty to new and experienced hikers alike.

“Science has proven that a lot of the healthy chemicals in our bodies rise when we are in green space, so just being [in nature] is really important for people,” said Jake King, a co-founder of Thrive Outdoors, a team-building and leadership organization based in Manchester.

State parks are popular places to take a hike, and many are home to everything from beginners’ nature walks to advanced mountain passes. King said that it’s important to differentiate the two.

It’s important for people who are new to getting into nature and walking to do something on the easier side, like going up to New Hampshire Audubon’s McLane Center in Concord.

“There are nature walks, and they shouldn’t be considered hikes,” King said. “People who are going to start hiking are going into more remote areas and [taking] on more of a challenge.”

Hiking has always been a popular pastime in the Granite State, said Kimball Rexford, the creator of TrailsNH.com. But during the height of the pandemic, he said, it has exploded in popularity.

“Since Covid, like everything, all popular hikes are more than double than what they used to be, maybe even triple,” Rexford said. “It’s starting to come down and people are less nervous being around others, but during Covid, hiking was through the roof.”

Across the board, the most recommended trail on both the Hike NH and Girls Hike NH Facebook groups was Pawtuckaway State Park’s South Loop. Many group members suggested that people take the hike up to the fire tower for a beautiful view.

Rexford suggested a more challenging trail within Pawtuckaway State Park.

“I usually do the North Loop,” he said. “It has a long bony ridge, meaning it’s rocky. It’s a lot of bang for your buck.”

King’s favorite trail, the Cardigan Loop, is for hikers who feel comfortable with the activity, but the trail isn’t extremely challenging by any means.

“It’s got beautiful views and it’s not super remote,” he said. “People walk their dogs and run on the trail. It’s not [as] if you were to go up the [White Mountains] where you won’t see someone for days.”

While Rexford’s website is a good place to find what’s currently popular and trending for hiking, people who are members of hiking Facebook groups, like Hike NH, will help and offer suggestions for their favorite paths.

“Pawtuckaway is unbeatable for what it is,” commented Randall Schanck, a member of Hike NH, in response to the Hippo asking for state park hiking recommendations. “[It is] big enough to explore for a long day and [there is] so much to see if you know where to look. It might as well be Jurassic Park.”

Terra Anna Merry, a member of Girls Hike NH, also said that she enjoys hiking in Pawtuckaway, but added that there were beautiful hikes in Northwood Meadows State Park in Northwood, Odiorne Point State Park in Rye, and Bear Brook State Park in Allenstown.

Rexford said that the Granite State has a seemingly endless number of trails, peaks and loops for avid hikers to explore.

“There’s a lot of everything,” he said. “You could spend a lifetime hiking in New Hampshire and not do it all.”

Where to go hiking in New Hampshire’s state parks

The Hippo reached out to the local Facebook groups Hike NH and Girls Hike NH for suggestions from members on the best trails to hike within New Hampshire’s state parks. Here’s a list of what we received for responses. Visit nhstateparks.org for more details on each trail.

Bear Brook State Park
157 Deerfield Road, Allenstown, 485-9869
Trail: Catamount Loop
Difficulty: Strenuous

Cardigan Mountain State Forest
658 Cardigan Mountain Road, Orange, 227-8745
Trail: Mount Cardigan Loop
Difficulty: Moderate

Miller State Park
13 Miller Park Road, Peterborough, 924-3672
Trail: Wapack Trail
Difficulty: Moderately strenuous

Monadnock State Park
169 Poole Road, Jaffrey, 532-8862
Trail: Wantastiquet-Monadnock trail
Difficulty: Moderately strenuous

Northwood Meadows State Park
755 First New Hampshire Turnpike, Northwood
Trail: NALMC Trail
Difficulty: Moderate

Odiorne Point State Park
570 Ocean Blvd., Rye, 436-7406
Trail: Odiorne Point Trail
Difficulty: Easy

Pawtuckaway State Park
7 Pawtuckaway Road, Nottingham, 895-3031
Trail: South Mountain Tower Trail
Difficulty: Moderate

Rhododendron State Park
424 Rockwood Pond Road, Fitzwilliam, 532-8862
Trail: Wildflower Trail
Difficulty: Easy

Wellington State Park
614 W. Shore Road, Bristol, 744-2197
Trail: Peninsula Nature Trail
Difficulty: Easy

Winslow State Park
475 Kearsarge Mountain Road, Wilmot, 526-6168
Trail: Rollins Trail
Difficulty: Moderate

Hiking difficulties source: National Park Service, nps.gov

Essential hiking gear
Visit hikesafe.com for more details.
• Pocket knife
• Rain jacket and pants
• Fire starter
• First aid kit
• Whistle
• Headlamp or flashlight
• Water and food
• Warm clothing
• Compass
• Map

The non-hiker’s guide

State park fun for the hiking-averse

By Hannah Turtle

hturtle@hippopress.com

Maybe hiking isn’t your thing. Maybe you don’t look forward to a trudge among the flora and fauna amid the summer heat. Luckily, this does not exempt you from enjoying the many state parks in southern New Hampshire.

Outside of hiking, there are a plethora of activities available for park-goers, including educational and beautiful historic sites, boating activities and the exciting hunt for geocaches.

Historic sites

For those interested in learning some local history, or for museum-frequenters who want to get outside this summer, here are some great options:

Fort Constitution Historic Site
25 Wentworth Road, New Castle, 271-3556
Located on a peninsula on the northeast corner of New Castle island, the ruins of Fort Constitution provide a great picnic spot for those interested in American history. First used during the War of 1812, the Fort also served as a training site during the Civil War, and was updated in 1897 to be used during the Spanish-American War, as well as World Wars I and II. Returned to the state in 1961, it now sits as a historic landmark with gorgeous views of the water. Source: nhstateparks.org

Fort Stark State Historic Site
211 Wildrose Lane, New Castle, 271-3556
Historically known as Jerry’s Point, Fort Stark sits on the southeastern peninsula of New Castle Island. Built following the Spanish-American War, the fort helps preserve the history of the island as an important military operation used during World War II. Of note is the Ordnance Machine Shop Museum, which displays military artifacts as well as a detailed history of the fort. Source: nhstateparks.org

Robert Frost Farm Historic Site
122 Rockingham Road, Derry, 432-3091
See the farmhouse of the late renowned poet Robert Frost, where he lived with his family from 1900 to 1911. In addition to being the setting for some of Frost’s most acclaimed poems, the site offers a variety of activities for visitors, including poetry readings and a self-guided tour of the property. Source: nhstateparks.org

Wentworth-Coolidge Mansion
375 Little Harbor Road, Portsmouth, 436-2233
Home to New Hampshire’s first royal governor, Benning Wentworth, the Wentworth-Coolidge mansion is a feat of 18th-century architecture. With tours of the sprawling mansion available every day this summer (which include a spy closet), and a gorgeous waterside walking path, the site is a must-see for fans of local history. Additionally, the grounds are covered in purple lilacs, descendents of the first European stock imported by Wentworth. Source: nhstateparks.org

White Island Historic Site
Rye, 271-3556
Visit New Hampshire’s only off-shore lighthouse on White Island for a whole day’s worth of historic sights. Originally built in 1820 and rebuilt in 1859, the lighthouse has seen many influential visitors and residents. Acclaimed poet Celia Thaxter was the daughter of the lighthouse’s keeper and wrote many of her works about that period. White Island itself is nestled in the Isles of Shoals, originally known as the Smith Islands (named after Jamestown settler Capt. John Smith). Source: lighthousefriends.com

Geocaching

Originating in 2000 in Oregon, geocaching has had a recent resurgence in popularity amid Covid. By downloading the free “Geocaching” app available for any smartphone, users can hunt for hundreds of hidden treasures called “caches” all over various area parks. The app gives mysterious clues as to the exact location of each cache, and turns any regular hike into an interactive scavenger hunt. It’s perfect for families with curious children, and for anyone who enjoys solving a mystery. When a cache is found, simply sign your name in the log book and leave it for the next person to find.

There are geocache locations hidden in every local state park, and the larger walking trails provide opportunities for finding upwards of 10 caches. For a geocaching challenge that doesn’t require the app download, we’ve hid our own geocache in one of New Hampshire’s state parks — test your mettle and see if you can solve the riddle and find our cache:

Whose cache this is I think I know
His box is rather hidden, though
He will not see me crossing here
Beneath my feet the water flows.

My little phone seems sure it’s near
I’ll wait until the coast is clear
The gurgle of my much-loved brook
Is all that I do long to hear.

I’ll give my weary legs a break
For coming here was no mistake
The only other sound’s the croak
Of that which is my spot’s namesake

These woods are lovely dark and deep
But I have promises to keep
And caches to find before I sleep
And caches to find before I sleep

Canoeing and kayaking

According to nhstateparks.org, canoe and kayak rentals at applicable state parks are $15 per hour, $30 for four hours, $50 for a full day, or $150 for a full week. Oars and life vests are provided. Boaters must have a driver’s license to rent within the state parks system.

Bear Brook State Park
61 Deerfield Road, Allenstown, 485-9874
Admission cost: $4 ($2 for kids ages 6 to 11)

Clough State Park
455 Clough Park Road, Weare, 529-7112
Admission cost: $4 ($2 for kids ages 6 to 11)

Ellacoya State Park
266 Scenic Road, Gilford, 293-7821
Admission cost: $5 ($2 for kids ages 6 to 11); no rentals available but visitors can bring their own boats

Greenfield State Park
52 Campground Road, Greenfield, 547-3497
Admission cost: $4 ($2 for kids ages 6 to 11)

Livermore Falls Recreational Area
86 Livermore Road, Holderness, 238-9284
Admission cost: $5 per car; no rentals available but visitors can bring their own boats

Odiorne Point State Park
570 Ocean Blvd., Rye, 436-7406
Admission cost: $4 ($2 for kids ages 6 to 11); no rentals available but visitors can bring their own boats

Pawtuckaway State Park
7 Pawtuckaway Road, Nottingham, 895-3031
Admission cost: $5 ($2 for kids ages 6 to 11)

Pillsbury State Park
100 Pillsbury State Park Road, Washington, 863-2860
Admission cost: $4 ($2 for kids ages 6 to 11)

Silver Lake State Park
138 Silver Lake Road, Hollis, 465-2342
Admission cost: $4 ($2 for kids ages 6 to 11); kayak rentals available only

Wentworth State Park
297 Governor Wentworth Hwy., Wolfeboro, 569-3699
Admission cost: $4 ($2 for kids ages 6 to 11); no rentals available but visitors can bring their own boats

Featured photo: Camping at Pawtuckaway State Park in Allenstown in Nottingham. Photo courtesy of New Hampshire State Parks.