Category: Outdoors

Kiddie Pool 24/09/19

Family fun for whenever

Special events

• Manchester Proud and the Manchester School District will present CelebratED! On Saturday, Sept. 21, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Veterans Memorial Park in Manchester to celebrate the new school year, according to a press release. This free event offers entertainment, food, presentations from schools, music performances from schools, an art gallery in the park, nearly 60 organizations with booths and activities, food (including Kona Ice for kids, pizza and foods including Caribbean, Nepalese, Mexican, African, Thai and Mediterranean), the Bookmobile and more, the release said.

• Unitarian Universalist Church of Manchester (669 Union St. in Manchester) will hold a Fall Equinox Celebration on Sunday, Sept. 22, with a service at 10 a.m. followed by a free family concert and activities on the lawn from 11:30 a.m. through 2 p.m., according to a press release. Amy Conley will play the guitar and banjo from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.; there will be pumpkin painting and a chili luncheon from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. (with a suggested donation of $5); there will be raffles and a free recital in the sanctuary from 3 to 4 p.m. featuring violin and piano performances by Elliott Markow, the release said.

On the pitch

• This weekend at Southern New Hampshire University, see the Penmen Men’s Soccer team take on Southern Connecticut State University on Saturday, Sept. 21, at 4 p.m. at Mark A. Ouellette Stadium (Victory Lane in Hooksett). The next home game for the Women’s Soccer team is next Saturday, Sept. 28, at 1 p.m. See snhupenmen.com.

• At Saint Anselm College, the Hawks Men’s Soccer teamwill take on Adelphi University on Saturday, Sept. 21, at noon at Melucci Field at Saint Anselm College in Manchester. The next Women’s Soccer home games will be Tuesday, Sept. 24, at 3 p.m. versus Saint Michael’s College and Saturday, Sept. 28, at noon versus Adelphi University. See saintanselmhawks.com.

• At Rivier College, the Raiders Women’s Soccer team will play their next home game on Saturday, Sept. 21, at noon against Simmons University at Joanne Merrill Field, 438 S. Main St. in Nashua. The Men’s Soccer home game this weekend is Saturday, Sept. 21, at 3 p.m. at Merrill Field, versus Thomas College. See rivierathletics.com.

Town celebrations

• Hollis Old Home Days take place Friday, Sept. 20, from 5 to 10 p.m. and Saturday, Sept. 21, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. at Nichols Field and Lawrence Barn on Depot Road in Hollis. The schedule includes midway and rides both days, kids’ art activities and scavenger hunt (Saturday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.), a pony pageant (Saturday starting at 11:30 a.m.), Granite State Disc Dogs (Saturday at 1 and 3 p.m.), dance and cheer performances, a DJ on Friday, live music on Saturday, a petting zoo, and fireworks on Saturday at 8 p.m., according to hollisoldhomedays.org.

• Derryfest will run Saturday, Sept. 21, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at MacGregor Park in downtown Derry. The day will feature food, crafts, games, a line-up of vendors and a schedule of music and performances that runs throughout the day, according to derryfest.org, where you can find a map of the event.

• Hooksett Old Home Day is Saturday, Sept. 21, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with fireworks scheduled after dusk. The day starts with a parade from Lamberts Park to Donati Park (behind Town Hall, 35 Main St., Hooksett) at 10 a.m. Check out the Heritage Trolley Tour from noon to 3 p.m. Free amusements including a rock wall and bungee jump, photo booth, module rainbow house, a dry slide and more will run from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. A petting farm will run from noon to 4 p.m. A magic show with BJ Hickman is slated to start at 11:05 a.m. and 2 p.m. Music and performances will run throughout the afternoon and fireworks are slated for 7:30 p.m., all according to hooksettoldhomeday.org. The event will also feature eating competitions — watermelon at 12:15 p.m., pizza at 1:30 p.m. and pie at 3 p.m., the website said.

• And for something a little more low-key and eats-focused, the East Kingston Summer Market will be held Sunday, Sept. 22, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the East Kingston Public Library (47 Maplevale Road, East Kingston, 642-8333, eastkingstonlibrary.org). Find produce, crafts and live music, according to the library website.

Fun with wings

• Wheels & Wings 2024 will feature fire trucks, police vehicles, airplanes, helicopters, DPW vehicles, electric cars and other things that go ready for exploration on Saturday, Sept. 21, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Nashua Airport (93 Perimeter Road in Nashua), according to the Nashua Parks and Recreation Facebook page. This event is free.

• Portsmouth Fairy House Tours take place Saturday, Sept. 21, and Sunday, Sept. 22, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Portsmouth at the Strawbery Banke Museum, John Langdon House, Prescott Park and Gundalow waterfront, where you can find hundreds of fairy houses on display, according to fairyhousetour.com. Saturday will kick off with an opening day fairy parade at 9:30 a.m. Through the weekend, see “fairy-inspired performances” by the Southern New Hampshire Dance Theater, The Players’ Ring and the New Hampshire Theatre Project, the website said. The weekend will also feature a fairy book and photo display and a live creation of a fairy house sculpture for permanent display in downtown Portsmouth, the website said. Tickets cost $12 for adults in advance ($15 at the gate), $8 for 65+ ($10 at the gate), $5 for children ages 3 to 12 ($7 at the gate) and $30 for a family pack of four tickets ($35 at the gate). Children under 3 get in for free, the website said. See the website for information about joining the parade.

Celebrate pie

• The Great New Hampshire Pie Festival will take place at the New Hampshire Farm Museum (1305 White Mountain Highway, Milton, nhfarmmuseum.org) on Saturday, Sept. 21, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission costs $15 ($5 for kids 12 and under, and free for pie-bakers). Local bakeries will have pies for sampling while local pie makers will compete in a pie contest (kids 12 and under can enter a pie in their own category). The day will also feature a pie crust rolling demonstration, a raffle, a silent auction, tractor rides, visits with the animals, tours of historic buildings and live music from Lance Maclean and the Moose Mountain String Band, according to the website. Lunch will be available for purchase, the website said.

Pick for your own pie

Looking to pick apples for pie or other fall treats? Check out the story in last week’s paper, the issue of Sept. 12, which includes listings for some area pick-your-own orchards. The story starts on page 10; find the issue in our digital library at hippopress.com. Some locations with special offerings this weekend include:

• Applecrest Farm Orchards (133 Exeter Road, Hampton Falls, 926-3721, applecrest. com) Open seven days a week, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. The orchard also features a corn maze and weekend festivals, such as this weekend’s Autumn Equinox Festival, Saturday and Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m. featuring live music including Back Woods Road on Saturday and Unsung Heroes Band on Sunday. Fall festivals may also include a traditional corn roast, fresh press apple cider and lawn games, the website said.

• Appleview Orchard (1266 Upper City Road, Pittsfield, applevieworchard.com, 435- 3553) is open Wednesday and Thursday from noon to 7 p.m. and Friday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Find a playground, farm animals, picnic areas and more, the website said.

• Gould Hill Farm (656 Gould Hill Road, Contoocook, 746-3811, gouldhillfarm.com) Open Tuesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and this Saturday, Sept. 21, from 1 to 4 p.m. catch internationally touring folk rock singer-songwriter Justin Cohn, according to the website.

• Mack’s Apples/Moose Hill Orchard (230 Mammoth Road, Londonderry, 434- 7619, macksapples.com) has opened its pumpkin patch. Find more about the weekend’s happenings on their Facebook page, such as last weekend’s Bee Train ride for kids.

On stage

• Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland will be presented by the Powerhouse Theatre Collaboration (powerhousenh.org) at Prescott Farm in Laconia Saturday, Sept. 21, and Sunday, Sept. 22, with performances beginning every 20 minutes from 1 to 4 p.m. Tickets cost $10. Book a time slot online.

• Camp Rock The Musical is presented by the Palace Youth Theatre, with performers in grades 2 to 12, on Thursday, Sept. 19, at 7 p.m. at the Palace Theatre (80 Hanover St., Manchester, palacetheatre.org). Tickets cost $12 to $15.

Save the date

• The Players’ Ring (105 Marcy St. in Portsmouth; playersring.org) will present Lindsey and Her Puppet Pals on Saturday, Sept. 28, at 10 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. “Lindsay’s funny, fast-paced, and highly interactive variety show delights the young and the young at heart!” according to the website. “This program is a great fit for ages 3-8 and families.” Tickets cost $18 general admission, $15 for ages 12 and under.

Kiddie Pool 24/09/12

Family fun for whenever

Indoor and outdoor fun

• Auburn will hold its 31st annual Duck Race on Saturday, Sept. 14, at 2 p.m. as part of 2024 Auburn Day, which runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Auburn Village on Hooksett Road. Winning ducks get their ticket-holders prizes — from $1,000 for first prize through $25 for 6th through 10th place. The day will also feature an apple pie contest, a cookie baking contest for kids, a small petting zoo, music by Ray Zerkle, the Pinkerton Marching Band, a New Hampshire National Guard Black Hawk helicopter, food trucks, children’s games and more. See auburnhistorical.org.

• Friends of Benson Park’s third annual Family Fun Day will take place Saturday, Sept. 14, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Benson Park (19 Kimball Hill Road, Hudson, friendsofbensonpark.org). Cub Scouts Pack 21 and Girl Scouts Troop 12070 will be in attendance, as will Balloons by Michelle, UFO Party Rental and the Carriage Shack Farm Traveling Petting Zoo with their fuzzy animals. Participants will enjoy music from SNHUG, While My Guitar Gently Weeps, and Let’s Play Music soloist Aryanna Cabrera throughout the day.

• The Granite State Fair at 72 Lafayette Road in Rochester will run Thursday, Sept. 12, through Sunday, Sept. 15, and Thursday, Sept. 19, through Sunday, Sept. 22. Find a ride list with height requirements at granitestatefair.com. One-day tickets cost $10 per person through Sept. 11, or $12 per person Sept. 12 and beyond (children 8 and under get in free).

• Pelham Old Home Day is Saturday, Sept. 14, from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. at 3 Main St. in Pelham. The day will include music, fitness demonstrations, dance and martial arts demonstrations, food trucks (meat pies, poutine, hot dogs, fries, chicken fingers, ice cream, beverages and desserts), a pancake and sausage breakfast at the Church Fellowship Hall, crafts and goods vendors, a white elephant yard sale, a 5K road race, kids’ games, touch a truck, a cornhole tournament, a grand parade, a performance by the Windham Community Band, a penny sale raffle and more, according to pelhamoldhomeday.org.

Especially for the littles

• The Children’s Museum of New Hampshire (6 Washington St., Dover, childrens-museum.org, 742-2002) will hold Toddlerfest, its annual celebration of the littlest museum-goers featuring special activities and events, Tuesday, Sept. 17, through Sunday, Sept. 29. A visit to the museum requires online reservations.

• Different Drummer Farm (55 South Road, Candia, differentdrummerfarm.com ) wants Granite Staters to pack up their picnic baskets and favorite teddy bear or other stuffed friend on Sunday, Sept. 15, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. for their Teddy Bear Picnic. Children can enjoy petting and feeding the farm animals, creating teddy bear crafts, going on a bear hunt or wagon ride, a storytime put on by Ballet Misha, a family photo at the photo op spot, and an optional pony ride. A limited amount of picnic basket lunches are available in advance. There will be sweet treats, teddy bear gifts, souvenirs and additional food at the snack bar. Tickets are $50 for a family of three or more, or $20 per individual ticket. The rain date is Sunday, Sept. 22.

Especially for the pups

• The Humane Society for Greater Nashua will hold its Wags to Whiskers Festival Saturday, Sept. 16, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Anheuser-Busch Brewery (221 DW Highway, Merrimack, 595-1202, anheuser-busch.com/ breweries/merrimack-nh). It will be a day of fun, featuring vendors, food trucks, demos, games and raffles. There will be an adoption tent on site with puppies. Visit hsfn.org/wags-whiskersfestival. Tickets are $15 for adults 21 and up, $12 for ages 17 to 20. Ages 16 and younger attend free.

Fall gardening chores

Never make mulch volcanoes

By Henry Homeyer
[email protected]

Despite some hot sunny days, fall is fast approaching and it’s time to start thinking about cleaning up the garden and putting it to bed. No, I am not suggesting you cut back all your perennials or pull all your vegetable plants. But October, the time most gardeners put the garden to bed, may be cold and rainy. We even got 5 inches of wet snow one October. So get started!

Let’s look at the most neglected area: the vegetable garden. By October many gardeners are sick of weeding, so they pick their peppers, pull the carrots and quit. I recommend cleaning up each bed as soon as all the food has been harvested. So far I have pulled my garlic and dug my potatoes. Each time I took half an hour or so to weed the bed, cover it with old newspapers (four to six pages) and then covered that with 4 to 6 inches of straw. That way, next spring, weeds and grasses won’t take over beds while the soil is still too cold and wet for planting vegetables.

The leaves and stems of any vegetable that showed signs of blight should be treated with care: Instead of putting the diseased plants in the regular compost pile, put them in a separate pile, one that will not be used to produce compost. Spores are the “seeds” of disease and can survive most composting. Squash family plants often have fungal diseases, as do tomatoes and potatoes.

Your flower beds need weeding, too. If you don’t use an edging tool to create an impenetrable canyon around your flower beds, it is important to pull creeping grasses and vines like ‘Creeping Charlie’ that have probably been sneaking in all summer. Use a good weeding tool to go down deep when you weed. I like the CobraHead weeder best. (www.cobrahead.com). It is a curved single-tine cultivator that can get below weeds so you can pull from below as you tug on the tops. It can tease out long roots of things like goutweed.

Once Jack Frost visits, you can cut back any annuals to the ground. If you pull them, you leave a bare spot for wind-borne weed seeds to settle in and wait for spring. And on slopes, leaving loose soil exposed is likely to allow hard rains to wash away some of your good soil. You can pull the roots of those annuals when you plant more next summer.

I use three methods for minimizing weeding each year in my perennial beds. The best is to just fill every square foot of each bed with plants you love. Groundcovers like barren strawberry or foam flower will spread and fill in around the peonies and coneflowers – even if they are shaded by them. With time, most perennials create bigger clumps until weeds are shaded out and new airborne seeds don’t easily find a place to thrive.

The next alternative is to mulch those bare spots around existing plants with chopped autumn leaves. Chopped leaves break down more quickly than chopped branches or bark mulch. They provide organic matter to feed the soil organisms, enriching the soil. They also provide a soft landing and good places to hide for caterpillars that are ready to make their cocoons that become butterflies and moths. This fall think about running your lawnmower over the leaves on the lawn and either using a bagger, or raking them up. You can spread them this fall, or save in a pile to use in the spring.

Since I rarely have enough leaves, the third alternative for keeping down weeds is to buy finely ground bark mulch in bulk. For big gardens like ours it would be expensive to buy mulch in bags, but for around $50 a scoop of a front end loader, I can get a pickup truck load from my local sawmill or garden center.

I recommend buying a natural-colored bark mulch. The orange or black mulch has been dyed with chemicals, and I don’t want them in my garden. Hemlock and cedar are probably the longest-lasting bark mulches but hardwood mulch may be better for your plants and the soil. Never apply more than a couple of inches of bark mulch on your beds — otherwise moisture from short rains will not seep through to water your plants. And NEVER make “mulch volcanoes” around your trees — they will rot the bark and eventually kill the trees.

When your perennials look bedraggled it’s time to cut them back. But I leave flower stalks with seeds that birds can eat in winter. These include purple coneflower, black-eyed susans, Joe Pye weed, sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ and anything else that would feed the birds.

You can cut back your perennials with your hand pruners, but I find it slow and tedious. I prefer to use a harvest sickle or even a serrated steak knife. These allow me to grab a handful of stems and slice right through them all. You can use a string trimmer to work even faster, or even a lawn mower, I suppose.

By the way, if you haven’t cut the tops off your Brussels sprouts yet, do so today. This will keep the plants from getting taller, and they will instead produce big, fat “sprouts.” I did it much earlier than usual this year, and I am already getting nice big sprouts. Kale is very frost hardy, so I will leave mine alone, just harvesting what I need for smoothies or soups. It can last until Christmas in the garden.

So enjoy the warm and sunny days of September to get a jump-start on your fall cleanup. And read a good book by the woodstove on those cold, gray, drizzly days of October.

You can reach Henry at [email protected].

Featured image: Photo by Henry Homeyer.

Kiddie Pool 24/09/05

Family fun for whenever

Indoor and outdoor fun

• NH KidsFest 2024 is hosted by the Daniel Webster Council at Bass Pro Shops ( 2 Commerce Drive, Hooksett) on Saturday, Sept. 7, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. It’s a day of free family fun that includes touch-a-truck, live magic shows, puppet performances, wild animals, hands-on activities and giveaways, according to the event website. Visit their Facebook page or call 541-5200.

• Check out Beaver Brook Association’s (117 Ridge Road, Hollis) School’s Out: Forest Fun Days, the first of which is on Tuesday, Sept. 10. These one-day “camps” are child-led, inquiry-driven, and full of outdoor fun. Kids will explore streams, search off-trail for animal tracks, and play in the nature play area. This is a drop-off program for students in grades K-4, so kids will need to bring a backpack with an extra change of clothes, a snack, and a full water bottle, according to the website. No School Days will run from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. with a lunch provided of either pizza or hot dogs and Early Release Days will run from 1 to 4 p.m. and a snack will be provided on these days, according to the website. The program is $30 and participants will need to register in advance. Visit beaverbrook.org.

Storytimes

• Bookery Manchester (844 Elm St., bookerymht.com) welcomes special guests Chantelle Moynihan-Rector and Max the Retired Police Dog for storytime on Saturday, Sept. 7, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

• Wonderland Books and Toys (245 Maple St., No. 12, Manchester) will host Saturday storytime on Saturday, Sept. 7, from 2 to 2:30 p.m for kids from toddlers up to grades 1 or 2. Up to three different stories will be read unless one of them is considerably longer. Visit wonderlandbooksandtoys.com or call 628-2866.

• It’s time for Little Learners at the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center (2 Institute Drive, Concord, 271-7827, starhop.com). This program for kids 5 years old and younger with an accompanying adult (older siblings are also welcome) is held on the second Wednesday of each month from 12:30 to 1 p.m., September through December, with a reading and discussion of a science-themed book. Participation is included with general admission.

Theater

• Camp Rock The Musical is presented by the Palace Youth Theatre, with performers in grades 2 to 12, on Wednesday, Sept. 18, and Thursday, Sept. 19, at 7 p.m. at the Palace Theatre (80 Hanover St., Manchester, palacetheatre.org). Tickets cost $12 to $15.

Horses, goats and a clown

Find country fun at the Hillsborough County Agricultural Fair

By Zachary Lewis
[email protected]

The 66th Annual Hillsborough County Agricultural Fair starts on Friday, Sept. 6, and goes on until Sunday, Sept. 8, in New Boston (17 Hilldale Lane). Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children, military members and veterans with ID as well as seniors (65 and older).

“We’re an agriculture-based fair, so most of our activities are based on learning about agriculture,” said Michelle Rowe, the President of the Hillsborough County Fair Board of Directors.

Gates open at noon on Friday and activities commence right away. A stock farm tractor pull will be revving up in the pulling ring, a farm horse and mule competition will take place in the Langdell Arena, and Crickey the Clown will be at the children’s tent and venue area, and that goes until 5 p.m. “It’s definitely very family-oriented,” Rowe said.

At 3 p.m, amusement rides by Fanelli whir to life in the midway section of the fairground, and ride bracelets will be available from 4 to 9 p.m. Occurring for the first time this year, there will be pedal tractor pulling that is open to the public for children 15 and under at the pulling track from 4 to 5:30 p.m.

A 4-H team-building activity titled The Toxic Waste Challenge at the Hinton 4-H Exhibitor Building gets going at 4 and runs till 6 p.m. Meanwhile there’s a flag ceremony as a Battle of the Bands competition gets underway that will rock on until 9 p.m.

Another new event for this year is the new Zero Turn Obstacle Course, which will be open to the public for those 18 and older to test their physical prowess from 5:30 to 7 p.m.

At 6 p.m. is the Giant Pumpkin Weigh Off in the Langdell Arena, presented by the New Hampshire Giant Pumpkin Growers Association.

The pumpkins “can get quite big,” Rowe said. “We don’t get the biggest ones at our fair because they usually take those down to Topsfield in Massachusetts, but last year our first-place winner was 250 pounds … probably about 4 feet tall and probably 4 feet wide. They have to be so careful getting them to the fair.”

New Hampshire grows big pumpkins.

On Saturday,events begin at 9 a.m. and there will be similar activities to the previous day although participants getting inside early will be able to sign in to see the 4-H Dog Show and Farm Tractor Pull.

Beginning at 10 a.m. will be a ham radio demonstration from the Granite State Amateur Radio Association, as well as 4-H rabbit and dairy goat shows in the Langdell Arena. That’s also when the horseshoe tournament begins. The Battle of the Bands winner will perform at noon and the amusement rides begin then as well. The Hi-Jack Band will perform afterward until 4:30 p.m. and then Tina J and the Nuff Said Band will take the main stage until the end of the night, which will wrap up with a fantastic fireworks display.

“The fireworks are always fun,” Rowe said. She was not able to pick a single favorite aspect of the fair. “There’s just so many things to see. … I was in 4-H growing up so I enjoy the animal shows and seeing the kids show their animals. The sheepherding demonstration is actually really cool too.”

There is also a homemade pie auction, a maple syrup tasting contest, and if there is a farmyard animal there will be some sort of demonstration for it through 4-H as well as an Animal Olympics, which is an obstacle course for the fuzzier participants of the fair.

“I enjoy the more agricultural side of it but we also have tractor pulls and truck pulls that really bring in a lot of people and of course the rides are always fun,” Rowe said.

The festivities will continue on Sunday, Sept. 8, at 9 a.m. with the same amount of fun as the days before, but the fair will close at 6 p.m. until next fall when Granite Staters get to do it all over again. “In my opinion it’s the best fair in New Hampshire and I just want to keep it going,” Rowe said.

66th Annual Hillsborough County Agricultural Fair
New Boston
Friday, Sept. 6, through Sunday, Sept. 8
Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for children, military members/veterans (with ID) as well as seniors (65+). Admission is cash only. Entrance gates can not take credit or debit cards.
Visit hcafair.org.

Featured image: Courtesy photo.

Aliens on parade

UFO Festival offers family fun and history mysteries

By Zachary Lewis
[email protected]

Beam up to the Exeter UFO Festival on Saturday, Aug. 31, and Sunday, Sept. 1, for some out-of-this-world fun from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on both days, with some extra evening events on Saturday. The festival is put on by the Exeter Area Kiwanis.

“The Festival is primarily a fundraiser for the Exeter Area Kiwanis,” said Andrea Hantz, Vice President of the Exeter Area Kiwanis. “This is our biggest fundraiser that we do all year…. Every dollar that you spend at the Festival goes back into the community after expenses.”

The Town Hall Speaker Series is $35 and will run from 8:45 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The presentations take place on the first floor of Exeter Town Hall.

“Our primary attraction is the UFO speakers we bring in from around the country. They speak on all sorts of topics UFO and alien,” Hantz said.

Two of the speakers are Peter Robbins and Valerie Lofaso. Robbins is an investigative writer, author and lecturer who has focused on the subject of anomalous UFOs and their implications for humanity, according to the event website. Lofaso is an Empathic Medium, a Reiki Master/Teacher, a paranormal investigator, and author of the Tangled Web of Friends young-adult paranormal fiction series, according to the same website.

Between talks, participants can stop by the UFO Festival souvenir shop, which will also be open for the entirety of the festival and will be located right outside Exeter Town Hall. All items are inscribed with the 2024 Festival art. The same merchandise sold at the Festival is also available at Trends Gift Gallery (85 Water St., Exeter).

Coffee will be available near the Gazebo in downtown Exeter from 8:30 to 10 a.m. and then from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. there will be food and drink available, such as hamburgers, cheeseburgers and hot dogs.

In the Town Hall Common there will be kids’ activities like lawn games, face painting and “UFO Crash Site” creations, and free refreshments for the little space explorers.

“The kids’ activities are really very popular,” Hantz said.

The Exeter Incident Site trolleys start near Town Hall Common from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. for half-hour rides at $5 per person to the site of the Incident at Exeter in Kensington. Other sites of interest in Exeter will be pointed out, and there will be two trolleys running both Saturday and Sunday. Tickets for day-of rides will be sold at the trolley station next to the trolley stop on Front Street. “Tickets get sold out well before noontime on both days,” Hartz said.

Some historic videos regarding the “Incident at Exeter” will be shown on the second floor of the Town Hall for free. The video presentation is shown continuously on the second floor from 9 a.m to 4 p.m with a running time of about 25 minutes.

A handful of events only occur on Saturday, Aug. 31, and one such favorite is the free Alien Costume Contest that starts at noon. The parade will start on the sidewalk adjacent to the Town Hall Common park and will proceed on down to the Town Bandstand. At the same time there will be a free Alien Pet Contest at the Town Hall Common park, the destination of the parade.

Another Saturday-only event will be the free dance party with Johnny B from 4 to 6 p.m. in the Town Hall Common park, and the end of the evening will round off with a concert from jazz pianist Eric Mintel from 7 to 8 p.m. at the Congregational Church (21 Front St.), which is free as well.

Attendees who really love the festival can become a part of the event.

“We’re also interested in signing up enthusiastic new members who want to help and participate,” Hantz said. Whether you are a believer in UFOs or not, “It’s a fun way to do good for the community,” Hantz said. “When I talk about it with people they’re like, ‘Oh that’s really cool, that’s really different.’”

Exeter UFO Festival
Saturday, Aug. 31, and Sunday, Sept. 1, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Exeter Town Hall and downtown Exeter
exeterufofestival.org

The Exeter Incident Site Trolleys
Saturday and Sunday, 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m, $5

Town Hall Speaker Series,
Exeter Town Hall, first floor, $35

Saturday, Aug. 31:
9–10:15 a.m. Valerie Lofaso, “A Quest for Understanding”
10:30–11:45 a.m. Laird Scranton, “Ancient Symbolic Aspects of UFO Encounters”
12:30–1:45 p.m. Mike Stevens, “Greys in the Granite”
2–3:15 p.m. Eric Mintel, “Eric Mintel Investigates”
3:30–4:45 p.m. Matt Moniz & Peter Robbins
4:45–5 p.m. closing remarks

Sunday, Sept. 1:
9–10:15 a.m. Katherine Brisendine, “How Many UFO Events Have Happened in New Hampshire”
10:30–11:45 a.m. Peter Robbins, “Remembering Paul Eno”
12:30–1:45 p.m. Peter Robbins, “An Unappreciated Resource in the Battle for Disclosure”
2–3:15 p.m. Thomas Carey, “Roswell Today – From Crash to AARO (DOD: All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office)”
3:30–4:45 p.m. panel discussion
4:45– 5 p.m. closing remarks

Featured image: Courtesy photo.

Stay in the loop!

Get FREE weekly briefs on local food, music,

arts, and more across southern New Hampshire!