The Weekly Dish 24/07/25

News from the local food scene

• Saturday eats: Chef Keith Sarasin’s pop-up Indian restaurant, Aatma, now has a brick-and-mortar location. Aatma: Curry House is at 75 Mont Vernon St. in Milford; see aatmacurryhouse.com. Place an order online Sunday through Wednesday, for pickup on Saturday between 1 and 4 p.m.

• New sparkling wines: LaBelle Winery (345 Route 101, Amherst, 672-9898; 14 Route 111 in Derry; labellewinery.com) has announced the release of its new Méthode Champenoise wines, marking the first time the winery has crafted sparkling wines using this traditional French method. LaBelle’s Méthode Champenoise collection includes three wines showcasing a blend of grape varietals: a rosé made from baco noir grapes, a demi-sec made with seyval blanc grapes, and a brut made with chardonnay grapes. The wines are for sale at the Derry and Amherst locations for $65 per bottle, according to a press release.

• Sit and eat: Taquaria y Pastelitos to Go (917 Valley St, Manchester, 232-3348, taqueriaypastelitos.com) has opened its dining room for in-house seating. Take-out only since the 2020 Covid lockdown, the restaurant is currently only offering counter service, but there are plans to add table service in the near future.

• A whiskey-lover’s dream raffle: Tickets are on sale now for New Hampshire Liquor & Wine Outlet’s 2024 Buddy-Up! Raffle to benefit Best Buddies New Hampshire (bestbuddies.org/newhampshire). The winner will receive 15 bottles of premium bourbon, including three bottles of the legendary Pappy Van Winkle; tickets for two or three premium bourbon events, including airfare and hotel accommodations; and spending money. Tickets cost $100 each and will be available until Sept. 27. Visit liquorandwineoutlets.com.

• Hot sauce on the coast: The New England Hot Sauce Fest (newenglandhotsaucefest.com) will take place at Smuttynose Brewery (105 Towle Farm Road, Hampton, 601-8200, smuttynose.com) on Saturday, July 27, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. More than 30 hot sauce companies will offer samples and here will be hot pepper and a hot wing contest, food trucks and live music all day. General admission tickets cost $13 online, $15 at the door. VIP tickets cost $17 online and allow early access to the Festival.

Kiddie Pool 24/07/25

Family fun for whenever

On stage

• The Palace Youth Theatre Summer Camp presents Newsies, Jr.on Friday, July 26, at 7 p.m. and Saturday, July 27, at 11 a.m. at the Palace Theatre (80 Hanover St., Manchester, 668-5588, palacetheatre.org). The student actors are in grades 2 through 12. Tickets start at $12.

• Catch Rock of Ages, Youth Edition on Friday, July 26, and Saturday, July 27, at 7 p.m. at the Chubb Theatre (44 S. Main St., Concord, 225-1111, ccanh.com). Set on L.A.’s famous Sunset Strip in 1987, Rock of Ages tells the story of Drew, a city boy from South Detroit, and Sherrie, a small-town girl, who have both traveled to L.A. to chase their dreams of making it big and falling in love. Tickets are $18.75 for adults, $15.75 for students and seniors.

On screen

• Downtown Summer Series Movie Nights feature screenings in Manchester’s Veterans Park (723 Elm St.). Concessions are available for purchase.Monsters, Inc.(G, 2001) will be screened on Wednesday, July 31, at dusk.

• Movie Night Mondays On the Beach at Hampton Beach feature screenings at dusk on the large screen next to the playground, weather permitting (rain date is Tuesday). Admission is free. On Monday, July 29, the film to be screened is Mummies (PG, 2023)

Insects

• Head to Prescott Farm Environmental Education Center (928 White Oaks Road, Laconia, prescottfarm.org) for Fireflies Light Up the Sky on Saturday, July 27, from 7 to 8 p.m. to learn about fireflies and see them in action. This is for ages 12 and older. The cost is $15 for nonmembers.

• The second annual Capital Area New Hampshire Butterfly Survey will take place on Saturday, July 27, from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at NH Audubon’s McLane Center (84 Silk Farm Road, Concord) to gather long-term butterfly data to understand the changing ranges of butterfly species over time and support statewide conservation efforts. Visit nhaudubon.org.

Cooking

• On Wednesday, July 31, from 1 to 3 p.m. the Nashua Public Library (2 Court St.) will host an event called “Culinary Explorers: No Cook Recipes In-Person,” for those in grades K-5, according to their website. Participants will use all five senses to create a culinary masterpiece while practicing kitchen safety, working on chef vocabulary and fine motor skills, and trying new foods. There will be two “no-cook” dishes created during this program, which is billed as “vegetarian and nut-free.” Visit nashualibrary.org

Frolic in the fields

• The 2024 Sunflower Festival at Coppal House Farm (118 N. River Road, Lee, nhsunflower.com) takes place Saturday, July 27, through Sunday, Aug. 4, 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. (plus a special sunrise session on July 28). See the website for admission prices. Visit the blooming fields and then enjoy live music, an artisan craft fair, food and more.

Magic

• The Manchester Public Library on Thursday, July 25, from 6 to 7 p.m. will host magician BJ Hickman, who has been reviewed as “a master of the double-take and one who connects with wonderful audience rapport,” for their “Family Fare” program at the library, according to the website. Hickman is credited with being “the magician who keeps getting invited back,” and is a member of The International Brotherhood of Magicians (I.B.M.) and went on to become an “Order of Merlin-Shield,” according to their website. His one-man magic show is suitable for audiences of all ages to enjoy, according to their website. In the event of rain the program will be held in the library auditorium. For more information contact Mary Gallant at 624-6550, ext. 7611, or visit manchester.lib.nh.us.

Meet the author

• Children’s author Celia Botto will visit Bookery (844 Elm St., Manchester, bookerymht.com) on Saturday, July 27, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. to talk about her upcoming book When Ayden Paints the Sky, illustrated by Samantha Lane Fiddy. All ages are welcome.

66 years of a classic town fair

Find food and family fun at the annual Canterbury Fair

By Zachary Lewis
zlewis@hippopress.com

The 66th Annual Canterbury Fair starts with the ringing of church bells at 9 a.m. on Saturday, July 27, at the center of town in Canterbury.

From 9 to 11 a.m. The Woodchuck Classic 5K Road Race happens, part of the Capital Area Race (CARS), as well as the 2K Chipmunk Scramble Kids Race.

The center of town will be closed off to vehicular traffic for the fair, which is always held on the last Saturday in July. There will be shuttle buses to and from the festivities, with signs leading the way from the parking areas.

“We have a village green that’s covered with craftspeople and artisans who come from all over the place. I think there’s 40 vendors this year bringing their beautiful wares, pottery, jewelry… lovely things … things you can come Christmas shopping for or birthday shopping for or just please yourself for,” said Lisa Carlson, who chaired the event for 25 years before stepping down but recently returned to co-chair.

“We have an assortment of machinery, like old antique machinery that works,” Carlson said. “We have four different turners coming to the fair this year. They’ll be under tents carving bowls and spoons and just doing their wood crafting.” A blacksmith will be on site too.

The fair is a perfect place to take the kids, she said “We have a whole hillside of activities that go on all day long for toddlers and young children,” Carlson said. Mr. Aaron will be performing at 11 a.m. in front of the library. There will also be face painting for the little ones as well as reptiles and farm animals to see.

Plenty of food will be on site with fair fare such as the famous chicken barbecue, hot dogs, hamburgers, veggie burgers and lemonade.

“The Ladies Benevolent Society still does their world famous bake sale where you can buy authentic Shaker hand pies if you get here early enough and they don’t sell out,” Carlson said. The Canterbury Ladies Benevolent Society started the tradition when they added a chicken barbecue to the “Canterbury Country Fair and Bazaar” they had been sponsoring for several years, according to a press release. “It was a fair fundraiser to maintain the uptake of our Parish Hall, which is a community building in Canterbury,” Carlson said.

The LBS was on to something special.

“That fair just took off as a very successful not only fundraiser but ‘gatherer’ of people in the community who wanted to get together and see each other and old friends came back to see old friends,” Carlson said.

At the Gazebo, Sue Ann Erb and her Suzuki Strings students will be performing. Carlson noted there’s music all day at the fair. At 1:30 p.m. the string band Lunch at the Dump will be performing.

Fairgoers can shop at the Whatnot Sale, which Carlson described as “like a gigundous yard sale, flea market … that’s held in Canterbury Elementary School cafeteria auditorium and it’s stuffed to the gills with all kinds of treasure.” There’s also a book sale in the town hall.

The Canterbury Historical Society will have an exhibit and there will be canoe polo at the Fire Pond.

The sense of community is the whole point of the festivities.

“It’s a big builder of making Canterbury the lovely place it is to live. People move here because they hear about how good the schools are but more about community spirit,” she said.

66th Annual Canterbury Fair
When: Saturday, July 27, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Admission: free; $5 suggested parking fee donation
Cash is preferred due to limited internet access
More: canterburyfair.com
Race registration: runreg.com/canterbury-woodchuck-classic-5k

Featured image: Courtesy photo.

Treasure Hunt 24/07/25

Dear Donna,

I can’t tell you how this ended up in my mom’s kitchen drawer. It says Jabel and it’s dated 1916. Can you share any information about it with me? Keep it or throw it away?

Thank you, Donna,

Lee

Dear Lee,

I’ve got to say I’m smiling thinking of how many unusual items are found in estates. Would like to know the original story of how it got there!

I remember my mom having a junk drawer in our kitchen. It too had anything and everything in it.

Your piece is a Jabel Rings stone gauge for sizing. Jabel was in Newark, N.J., opening in 1916.

The tool works by placing the gemstones in holes and round flats to determine a size. If you look really close you should be able to see carat sizes on one side and millimeters on the other side. It’s a very neat and helpful jeweler’s tool. How that works and how it got into your mom’s kitchen? Hmm, maybe to use for stripping herbs?

The value of your little treasure is in the $50 range. I hope this was helpful, Lee.

Ink show

More than 100 tattoo booths and other excitement at the Live Free or Die Tattoo Expo

By Zachary Lewis
zlewis@hippopress.com

The 16th annual Live Free or Die Tattoo Expo begins on Friday, July 26, and goes until Sunday, July 28, at the DoubleTree Hilton in Downtown Manchester.

Mike Boisvert, General Manager of Tattoo Angus/Spider-Bite Body Piercing, acts as coordinator, stage manager and graphics lead of the Expo. “John, who’s the owner, he also owns Spider-Bite, he and I pretty much do 95 percent of everything, organizing, planning, and getting everything together, contacting the city and everything that we need to do,” Boisvert said.

This year’s logo was created by Steve Cummings, who owns a shop called Blood Oath Tattoo in Concord. “This year we’d like to hold the Expo in honor of all of our fallen friends,” Boisvert said. These include Lyle Tuttle, Bill Rhine, Dave Marden, Jeff Denoncour, and Michael “CHOPS” Gray.

This community event will showcase tattooers from all over. “We just upgraded to 134 booths in the Expo room this year and I’d say probably about 110 are tattoo booths and they’re usually two people, so you’re going to have like 250-plus tattoo artists there ready to tattoo you throughout the weekend.”

That’s not all. “We also have body piercers, we also have vendors … we have people that do taxidermy with bugs, clothing companies that come in.”

Appointments aren’t necessarily necessary. “Anybody can get tattooed as long as you come in and you have an idea and someone is free and you like their work, they’ll gladly tattoo you,” Boisvert said.

“We’re open 13 hours on Saturday so I mean that’s a good chunk of time that you can get tattooed if you can sit that long…. As long as you respect the artist and respect the craft and come in there knowing that they are busy but they’re going to take their time to, that’s what they’re there for, to tattoo everybody,” he said.

When the doors open on Friday at 5 p.m. the tattoo contest registration begins and pin-up pageant registration begins. Shortly after, at 7 p.m., attendees will be treated to No Gimmicks Needed Suspension. “They swing from a steel truss that they have. They do it to music and it’s like an art performance and they do one show a day,” Boisvert said.

Then at 8 p.m., the Monsters of Schlock perform. “They’re from Toronto and they hold like 26 Guinness book world records for pulling a car with hooks in his back. The other guy has the record for most mouse traps snapped on his tongue or his face … We always try to keep it pretty cool. ”

Then at 9 p.m. the wondrous Sally Sapphire Aerialist will dazzle attendees. “She’s also a local tattooer. She’s an aerialist so she’s bringing a lollipop stand and will be doing two performances.” Those three performers will also perform Saturday.

The rest of the evening will be devoted to the tattoo contests.

When the doors open on Saturday at 11 a.m. the tattoo contest registration and pin-up pageant registration begin. The day will also feature a raffle (to benefit Manchester Animal Shelter). On Sunday, there will be another tattoo contest as well as performances by the Monsters of Schlock and No Gimmicks Needed Suspension.

So why tattoo at all? “Some people like the pain, it’s therapeutic…. Some people just really respect the craft and the art and like to express themselves with imagery that caters to their personality,” Boisvert said.

Live Free or Die Tattoo Expo
Where: DoubleTree by Hilton, 700 Elm St., Manchester
When: Friday, July 26, 5 p.m. to midnight; Saturday, July 27, 11 a.m. to midnight; Sunday, July 28, noon to 8 p.m.
Admission: one-day pass $15 ($20 at the door); two-day pass $25 ($30 at the door); three-day pass $35 ($40 at the door)
More: livefreeordietattoo.com, 625-1000

Featured image: Courtesy photo.

The Art Roundup 24/07/25

The latest from NH’s theater, arts and literary communities

• Classical piano: On Thursday, July 25, from 7 to 9:30 p.m. pianist Paul Bisaccia will be performing Beethoven’s “Waldstein” Sonata as well as selections from Haydn, Czerny and Liszt for the Summer Music Associates concert at First Baptist Church (461 Main St., New London). Tickets are $25 for adults and $5 for students. Visit summermusicassociates.org.

• Peruse the crafts: Gallery in the Garden (148 Sandogardy Pond Road, Northfield) will be held on Saturday, July 27, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, July 28, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., according to their website. It is the place to purchase a perfect piece from an array of fine handcraft, meet talented artists and walk around the pondside gardens of annuals and perennials at your leisure. Visit their Facebook page for more information.

• Bagpipes and adventure: The Oscar Foss Memorial Library will host Shirefest on Saturday, July 27, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at T.L. Storer Reservation (1513 Province Road, Barnstead) to wrap up their summer reading program with food and drinks, creative activities, and adventures for fellow hobbits, wizards and elves, according to their website. Local vendors will be there with unique goods, and special musical guest Jordan Tirrell-Wysocki will perform. Visit oscarfoss.org for tickets.

WINDHAM BANDS
The Windham Community Bands will perform at Crows’ Feat Farm (178 Drinkwater Road, Kensington, 498-6262, crowsfeatfarm.org) on Sunday, July 28, at 3 p.m. The Windham Community Bands (WCB) were established in May 1997; membership quickly increased from the original eight musicians and now consists of about 80 members comprising three performing groups: the Windham Concert Band, the Windham Swing Band, and the Windham Flute Ensemble, according to their website. Tickets start at $10.

• One screening only: The Park Theatre in Jaffrey will show Seven Samurai, the Akira Kurosawa classic, in 4K on their giant screen on Friday, July 26, at 6:30 p.m. in Japanese with English subtitles, according to their website. Part I lasts 1 hour and 52 minutes; then there will be a brief intermission before Part II, which lasts 1 hour and 35 minutes, according to their website. Visit theparktheatre.org.

• Interesting instruments: The Strawbery Banke Museum (14 Hancock St., Portsmouth) will host the lecture “Tuneful Treasures — Discovering Musical Instruments in American Collections” with Darcy Kuronen on Thursday, July 25, from 6 to 7 p.m. in the Lawrence J. Yerdon Visitors Center. Kuronen, the former Curator of Musical Instruments at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, will share anecdotes from his career of working with historical instruments in collections throughout the United States, according to the website. Tickets cost $20. Visit strawberybanke.org.

CELTIC BAND
Celtic band The High Kings will perform at The Flying Monkey (39 Main St., Plymouth, 536-2551, flyingmonkeynh.com) Sunday, July 28, at 7:30 p.m. The High Kings continue to set the bar high for Irish folk bands across the world and are widely regarded to be at the forefront of the genre, according to a press release. Tickets start at $39 through the Flying Monkey website.

—Zachary Lewis

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