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SUMMARY:South County Folk Festival in Downtown Wakefield
DESCRIPTION:NOTE: This is a rescheduled event.\nSouth County Folk Festival in Downtown Wakefield makes its debut Saturday\, September 19\, turning Sunset Stage at Birch & Bay into a nine-hour outdoor celebration of folk\, indie folk\, Americana\, and the music being made around Rhode Island right now. \nPresented by Westerly Sound in partnership with Sunset Stage at Birch & Bay\, the first-year festival runs from noon to 9 p.m. Its announced lineup brings together internationally touring musicians and emerging regional artists\, including Brad Barr\, Nic Panken\, Lefty Parker\, Ruby of Thanks\, Lily Rhodes and Breachway. \nThere will also be food\, drinks and vendors throughout the day. The festival is open to all ages; children 12 and younger get in free\, and free parking is available. \nBut the most interesting thing about this new festival may be its definition of “folk.” \nThis isn’t an afternoon devoted exclusively to traditional acoustic music. The musicians gathered in Wakefield stretch the term through indie rock\, alt-country\, experimental folk\, lo-fi recording and contemporary singer-songwriter music. \nAt the center is a musician whose Rhode Island roots reach back decades. \nLive Music on the Main Stage\n11:00–11:20 a.m. — The Full Fill\n11:35–11:55 a.m. — Christina Holmes\n12:10–12:30 p.m. — Margeaux Lynn\n12:45–1:05 p.m. — Lily Rhodes\n1:20–2:00 p.m. — Guess Method\n2:15–2:45 p.m. — Mead Savage\n3:00–3:20 p.m. — Chrissy Stewart\n3:35–3:55 p.m. — Sam Slick\n4:10–4:30 p.m. — Josh Feld\n4:45–5:30 p.m. — Kara McKee\n5:30–6:30 p.m. — Will Evans\n6:40–7:05 p.m. — Lefty Parker\n7:15–7:40 p.m. — Aedie\n7:50–8:50 p.m. — Brad Barr \nAfter the Show\n8:20–10:00 p.m. — DJ Dyn-O-Mite \nBrad Barr Comes Home to Rhode Island\nBrad Barr has spent much of his musical career elsewhere\, but his story begins in Providence. \nBarr and his brother Andrew grew up in Rhode Island and became known through The Slip\, the adventurous trio they formed with bassist Marc Friedman. The band developed a following through years of touring and an improvisational approach that resisted easy classification\, moving among rock\, jazz\, folk and experimental music. \nBrad and Andrew eventually relocated to Montreal. \nThere\, an accidental musical connection helped create the next major chapter of their careers. \nBrad Barr heard harpist Sarah Pagé practicing through the wall of his apartment. The musicians met\, began playing together\, and The Barr Brothers eventually emerged around Brad and Andrew Barr with Pagé. \nThe resulting music was difficult to categorize in a different way than The Slip had been. Folk and Americana sat alongside blues\, African and other global influences\, unconventional guitar techniques and Pagé’s harp. \nThe Barr Brothers’ 2014 album Sleeping Operator earned a Juno Award nomination\, while subsequent records and extensive touring established the group internationally. \nBrad Barr has now spent roughly three decades making music professionally\, but Sunday’s appearance brings a Providence-born songwriter back to Rhode Island for a festival explicitly celebrating the state’s folk music community. \nThat makes him an especially appropriate anchor for the first South County Folk Festival. \nLily Rhodes Represents Another Side of Rhode Island Songwriting\nLily Rhodes brings the festival closer to home again. \nBased in Warren\, Rhode Island\, Rhodes describes herself as a singer-songwriter\, producer\, writer and multimedia artist. \nHer released music includes Weather the Storm\, Leave Me Blue\, Calling To Say and Rightful Place. \nShe’s been part of Rhode Island’s independent music scene for years. Her performances have included WaterFire Providence and Newport’s NIMFest summer concert series\, where she appeared at King Park in August. \nRhodes’ work sits comfortably within the singer-songwriter tradition while reflecting the increasingly fluid boundaries between folk\, indie music and self-produced recording. \nThat variety matters on a nine-hour bill. \nA festival built entirely around musicians who approach songwriting the same way can become repetitive no matter how talented they are. South County Folk Festival appears to be using “folk” more as a common starting point than a strict musical rule. \nLefty Parker Adds Another Voice to the Bill\nLefty Parker joins Brad Barr\, Nic Panken\, Ruby of Thanks\, Lily Rhodes and Breachway on the festival’s announced lineup. \nCompared with some of Sunday’s other performers\, reliable published biographical material about Parker is relatively limited. Rather than fill that gap with assumptions\, it’s more useful to view the booking in the context of the festival itself. \nThe organizers aren’t presenting South County Folk Festival simply as a collection of established touring acts. They’re explicitly pairing artists with broader touring histories with rising talent connected to South County and the regional scene. \nThat creates a discovery component. \nYou may arrive because you recognize Brad Barr or another artist on the bill and leave having heard someone you didn’t know at noon. \nThat’s one of the things small festivals can still do particularly well. \nA First-Year Festival With a Rhode Island Point of View\nThe phrase “first annual” carries a certain optimism. \nThere isn’t yet a long South County Folk Festival tradition to draw upon. No stories about legendary performances from ten years ago. No established routine about where everyone puts their blankets or which performer traditionally closes the afternoon. \nThis is year one. \nWesterly Sound and Sunset Stage are effectively asking whether there’s room for a new folk-oriented gathering in South County. \nRhode Island already occupies an unusually important place in American folk music because of the Newport Folk Festival\, whose history reaches back to 1959. \nTrying to duplicate Newport would make little sense. \nSouth County Folk Festival instead appears to be working on a deliberately smaller scale\, using a downtown Wakefield venue and a mixture of touring and regional musicians to build something centered on the community around it. \nThe lineup itself tells that story. \nBrad Barr was born in Providence and built an international career. \nBreachway’s Noah Barreto grew up attending Newport Folk Festival and now lives and performs beyond Rhode Island. \nLily Rhodes is actively making music in the state. \nNic Panken and Ruby of Thanks bring outside voices into the mix. \nIt’s regional without being insular. \nFolk Music Has Never Stayed Still\nThere’s also something fitting about calling all of this folk music. \nThe genre has always changed depending on who was making it and when. \nTraditional songs became singer-songwriter music. Blues and country became intertwined with it. Bob Dylan plugged in an electric guitar at Newport and helped ignite one of the most famous arguments in American music history. \nLater generations brought rock\, psychedelia\, indie music\, electronic textures and experimental recording techniques with them. \nThe South County lineup reflects that continuing evolution. \nBreachway can use pedal steel and synthesizers. \nRuby of Thanks can make a home-recorded song feel like an artifact discovered from another decade. \nBrad Barr can move between folk songwriting and guitar experimentation. \nLily Rhodes can be songwriter\, producer and multimedia artist at the same time. \nThere doesn’t have to be one correct answer to what folk music sounds like in 2026. \nThe common thread remains the song. \nSunset Stage Puts the Festival in Downtown Wakefield\nThe setting gives the festival another advantage. \nBirch & Bay sits at 323 Main Street in downtown Wakefield\, rather than on an isolated festival field miles outside town. \nThe coastal-inspired restaurant includes indoor dining and bar space along with its seasonal outdoor areas\, while Sunset Stage provides the setting for live music. \nFor the festival\, organizers are promising food\, drinks and vendors in addition to the performances. \nThat makes this more than a sequence of concerts with everyone asked to leave between sets. \nIt’s designed as an all-day gathering. \nWith music running from noon until 9 p.m.\, attendees can make an afternoon of it\, stay through dinner and continue into the evening sets. \nKids 12 and younger are admitted free\, which also makes the festival unusually approachable for families interested in exposing younger listeners to live music without buying another full-price ticket. \n  \nDetails\nEvent: South County Folk Festival\nDate: Saturday\, September 19\, 2026\nTime: Noon–9 p.m.\nLocation: Sunset Stage at Birch & Bay\nSetting: Outdoor festival at Birch & Bay’s Sunset Stage\nAddress: 323 Main Street\, Wakefield\, RI 02879\nPresented by: Westerly Sound in partnership with Sunset Stage at Birch & Bay\nAdmission: Ticketed event; advance purchase is encouraged and capacity is limited\nAges: All ages\nChildren: Ages 12 and younger admitted free\nFood & Drink: Food and beverages available during the festival\nVendors: Vendors will be on site\nParking: Free parking\nDuration: Approximately nine hours\nRefunds: Available up to seven days before the event through Eventbrite \nMore information is available at the Event Website link below. \nTo purchase tickets\, click the Event Ticketing link below. \n  \nFeatured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people\, location\, or activities shown.
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/south-county-folk-festival-in-downtown-wakefield/
LOCATION:Sunset Stage at Birch & Bay\, 323 Main Street\, Wakefield\, RI\, 02879\, United States
CATEGORIES:Sunset Stage at Birch & Bay
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SUMMARY:Niantic Bay Oyster Festival Brings Local Oysters\, Beer and Live Music to St. John’s Green
DESCRIPTION:Niantic Bay Oyster Festival Brings Local Oysters\, Beer and Live Music to St. John’s Green Saturday\, Sept. 19\, turning the downtown Niantic green into a six-hour celebration of Connecticut shellfish\, local breweries\, food and live music\, all supporting the Miracle League of Southeastern Connecticut. \nNow in its eighth year\, the free festival runs from noon to 6 p.m. at St. John’s Green\, 400 Main Street. The premise is straightforward: eat oysters\, sample local food and drinks\, listen to three bands and raise money for an organization working to make recreation accessible to people with disabilities. \nAnd the oysters really are local. \nFive oyster producers are on the 2026 lineup: Behan Family Farm\, Watch Hill Oysters\, Niantic Bay Oyster Farm\, Sixpenny Oyster Farm and CT Cultured Oysters. Together they give festivalgoers a chance to sample shellfish from several growers rather than getting the experience of a single raw bar. \nBeer\, Cocktails and Plenty Beyond Oysters\nThe beverage lineup has a similarly local focus. Niantic Public House & Brewery\, Grey Sail Brewing\, Tox Brewing Company\, Myrcene Ale Co.\, Outer Light Brewing Company and Taylor Brooke Brewery are among those scheduled\, along with By the Bay Niantic and cocktails from Sip\, Sip Hooray. \nFor anyone who doesn’t consider a dozen oysters lunch\, the food lineup broadens considerably. \nThe Black Sheep\, Frank’s Wood-Fired Pizza\, Keifer’s Kettle Korn\, Kona Shaved Ice\, Constantine’s on the Bay\, Yummy Wagon and Beach Buns Hot Dog Stand are among the announced food vendors. \nFood and drinks operate on a ticket system. Tickets cost $1 each and can be purchased with cash or credit at festival ticket tables. Individual vendors determine how many tickets their items cost\, so that $1 is the value of a ticket\, not the price of an oyster or drink. \nAdmission itself is free. \nThree Bands\, Five and a Half Hours of Music\nMusic starts when the festival opens and continues through most of the afternoon. \nAzalea Drive gets the first slot from noon to 2 p.m. \nFusion takes over from 2 to 4 p.m. \nThen southeastern Connecticut favorite Wicked Peach closes the musical lineup from 4 to 5:30 p.m. The longtime regional rock band has become a familiar presence at festivals\, clubs and outdoor stages around southeastern Connecticut\, making them a natural choice for the festival’s late-afternoon set. \nWith the performances scheduled consecutively\, visitors can hear live music for five and a half of the festival’s six hours. \nA Festival With a Larger Purpose\nThe oysters and beer may get people onto the green\, but the reason for the festival is the Miracle League of Southeastern Connecticut. \nThe nonprofit works to provide recreational opportunities for children and others with physical\, cognitive and developmental challenges. Its work includes accessible sports programs and a specially designed athletic field intended to remove barriers that can prevent people with disabilities from participating in traditional recreational sports. \nThe Niantic Bay Oyster Festival is one of the organization’s annual fundraisers\, and organizers say 100% of festival proceeds benefit the Miracle League of Southeastern Connecticut. \nThat gives every plate of oysters and round of drinks a second purpose. \nThe festival also includes cornhole and a children’s activity area\, making this more than an adults-only oyster-and-beer afternoon. \nHow the Festival Works\nThere’s no admission charge\, although parking on St. John’s Green costs $5. \nFood and beverage tickets are sold in $1 increments\, with both cash and credit cards accepted at the ticket tables. Tickets are nonrefundable. \nAnyone purchasing alcoholic beverages should also bring identification. Organizers say they will conduct a 100% ID check before issuing drink wristbands. \nOne other rule is worth knowing before bringing the entire family: pets and emotional-support animals are not permitted on the festival grounds. Service animals as defined by the ADA are permitted. \nWith five oyster growers\, a substantial collection of local breweries and food vendors\, three live bands and six hours on the green\, the Niantic Bay Oyster Festival has grown into considerably more than an afternoon raw bar. \nAnd every oyster\, beer and food ticket helps support a local organization built around the idea that everyone should have the opportunity to play. \nMore information is available at the Event Website link below. \nDetails\nEvent: 8th Annual Niantic Bay Oyster Festival\nDate: Saturday\, Sept. 19\, 2026\nTime: Noon–6 p.m.\nLocation: St. John’s Green\nAddress: 400 Main Street\, Niantic\, CT 06357\nAdmission: Free\nParking: $5 on St. John’s Green\nFood & Beverage Tickets: $1 each; cash and credit accepted at ticket tables; no refunds\nLive Music: Azalea Drive\, noon–2 p.m.; Fusion\, 2–4 p.m.; Wicked Peach\, 4–5:30 p.m.\nOyster Vendors: Behan Family Farm\, Watch Hill Oysters\, Niantic Bay Oyster Farm\, Sixpenny Oyster Farm and CT Cultured Oysters\nActivities: Local oysters\, food and beverages\, live music\, cornhole and children’s activities\nAlcohol: ID required for drink wristbands\nPets: No pets or emotional-support animals; ADA-defined service animals permitted\nBeneficiary: 100% of festival proceeds benefit the Miracle League of Southeastern Connecticut \n  \n  \nFeatured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people\, location\, or activities shown.
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/niantic-bay-oyster-festival-brings-local-oysters-beer-and-live-music-to-st-johns-green/
LOCATION:ST John’s Green\, 400 Main Street\, Niantic\, 06357\, United States
CATEGORIES:ST John's Green
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SUMMARY:Mitchell Farm Music Festival Brings Three Days of ’70s-Rooted Music to a Horse Sanctuary
DESCRIPTION:Mitchell Farm Music Festival Brings Three Days of ’70s-Rooted Music to a Horse Retirement Sanctuary Sept. 18–20\, pairing Jon Pousette-Dart\, Laurel Canyon\, Broken Arrow and Mystic Dead with a setting unlike the typical weekend concert venue: a working sanctuary where aged and infirm horses have come to spend the rest of their lives. \nNow in its 19th year\, the annual fundraiser takes place at Mitchell Farm Equine Retirement in Salem\, about 20 miles from Mystic. The weekend stretches from a Friday evening concert through two afternoon performances Saturday and Sunday\, with proceeds helping support the horses\, ponies and donkeys living at the nonprofit farm. \nIt is part music festival\, part picnic and part introduction to a place built around a simple idea: retirement should mean retirement for horses\, too. \nThree Days of Music\nThe festival opens Friday at 7 p.m. with the Jon Pousette-Dart Acoustic Duo. \nPousette-Dart emerged nationally in the 1970s as leader of the Pousette-Dart Band\, blending folk\, country and soft rock during a period when artists such as James Taylor\, the Eagles and Little Feat were expanding the boundaries of American singer-songwriter music. The band released a series of albums for Capitol Records and became a fixture of the era’s college and concert circuit. \nSaturday’s music begins at 2:30 p.m. with Laurel Canyon and Broken Arrow\, a pairing firmly rooted in the music of the late 1960s and 1970s. \nLaurel Canyon celebrates the music associated with the famed Los Angeles neighborhood that became a creative center for singer-songwriters and folk-rock musicians during that period. \nBroken Arrow turns the focus toward the music of Neil Young\, drawing from the electric and acoustic sides of a catalog that stretches from intimate folk songs to the raw guitar sound associated with Crazy Horse. \nSunday belongs to Mystic Dead\, beginning at 2:30 p.m. The southeastern Connecticut band has built its shows around the music of the Grateful Dead\, making the final afternoon a natural fit for a festival that openly embraces the sounds of the 1970s. \nWhere Retired Horses Get to Be Horses Again\nThe setting gives the weekend considerably more meaning than a typical outdoor concert. \nMitchell Farm Equine Retirement was founded by Dee Doolittle in August 2004 and received federal nonprofit status the following year. It became fully accredited by the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries in 2012 and says it has provided permanent sanctuary to more than 127 horses during its 22 years of operation. \nIts mission is to provide a safe and comfortable retirement for aged and infirm horses while educating the public about equine welfare. The farm describes retirement there as an opportunity for horses to have the time and space to simply be horses again. \nThat distinction matters. \nThese aren’t horses being maintained so they can continue working\, performing or carrying riders. Mitchell Farm exists as their final home\, providing the food\, shelter and specialized care that older animals may need after their working lives have ended. \nAnd demand for that kind of retirement is substantial. Mitchell Farm’s admissions information currently estimates a waiting period of two to four years for horses needing placement. \nWhere the Festival Money Goes\nThe Music Festival is one of the events that helps make that retirement possible. \nMitchell Farm says proceeds from its fundraising events go directly toward feed\, veterinary care and farrier expenses for horses in its care. \nThat means the connection between buying a festival ticket and supporting the animals is unusually direct: a weekend spent listening to music on the farm helps pay for the everyday necessities of caring for an aging herd. \nFestivalgoers will be able to see the place their money supports while they’re there. \nBring a Chair\, a Picnic and Settle In\nThe atmosphere is deliberately informal. \nGuests are encouraged to bring a blanket or lawn chair\, and they’re welcome to pack a picnic and BYOB. Food will also be available on site. According to the farm’s current festival information\, the concerts take place under a tent and are scheduled rain or shine. Dogs are not permitted. \nThe farm’s social media announcement lists The Grill by Kay as Friday’s food vendor\, with Rustic StrEats on site Saturday and Sunday. \nFriday parking opens at 5 p.m.\, with gates opening at 6 p.m. before the 7 p.m. concert. Saturday and Sunday parking opens at noon\, followed by gates at 1:30 p.m. and music at 2:30 p.m. \nTickets are available at the gate. \nFor a Beacon reader in the Mystic area\, this one requires a little more driving than most of our weekend picks. But roughly half an hour up Route 85 leads to something that’s difficult to duplicate closer to the coast: three days of music from the ’70s and the artists it inspired\, performed at a farm devoted to giving old horses a comfortable place to spend their final years. \nMore information is available at the Event Website link below. \nTo purchase tickets\, click the Event Ticketing link below. \nDetails\nEvent: 19th Annual Mitchell Farm Music Festival\nDates: Friday\, Sept. 18–Sunday\, Sept. 20\, 2026\nLocation: Mitchell Farm Equine Retirement\nAddress: 300 East Haddam Road (Route 82)\, Salem\, CT 06420\nWeather: Rain or shine; tented event\nSeating: Bring a blanket or lawn chair\nFood: Picnics welcome; food vendors available\nBeverages: BYOB permitted\nDogs: Not permitted\nBeneficiary: Mitchell Farm Equine Retirement; fundraising proceeds help pay for feed\, veterinary care and farrier costs for horses in its care. \nFriday\, Sept. 18: Jon Pousette-Dart Acoustic Duo at 7 p.m.; parking opens 5 p.m.; gate opens 6 p.m.; gate admission $42 or $40 cash. \nSaturday\, Sept. 19: Laurel Canyon and Broken Arrow at 2:30 p.m.; parking opens noon; gate opens 1:30 p.m.; gate admission $72 or $70 cash. \nSunday\, Sept. 20: Mystic Dead at 2:30 p.m.; parking opens noon; gate opens 1:30 p.m.; gate admission $32 or $30 cash. \n\n\nFeatured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people\, location\, or activities shown.
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/mitchell-farm-music-festival-brings-three-days-of-70s-rooted-music-to-a-horse-sanctuary/2026-09-19/
LOCATION:Mitchell Farm\, 300 E Haddam Rd\, Salem\, 06420\, United States
CATEGORIES:Mitchell Farm
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SUMMARY:1st Annual Misquamicut End of Summer Car Show
DESCRIPTION:1st Annual Misquamicut End of Summer Car Show brings classic and specialty vehicles to the Misquamicut Drive-In Theatre on Saturday\, September 19\, for a free afternoon of cars\, live music and end-of-season fun near the beach. \nThe inaugural show runs from noon to 3:30 p.m. and is presented by the Misquamicut Business Association. Admission is free for spectators\, with classic and specialty cars providing the main attraction and a $100 cash prize waiting for one Best in Show winner. \nLive music comes from Never Enuff\, adding a local rock soundtrack to an afternoon designed to give Misquamicut one more big gathering before summer officially gives way to fall. \nA New September Tradition Starts in Misquamicut\nThe “1st Annual” on the poster matters. \nThis isn’t the latest edition of an established Westerly car show being given a new name. The Misquamicut Business Association is launching a new event built specifically around the end of the beach season. \nThat’s familiar territory for the organization. \nThe MBA has spent years stretching Misquamicut’s calendar beyond the traditional Memorial Day-to-Labor Day beach season with festivals\, drive-in movies and other events that give visitors reasons to return when the biggest summer crowds have disappeared. \nA car show fits surprisingly well into that strategy. \nSeptember still offers the possibility of beautiful beach weather\, but Atlantic Avenue is no longer dealing with the relentless traffic of peak summer weekends. \nAnd the venue was practically made for parking interesting cars where people can walk around them. \nThe Misquamicut Drive-In Becomes a Show Field\nThe car show will be held at the Misquamicut Drive-In Theatre\, the seasonal outdoor movie venue operated by the Misquamicut Business Association. \nThe drive-in is located at 316 Atlantic Avenue\, on the grounds of Wuskenau Town Beach. \nDuring movie nights\, vehicles line up facing the giant outdoor screen. \nSaturday afternoon\, the vehicles themselves become the entertainment. \nThe show is being promoted for classic and specialty cars\, which gives organizers considerably more flexibility than a show restricted to one make\, decade or automotive category. \nExpect the potential for restored American classics\, muscle cars\, sports cars\, customs and other unusual vehicles rather than rows of identical late-model automobiles. \nWhat Exactly Makes a Car a Classic?\nThat’s a question with more than one answer. \nThe term “classic car” is used casually for almost anything old and desirable\, but formal definitions vary. \nConnecticut\, Rhode Island\, insurers\, collectors and automotive organizations can all use different age requirements or terminology. \nCollectors may also make distinctions among antique\, vintage\, classic\, muscle\, exotic and specialty vehicles. \nFor a community car show\, those boundaries are generally less important. \nWhat matters is whether the vehicle gives people a reason to stop walking. \nSometimes that’s a meticulously restored car that looks exactly as it did when it left the showroom decades ago. \nSometimes it’s a custom build that looks nothing like the factory intended. \nAnd sometimes it’s the car someone remembers sitting in as a kid. \nThe Cars Can Turn Into Time Machines\nThat’s one reason small local car shows remain so popular. \nPeople don’t necessarily respond to an old car because they know its horsepower\, engine displacement or production numbers. \nThey remember it. \nA 1950s Chevrolet can evoke an entirely different America than a late-’60s muscle car. \nA 1970s land yacht with acres of hood and chrome can instantly recall an era when fuel economy wasn’t exactly leading the design meeting. \nCars from the 1980s and 1990s are now old enough to trigger the same nostalgia among younger collectors. \nThe definition of an “old car” keeps moving. \nSomeone who attended a classic-car show in 1986 probably wasn’t expecting to see a 1986 vehicle entered as a collectible. \nForty years later\, that same car can qualify for historic plates in many states. \nTime is rude that way. \nThere’s $100 Riding on Best in Show\nThe afternoon isn’t purely exhibition. \nOrganizers are offering a $100 cash prize for Best in Show. \nThe event announcement doesn’t break the competition into a long list of vehicle classes\, so the emphasis appears to be on choosing an overall standout rather than distributing trophies among dozens of narrowly defined categories. \nThat should make the field interesting. \nAn immaculate restoration can end up competing for attention with a custom build\, unusual survivor or specialty vehicle. \nThe poster also promises other giveaways during the afternoon. \nFor spectators\, however\, judging is unofficial and considerably easier. \nWalk around until you find the one you’d most like to drive home. \nThat’s your winner. \nNever Enuff Supplies the Live Soundtrack\nThe show isn’t relying entirely on engines for its soundtrack. \nNever Enuff will perform live during the afternoon. \nThe Rhode Island-based group has been a familiar presence at area bars\, festivals\, outdoor concerts and community events\, playing danceable rock and popular favorites designed for a crowd rather than a quiet listening room. \nThat makes the band a good match for the loose format of a car show. \nPeople can wander the rows\, stop to talk with vehicle owners\, grab something nearby and listen to the music without needing to organize the afternoon around a formal concert schedule. \nThe cars remain the headliners. \nThe band keeps the field alive. \nMisquamicut and Cars Have Always Gone Together\nThere’s also a historical logic to holding a car show here. \nMisquamicut became the kind of beach destination generations of southern New England families could reach by automobile. \nAtlantic Avenue’s motels\, restaurants\, amusement businesses and beach parking developed in a world increasingly shaped by the family car. \nUnlike an older resort community built primarily around a railroad station or grand hotel\, much of modern Misquamicut is linear. \nYou drive Atlantic Avenue. \nYou choose a beach. \nYou park. \nYou walk to the water. \nThe area’s surviving roadside character is part of its identity. \nPutting classic automobiles along Atlantic Avenue taps directly into that history. \nThe Drive-In Is Part of That Same Car Culture\nEven the venue depends on the automobile. \nDrive-in theaters emerged as one of the quintessential forms of mid-20th-century American entertainment. \nFamilies could watch a movie without leaving their cars. Parents didn’t have to worry as much about restless children. Teenagers discovered certain other advantages that drive-in theater advertisements tended not to emphasize. \nThousands of drive-ins eventually operated around the United States. \nMost disappeared as land values increased and entertainment habits changed. \nMisquamicut’s drive-in is a modern revival rather than a continuously operating relic from the drive-in boom\, but it recreates the same basic experience: arrive by car\, park facing a screen and tune in for the movie. \nOn September 19\, the Misquamicut Business Association flips that formula around. \nInstead of driving to the theater to watch the show\, people bring cars that are the show. \nA Last Saturday of Summer at the Beach\nThe timing is almost perfect. \nThe astronomical end of summer arrives only a few days later. \nBy September 19\, the busiest portion of Misquamicut’s season is finished\, but there’s still every reason to hope for an afternoon warm enough to enjoy Atlantic Avenue and the beach. \nThat’s exactly the period the event’s name captures. \nNot quite summer. \nNot quite fall. \nOne more Saturday at Misquamicut. \nBring out the classics\, turn up the music and see which car leaves with $100. \nIf the first edition works\, the “1st Annual” on this year’s poster becomes a promise. \nDetails\nEvent: 1st Annual Misquamicut End of Summer Car Show\nDate: Saturday\, September 19\, 2026\nTime: Noon–3:30 p.m.\nVenue: Misquamicut Drive-In Theatre\nAddress: 316 Atlantic Avenue\, Westerly\, RI 02891\nPresented By: Misquamicut Business Association\nAdmission: Free\nVehicles: Classic and specialty cars\nBest in Show: $100 cash prize\nGiveaways: Additional giveaways are planned\nLive Music: Never Enuff\nSetting: Outdoor event near Misquamicut Beach\nWeather: Outdoor programming is weather-dependent\nSponsors: Coastal Graphics\, Vito Ventures and Final Touch Auto Detailing\nSpectators: Free and open to the public \nMore information is available at the Event Website link below. \n  \n  \nFeatured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people\, location\, or activities shown.
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/1st-annual-misquamicut-end-of-summer-car-show/
LOCATION:Misquamicut Drive-In\, 316 Atlantic Avenue\, Westerly\, RI\, 02891\, United States
CATEGORIES:Misquamicut Drive-In
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://thectbeacon.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/1st-Annual-Misquamicut-End-of-Summer-Car-Show.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260919T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260919T130000
DTSTAMP:20260917T165240Z
CREATED:20260917T165240Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260917T165240Z
UID:10007927-1789819200-1789822800@thectbeacon.com
SUMMARY:Climb 116 Steps Inside New London Harbor Lighthouse on Weekend Tours
DESCRIPTION:Climb 116 Steps Inside New London Harbor Lighthouse on Weekend Tours for a rare look inside the historic 1801 tower\, with Saturday and Sunday tours taking visitors all the way to the lantern room overlooking Long Island Sound. \nThe New London Maritime Society is opening New London Harbor “Pequot” Light for 45-minute tours every weekend at noon through Feb. 28\, 2027. Groups are deliberately tiny\, limited to just five people\, turning the visit into something closer to a guided exploration than a typical historic-site tour. \nAnd there’s quite a bit waiting above those 116 steps. \nA Lighthouse That’s Been Watching the Harbor for Centuries\nNew London Harbor Light’s story stretches back to the colonial era. A lighthouse was established here in 1761 under King George III\, while the octagonal stone tower standing today was completed in 1801. \nAt 89 feet tall\, it’s the tallest lighthouse on Long Island Sound as well as its oldest. The U.S. Coast Guard still operates the light as an active aid to navigation. \nInside is another survivor: an 1850 fourth-order Fresnel lens that remains in use. \nVisitors climb the tower while learning about the lighthouse and the generations of keepers who tended it. At the top\, the lantern room opens up a view across New London Harbor\, the Thames River and Long Island Sound. \nThere are lighthouses everywhere you look. From Harbor Light\, it’s possible to spot at least seven others\, including New London Ledge Light\, Race Rock\, Little Gull Island\, Plum Island\, Little Dumpling\, Montauk and Avery Point. \nAnd then there’s the traffic below. \nNew London remains a working maritime port\, so the view can include ferries\, commercial vessels and Coast Guard traffic moving through the harbor. The Maritime Society makes one thing clear: they can’t promise you’ll see a submarine. \nBut in New London\, you never know. \nPart of New London’s Chain of Lights\nHarbor Light is one of three historic lighthouses owned and preserved by the New London Maritime Society. \nNew London Ledge Light\, completed in 1909\, stands offshore near the mouth of the Thames. Farther out\, Race Rock Light Station has guarded the notoriously difficult waters between Fishers Island and Long Island Sound since 1878. \nTogether with Harbor Light\, the three create a chain of beacons leading vessels from the Atlantic into the historic port of New London. \nThe Maritime Society took ownership of Harbor Light in 2010 through the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act. Money raised through lighthouse tours supports the preservation and restoration of the area’s historic lights. \nBefore You Climb\nThis isn’t a lighthouse where visitors can simply walk onto the property. \nTours are limited to five people\, and reservations should be made at least 48 hours in advance. Children must be at least 8 years old. \nVisitors meet their guide on Pequot Avenue in front of the lighthouse and must wait there for the New London Maritime Society representative. Guests should not enter the lighthouse property or neighboring driveways on their own. \nThe climb also requires proper footwear. Sneakers or deck shoes are required; sandals and flip-flops aren’t permitted. \nTours are weather dependent\, so visitors should check their email before leaving home for any cancellation notice. \nMore information is available at the Event Website link below. \nTo purchase tickets\, click the Event Ticketing link below. \nNew London 24 hour Harbor Cam\nDetails\nDates: Saturdays and Sundays through Feb. 28\, 2027\nTime: Noon–12:45 p.m.\nLocation: New London Harbor “Pequot” Lighthouse\, New London\nMeeting Point: Pequot Avenue in front of the lighthouse\nTour Length: Approximately 45 minutes\nCapacity: Maximum of five people per tour\nAdmission: $35 adults; $30 New London Maritime Society members; $25 children ages 8–18\nAge Requirement: Children must be at least 8 years old\nReservations: Reservations should be made at least 48 hours in advance\nClimb: 116 steps to the lantern room\nFootwear: Deck shoes or sneakers required; no sandals or flip-flops\nFood & Drink: Water is permitted; other food and beverages are not. Alcohol is prohibited.\nParking: Street parking is available on the west side of Pequot Avenue\, across from the lighthouse\nWeather: Tours are weather dependent. Check your email before departing for cancellation notices.\nCancellations: Must be made at least three days in advance. Payments are non-refundable except when a tour is canceled because of weather.\nLast-Minute Tickets: Call 203-444-2884 to ask whether space is available.\nImportant: Do not enter the lighthouse property or neighboring driveways without a New London Maritime Society representative. \n  \n  \nFeatured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people\, location\, or activities shown.
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/climb-116-steps-inside-new-london-harbor-lighthouse-on-weekend-tours/2026-09-19/
LOCATION:Pequot Lighthouse\, Pequot Avenue\, New London\, CT\, 06320\, United States
CATEGORIES:Pequot Lighthouse
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://thectbeacon.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Pequot-Lighthouse-New-London.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260919T113000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260919T210000
DTSTAMP:20260913T020703Z
CREATED:20260913T020703Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260913T020703Z
UID:10007554-1789817400-1789851600@thectbeacon.com
SUMMARY:Oktoberfest at Jealous Monk Brings Five Weeks of Bavarian Food\, Seasonal Beer and Live Music to Mystic
DESCRIPTION:Oktoberfest at Jealous Monk isn’t a one-day festival. Mystic’s European-style beer hall is turning much of fall into Oktoberfest\, beginning Saturday\, September 19 and continuing through Saturday\, October 24\, with a special German-inspired menu\, seasonal beers\, live entertainment\, and Oktoberfest competitions and activities. \nThe extended celebration is something Jealous Monk has been doing for years\, and the restaurant takes the inspiration more seriously than the lederhosen-and-pretzel graphics might suggest. \nJealous Monk says members of its team have made annual research trips to Munich during Oktoberfest\, bringing ideas from the world’s most famous beer festival back to Mystic. \nThey even use the German word that helps explain what they’re trying to recreate: Gemütlichkeit. \nThere isn’t a perfect English translation. It’s a combination of warmth\, friendliness\, comfort\, good cheer\, and the feeling of enjoying yourself in good company. \nIn other words\, it’s pretty much the reason beer halls have big tables. \nMore Than a Single Oktoberfest Party\nJealous Monk’s 2026 celebration begins September 19\, but don’t read that as the date of the entire event. \nThe restaurant’s announcement calls this an “extended” Oktoberfest season running September 19 through October 24. \nThroughout that period\, Jealous Monk plans a special seasonal food menu and Oktoberfest beers along with a changing schedule of musicians and other entertainment. \nContests are part of the celebration as well\, including the most recognizable American Oktoberfest test of endurance: stein hoisting. \nThe restaurant is still completing its detailed 2026 entertainment schedule and Oktoberfest menu\, so individual performers\, contest dates and this year’s complete food and beer lineup have not all been announced yet. \nThat’s worth knowing before making plans around a particular weekend. \nBut the larger celebration is already confirmed. \nJealous Monk Was Practically Built for This\nThere are plenty of restaurants that can put bratwurst on the menu for three weeks and call it Oktoberfest. \nJealous Monk has a bit of a head start. \nThe locally owned restaurant describes itself as Mystic’s only beer garden\, and its home in Olde Mistick Village was designed as a contemporary interpretation of a European beer hall. \nInside\, there’s a barrel-vaulted ceiling\, old-world artwork and long communal tables rather than a dining room filled exclusively with little two- and four-person islands. \nOutside is an expansive beer garden with picnic tables\, games and gathering spaces. \nThen there are the taps. \nJealous Monk maintains 32 rotating draft lines\, allowing the restaurant to shift a significant portion of its beer selection as seasonal Märzens\, Festbiers and other fall releases arrive. \nIts regular menu already leans European in places\, too. Belgian frites\, a Bavarian-style pretzel\, bratwurst and schnitzel live comfortably alongside burgers\, wings\, chowder and other American pub food. \nOktoberfest isn’t much of a costume change here. \nThe Food Gets More German for the Season\nThe complete 2026 Oktoberfest menu has not yet been published\, but previous Jealous Monk Oktoberfest menus give a much better indication of what “special menu” means here. \nLast year’s seasonal offerings included Schweinshaxe\, the German pork knuckle strongly associated with Bavarian cooking. \nJealous Monk prepared its version braised and served it with spätzle\, rotkohl and beer au jus. \nSpätzle are small\, soft egg noodles or dumplings common throughout southern Germany and neighboring parts of Central Europe. \nRotkohl is braised red cabbage\, usually cooked until tender with a balance of sweet and acidic flavors. \nAnother recent Oktoberfest dish was Brathendl\, Bavarian-style roast chicken\, served at Jealous Monk with rotkohl and mashed potatoes. \nThose dishes went considerably further into Bavarian cooking than simply putting mustard on a sausage. \nUntil the restaurant releases this year’s finished menu\, however\, those should be treated as examples from previous celebrations rather than promises for 2026. \nSome Oktoberfest Food Is Available Even Before Oktoberfest\nA few things don’t have to wait until September 19. \nJealous Monk’s regular menu currently includes its Big A Pretzel\, a large Bavarian-style pretzel served with spicy and sweet mustards\, with bier cheese available to add. \nThere’s also a Bavarian Bratwurst\, available traditionally with sauerkraut and spicy mustard or prepared panini-style with Swiss cheese. \nThe regular Chicken Schnitzel is a less traditional Jealous Monk interpretation: crispy breaded chicken with Swiss cheese\, grilled onions and peppers and chipotle aioli\, served with house-cut Belgian frites. \nThose staples give the regular menu a European foundation before the temporary Oktoberfest dishes arrive. \nThen Come the Oktoberfest Beers\nBeer is where an extended celebration makes particularly good sense. \nOktoberfest beer doesn’t describe just one modern style. \nFor much of the 20th century\, Americans came to associate Oktoberfest with Märzen\, an amber German lager with a malty character and clean finish. \nThe beer traditionally had a practical connection to the brewing calendar. Before refrigeration\, brewing during warm summer weather was difficult and potentially dangerous for the beer. Märzen\, meaning “March beer\,” could be brewed in March\, stored through the summer and consumed in autumn. \nModern Munich Oktoberfest has shifted toward Festbier\, generally paler\, lighter in body and extremely drinkable despite retaining enough malt character to stand up to festival food. \nOnly beer from Munich’s six traditional breweries can officially be served at the Oktoberfest in Munich: Augustiner\, Hacker-Pschorr\, Hofbräu\, Löwenbräu\, Paulaner and Spaten. \nJealous Monk’s 32 rotating taps give the Mystic restaurant considerable room to explore both imported German beer and American interpretations of Oktoberfest styles. \nThe exact 2026 seasonal tap list is still developing\, so anyone hunting for a particular brewery should check the current list closer to their visit. \nThe Real Oktoberfest Isn’t Actually in October\nJealous Monk’s September 19 start also lines up almost perfectly with Munich. \nThe 2026 Oktoberfest in Munich runs September 19 through October 4. \nThat often surprises people who understandably assume a festival named Oktoberfest should happen primarily in October. \nIt used to. \nThe original Oktoberfest was held in October 1810 to celebrate the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria and Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen. \nThe public celebration included horse racing and proved popular enough to return. \nOver time\, the festival grew and its schedule moved earlier to take advantage of September’s generally better weather and longer daylight. \nThe October name stayed. \nJealous Monk begins its Mystic celebration on the same Saturday that Munich opens its 2026 festival\, then keeps going for another three weeks after Munich has packed up the tents. \nA Royal Wedding Started All of This\nThat first celebration took place on fields outside Munich’s city gates. \nThe site became known as Theresienwiese\, or Therese’s Meadow\, in honor of the bride. Munich residents still commonly shorten the name of Oktoberfest itself to the Wiesn. \nWhat began as a royal wedding celebration evolved into an enormous annual festival of beer\, Bavarian food\, music\, rides\, costumes and communal drinking. \nToday’s Oktoberfest bears little resemblance in scale to the 1810 event. \nMillions of people attend during a typical year. \nThe enormous beer tents can accommodate thousands of guests apiece. \nTraditional Bavarian clothing\, particularly lederhosen and dirndls\, has become inseparable from the modern image of the festival. \nAnd the beer arrives by the liter. \nAbout That Stein-Hoisting Contest\nJealous Monk says contests will be part of the 2026 festivities\, with stein hoisting among the activities being promoted. \nThe rules vary by competition\, but the basic concept is wonderfully uncomplicated. \nTake a full beer stein. \nHold it straight out in front of you with one arm. \nDo not bend the elbow. \nDo not lower the arm. \nDo not spill it. \nWait for everyone else to regret entering. \nA full one-liter glass stein weighs roughly five pounds\, so what seems fairly easy for the first few seconds becomes progressively less pleasant. \nIt’s become a staple of American Oktoberfest celebrations\, combining German beer-hall imagery with the very American instinct to turn practically anything into a contest. \nLive Music Will Rotate Through the Celebration\nThe other major piece still being assembled is the entertainment calendar. \nJealous Monk says live musicians will perform throughout the extended Oktoberfest season\, rather than concentrating entertainment into a single opening-day party. \nThat follows the format the restaurant has used in previous years. Its 2024 Oktoberfest\, for example\, featured live music on several dates spread between late September and late October. \nThe restaurant’s September 12 announcement says it is currently putting the finishing touches on its 2026 list of musicians and will add specifics to its events calendar as they are finalized. \nSo this is an event worth checking more than once. \nSeptember 19 is the beginning\, not the whole story. \nWhy Jealous Monk Works as a Beer Hall\nOktoberfest also makes some of Jealous Monk’s design choices easier to understand. \nTraditional beer halls aren’t designed around privacy. \nThey’re designed around gathering. \nLong tables put strangers next to one another. Food is hearty. Beer comes in substantial quantities. Music and conversation create enough noise that nobody expects a hushed dining room. \nJealous Monk borrowed that social model for its Mystic restaurant. \nThe indoor hall includes large communal tables\, while the outdoor beer garden uses picnic-style seating. Board games\, pinball and old-school video games add to the idea that customers are supposed to stay for a while rather than simply eat and leave. \nThe restaurant’s full name says it plainly: \nJealous Monk Social Hall & Beer Garden. \nFor five weeks beginning September 19\, the “beer garden” part gets to take center stage. \nYou Don’t Have to Drink Beer\nDespite the name and the Oktoberfest theme\, Jealous Monk isn’t exclusively for beer drinkers. \nThe restaurant also maintains wine\, liquor and cocktail selections\, and its food menu includes burgers\, sandwiches\, salads\, seafood and vegetarian options alongside the more obvious beer-hall fare. \nIt’s also a restaurant rather than a ticketed beer festival. \nThe currently announced Oktoberfest season does not carry a general admission charge. Customers visit Jealous Monk normally and order food and drinks\, while special entertainment and activities occur throughout the run. \nThat makes this fundamentally different from the one-afternoon Oktoberfests where admission buys a tasting glass and a fixed number of pours. \nYou can go once. \nOr you can go back as the taps\, menu specials and entertainment change. \nFive Weeks Gives You Time to Do It Properly\nThat’s really the advantage of Jealous Monk’s approach. \nOktoberfest doesn’t have to be crammed into one Saturday afternoon. \nThe first visit might be for the seasonal menu. \nAnother could coincide with live music. \nA third might involve a Märzen you haven’t tried. \nAnd eventually someone is going to convince you that holding a five-pound glass at arm’s length sounds like fun. \nThe 2026 celebration opens September 19. \nBy the time it ends October 24\, Mystic will be deep into foliage\, Olde Mistick Village will have shifted from late-summer visitors toward its fall crowds\, and Jealous Monk will have spent more than a month doing what a beer garden was designed to do. \nGather people around a table. \nPour the beer. \nBring out the food. \nProst. \nDetails\nEvent: Oktoberfest at Jealous Monk\nDates: Saturday\, September 19 through Saturday\, October 24\, 2026\nVenue: Jealous Monk Social Hall & Beer Garden\nLocation: Olde Mistick Village\, Building 20\nAddress: 27 Coogan Boulevard\, Mystic\, CT 06355\nAdmission: No general admission charge announced; food and beverages purchased separately\nFood: Special Oktoberfest menu planned for the season; complete 2026 menu is still being finalized\nBeer: Seasonal Oktoberfest beers plus Jealous Monk’s rotating draft selection\nDrafts: 32 rotating taps\nEntertainment: Live musicians throughout the Oktoberfest run; individual performers and dates are still being announced\nActivities: Oktoberfest contests and activities\, including stein-hoisting festivities\nIndoor/Outdoor: Indoor social hall and outdoor beer garden\, weather permitting\nRegular Hours: Monday–Thursday\, 11:30 a.m.–9 p.m.; Friday–Saturday\, 11:30 a.m.–10 p.m.; Sunday\, 10:30 a.m.–9 p.m.\nPhone: 860-536-6665 \n  \n  \nFeatured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people\, location\, or activities shown.
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/oktoberfest-at-jealous-monk-brings-five-weeks-of-bavarian-food-seasonal-beer-and-live-music-to-mystic/2026-09-19/
LOCATION:Jealous Monk\, 27 Coogan Blvd\, Mystic\, 06355\, United States
CATEGORIES:Jealous Monk
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://thectbeacon.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Oktoberfest-at-Jealous-Monk-Brings-Five-Weeks-of-Bavarian-Food-Seasonal-Beer-and-Live-Music-to-Mystic.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260919T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260919T190000
DTSTAMP:20260915T031528Z
CREATED:20260907T034359Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260915T031528Z
UID:10007495-1789815600-1789844400@thectbeacon.com
SUMMARY:Olde Mistick Village Garlic Festival
DESCRIPTION:Olde Mistick Village Garlic Festival returns to Mystic on September 19 and 20 for its 19th year\, filling the Village with fresh garlic\, specialty foods\, regional farms\, artisans\, and live music during one of its longest-running fall traditions. \nThe two-day festival runs Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission is free. \nMore than 50 vendors and 16 local bands and performers are expected for the 2026 festival\, transforming the walkways and greens of Olde Mistick Village into a sprawling celebration of the fall harvest. \nAnd\, as the name suggests\, there will be a lot of garlic. \nGarlic Is the Reason for the Weekend\nThe Garlic Festival was created around something that can get lost amid the food stands and live music: the agricultural cycle of garlic itself. \nGarlic is generally planted in Connecticut during the fall. It spends the winter underground\, resumes growing in spring and is harvested during the summer. After harvest\, growers cure the bulbs so they can be stored and sold well beyond the growing season. \nBy September\, local growers are arriving at the festival with garlic from that year’s harvest. \nVisitors can encounter different varieties of the bulb rather than the relatively limited selection usually found at a supermarket\, while farmers traditionally bring other parts of the season’s harvest as well. \nPast Garlic Festivals have included fresh vegetables and herbs alongside honey\, jams\, preserves\, syrups\, sauces and other locally produced foods. \nFor anyone who wants to take some of the festival home\, the farmers’ stands are as important as the prepared food. \nA Festival That Started With Farmers\nThe event’s roots stretch beyond its 19 years at Olde Mistick Village. \nThe Garlic Festival originated as a farmers market-style celebration at Adam’s Garden of Eden in Pawcatuck\, where the emphasis was on the fall harvest and locally grown garlic. \nIt eventually moved to Olde Mistick Village and grew considerably. \nBy 2020\, the festival was ordinarily attracting between 50 and 70 vendors and approximately 20\,000 visitors\, according to reporting at the time. What began with farmers and garlic had expanded to include food\, entertainment\, artists\, craftspeople and live music. \nEven as the festival has grown\, farmers remain part of its foundation. \nThat makes the weekend something of a hybrid: part harvest festival\, part food festival\, part artisan market and part outdoor music festival. \nCome Hungry\, and Don’t Expect Garlic to Stay in Its Lane\nOver the years\, vendors have demonstrated that there are very few foods into which someone won’t attempt to introduce garlic. \nPast festivals have offered everything from garlic fries and garlic fried dough to garlic fudge and garlic Italian ice. \nThose particular foods shouldn’t be considered a confirmed 2026 menu until this year’s individual vendors announce what they’re serving\, but they illustrate how far the festival has historically taken its central ingredient. \nPrepared-food vendors and Village restaurants participate alongside the growers\, and non-garlic choices are traditionally available for anyone who reaches their personal limit. \nBakers and specialty-food producers add another layer to the weekend\, while the Village’s permanent restaurants and food businesses remain open around the festival. \nThe result is less a single food court than a trail of things to eat spread throughout the property. \nMore Than 50 Vendors Fill the Village\nGarlic may provide the theme\, but the festival has grown well beyond food. \nThe 2026 event is expected to bring more than 50 vendors to Olde Mistick Village\, including farmers\, bakers\, crafters\, artisans and artists. \nTheir booths are incorporated into the Village itself\, lining paths between the shops\, restaurants\, duck pond and greens rather than occupying a separate fairground. \nThat layout is particularly suited to an event built around browsing. \nOlde Mistick Village was designed as a walkable interpretation of an early New England village\, with individual buildings arranged around pedestrian paths and landscaped common areas. It opened in 1973 and today contains more than 40 shops and boutiques along with restaurants and other businesses. \nDuring Garlic Festival weekend\, the visiting farmers and makers effectively add another temporary layer to the Village. \nSixteen Local Bands and Performers Bring Music to the Weekend\nFood isn’t the only reason to linger. \nThe 2026 Garlic Festival is expected to feature 16 local bands and performers across the two days. \nThe complete performance schedule has not yet been released by Olde Mistick Village\, but at least some of this year’s musicians have begun announcing their appearances independently. \nThe Rich Badowski Band is scheduled to perform Sunday\, September 20\, from noon to 3 p.m. \nBadowski is a familiar presence on the southeastern Connecticut music circuit\, performing blues and roots-oriented music at festivals\, restaurants\, breweries and other venues around the region. \nAnother Sunday performance has been announced by Liz Reed\, who is scheduled to appear as a duo with Dave at 3 p.m. \nAdditional performers and individual set times are expected as the festival approaches. \nLive music has become a substantial part of the Garlic Festival rather than background entertainment. Previous editions have placed performers at multiple locations around Olde Mistick Village\, allowing visitors to encounter different music as they move around the grounds. \nFrom Garlic Market to Major Fall Festival\nNineteen editions have given the Garlic Festival time to develop its own identity among Mystic’s increasingly crowded calendar of fall events. \nIts original agricultural purpose is still visible in the farmers selling freshly harvested garlic and produce\, but the festival now reaches considerably further. \nArtists sell original work. Crafters and makers set up along the pathways. Bakers and specialty-food businesses bring products that can be taken home. Prepared-food vendors turn garlic into lunch\, dinner and occasionally something that probably wasn’t meant to contain garlic in the first place. \nMeanwhile\, musicians perform throughout the Village. \nThe combination has previously earned the festival recognition from the American Bus Association\, which selected it for its list of top events in North America. \nIt has also become one of Olde Mistick Village’s signature annual events\, returning each September as summer gives way to the fall festival season. \nTwo Days to Explore Olde Mistick Village\nSaturday offers the longer festival day\, running from 11 a.m. until 7 p.m. \nThe festival returns Sunday at 11 a.m. and continues until 6 p.m. \nBecause vendors and entertainment are distributed around the Village\, visitors can move between festival booths and Olde Mistick Village’s permanent shops and restaurants throughout the day. \nThere is no admission gate separating the festival from the rest of the property. \nVisitors can arrive for garlic and leave with local honey\, baked goods\, artwork or something they never intended to buy. They can stop for a band\, wander through the shops and return to the festival paths. \nOr they can simply follow the smell. \nEvent Details\nEvent: 19th Annual Garlic Festival\nDates: Saturday and Sunday\, September 19–20\, 2026\nSaturday Hours: 11 a.m.–7 p.m.\nSunday Hours: 11 a.m.–6 p.m.\nLocation: Olde Mistick Village\nAddress: 27 Coogan Boulevard\, Mystic\, CT 06355\nAdmission: Free\nVendors: More than 50 expected\nEntertainment: 16 local bands and performers expected\nFeaturing: Local garlic and produce\, farms\, food vendors\, bakers\, specialty foods\, crafters\, artisans\, artists\, live music and family activities\nConfirmed Sunday Music: Rich Badowski Band\, noon–3 p.m.; Liz Reed with Dave\, 3 p.m. \nMore information is available at the Event Website link below. \n\n  \nFeatured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people\, location\, or activities shown. \n  \n 
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/olde-mistick-village-garlic-festival/2026-09-19/
LOCATION:Olde Mistick Village\, 27 Coogan Blvd\, Mystic\, CT\, 06355\, United States
CATEGORIES:Olde Mistick Village
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://thectbeacon.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Olde-Mistick-Village-Garlic-Festival-1.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260919T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260919T180000
DTSTAMP:20260818T020946Z
CREATED:20260818T020946Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260818T020946Z
UID:10007216-1789815600-1789840800@thectbeacon.com
SUMMARY:Stonington Vineyards Harvest Food & Wine Festival 2026
DESCRIPTION:Stonington Vineyards Harvest Food & Wine Festival 2026 celebrates the approaching fall season with two days of wine\, live music\, food trucks and local artisans on Saturday and Sunday\, September 19 and 20. \nThe annual festival runs from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. both days at the vineyard on Taugwonk Road in Stonington\, giving visitors a chance to spread out on the lawn\, listen to music\, explore local vendors and enjoy wine produced at one of Connecticut’s longtime vineyards. \nAnd Sunday’s music already has a familiar local name attached to it. \nWicked Peach takes the stage Sunday at 3 p.m.\, bringing one of southeastern Connecticut’s longest-running rock bands to the vineyard for the final afternoon of the festival. \nTwo Days at the Vineyard\nThis isn’t simply a Wicked Peach concert. \nThe Harvest Food & Wine Festival runs throughout the weekend\, with live bands\, food trucks and local artisans joining the vineyard’s wine offerings. \nMusic:\nSat: 11-2 Ben Freiert\nSat: 3-6  Nick Bosse Band\nSun: 11-2 Luke & Mike\nSun: 3-6 Wicked Peach \nFood:\nFlavors\nTaste House\nScoops T Ice Cream\nFresh Fire Food \nVendors:\nValomie Boutique\nDreaming Light Creations\nCandybox Watch Hill\nMade by Nowa\nSeacoast Alpacas\nWalking Tree Creations\nDipped by Britt\nMary Moonchild Candles\nGold Leaf Home Decor \nGuests are encouraged to make themselves comfortable. Bring lawn chairs and blankets\, or even a pop-up tent no larger than 10 feet by 10 feet for your group. \nThe festival takes place rain or shine. \nMusical Acts:\nBen Freiert — Saturday\, 11 a.m.–2 p.m.\nStonington-based musician Ben Freiert opens the Harvest Festival Saturday with a mix of indie\, folk\, alternative rock and acoustic music. \nFreiert has been making music for more than two decades\, beginning with trumpet before moving into guitar\, piano and songwriting. While in college\, he formed the original rock band Twenty Grand with his roommate\, playing shows near their school and in New York City. He later established himself as a regular performer around southeastern Connecticut and Rhode Island\, both as a solo musician and alongside other area artists. \nHe’s also become particularly familiar to Stonington’s vineyard audiences. Freiert has performed repeatedly at Stonington Vineyards\, Saltwater Farm Vineyard and other area wineries\, and was part of Stonington Vineyards’ 2024 Kickoff to Summer celebration. In 2026\, he’s again part of the vineyard’s summer concert series before returning for Harvest Festival weekend. \nHis acoustic-driven sound makes him a natural fit for the festival’s opening hours\, when visitors are arriving\, finding a spot on the lawn and settling in for the weekend. \nNick Bosse Band — Saturday\, 3–6 p.m.\nSaturday afternoon shifts firmly toward country music with North Stonington singer-songwriter Nick Bosse and his band. \nBosse is a New England-based independent country artist and Nashville recording artist whose music draws heavily from traditional and outlaw country\, southern rock and bluegrass. His influences include Waylon Jennings\, Johnny Cash\, Merle Haggard\, Willie Nelson\, Sturgill Simpson and Tyler Childers. Rather than chasing contemporary pop-country\, Bosse has built his identity around a grittier\, working-class approach to the genre. \nHe began playing cover gigs in local bars in 2013 before forming his backing band\, The Northern Roots\, which has accompanied him for much of his career. His original song What Happened to Country has surpassed 2 million streams\, and Bosse has won a New England Music Award for Best Vocalist and headlined performances at both Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun. \nThere’s a particularly strong local connection here. Bosse grew up in North Stonington and has spent years playing venues throughout southeastern Connecticut and Rhode Island. In 2022\, Nick Bosse & The Northern Roots won Mohegan Sun’s Locals Live competition\, with judges considering originality\, stage presence\, musical presentation and audience response. \nThat makes the Saturday 3–6 p.m. slot considerably more substantial than the original festival post suggests. This isn’t simply background music from a local cover band. Bosse is an established regional country artist with original music and a following of his own. \nLuke & Mike open Sunday’s music with a three-hour set from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.\nThe Mystic-based duo have become familiar faces at Stonington Vineyards\, returning regularly for concerts and special events. They’ve appeared at previous Harvest Festivals\, performed for the vineyard’s annual holiday celebration and are part of its 2026 Summer Concert Series. They’re also scheduled at nearby Saltwater Farm Vineyard during the 2026 summer season. \nIn fact\, this isn’t their first time helping provide the soundtrack for Harvest Festival weekend. Luke & Mike were among the performers at Stonington Vineyards’ 2019 Harvest Fest and returned for the festival again in 2022. \nWicked Peach Closes Out Sunday Afternoon\nIf you’ve been around southeastern Connecticut for any length of time\, there’s a good chance you’ve encountered Wicked Peach somewhere. \nThe New London-area band has been performing throughout Connecticut and Rhode Island since 1996\, building a following with high-energy sets drawing heavily from rock and pop-rock. \nThe current core lineup features Ernie Lewis on lead vocals and guitar\, Stan Smith on bass and Jonathan Souza on drums\, with Dan Watson and Corey Carter serving as alternating guitarists. \nTheir repertoire stretches across decades\, but ’90s hard rock remains a particular strength. The City of Groton describes the band as a staple of southeastern New England’s music scene\, mixing its ’90s material with songs from the ’70s\, ’80s and 2000s. \nThat makes Wicked Peach a natural fit for the Harvest Festival’s Sunday afternoon rather than a quiet acoustic set tucked into the corner of the vineyard. \nTheir scheduled 3 p.m. performance on September 20 is also confirmed on the band’s own 2026 tour schedule. \nWine Is Part of the Admission\nFestival admission includes more than entry. \nEach ticket includes a glass of Stonington Vineyards wine and a keepsake wine glass\, along with access to the weekend’s live music and festival amenities. Additional wine will be available for purchase by the glass or bottle. \nGuests may also bring their own food\, making a picnic on the vineyard lawn another option if you’d rather pack something from home than visit the food trucks. \nThere is one firm restriction: no outside alcohol is permitted. \nCoolers may be checked\, and the vineyard says outside alcohol will be confiscated. \nOne of Connecticut’s Established Vineyards\nThe festival setting has its own story. \nStonington Vineyards was established by Nick and Happy Smith in 1987 after they purchased 58 acres in the Stonington Uplands. The winery followed in 1989\, combining contemporary winemaking equipment with traditional oak-barrel fermentation. \nIt also became one of the founding members of the Connecticut Wine Trail. \nWinemaker Mike McAndrew has been with Stonington Vineyards since its early days\, developing a reputation for European-style wines. The vineyard is particularly associated with its barrel-fermented Chardonnay and proprietary blends. \nToday\, more than 10 of the property’s 58 acres are planted\, with annual production of approximately 6\,000 cases. Its current wine list includes Oak Chardonnay\, Sheer Chardonnay\, Seaport White\, Cabernet Franc\, Triad Rosé\, Riesling and Pawcatuck River Red. \nSo a harvest festival here isn’t just seasonal branding. Wine grapes have been growing on this property for decades. \nMake Yourself at Home on the Lawn\nThe Harvest Festival is designed for people to settle in rather than continually circulate through a traditional fairground. \nBring lawn chairs\, blankets or a small pop-up tent and establish a spot for the afternoon. \nOutside food is permitted\, so you can also pack a picnic while leaving room to try the food trucks. \nThe vineyard describes the festival as suitable for couples\, families and groups of friends. \nDogs are normally welcome on the vineyard grounds when leashed and supervised\, although I’d wait for festival-specific confirmation before putting that in the Event Details as a guarantee for this particular weekend. \nTickets\nOne-day advance admission is $30. \nTickets purchased on the day of the festival are $35. Two-day passes are also offered through the vineyard’s ticketing page. Tickets are non-refundable. \nBecause parking at the vineyard is limited\, organizers are asking festival visitors to carpool whenever possible. \nEvent Details\nEvent: Stonington Vineyards Harvest Food & Wine Festival 2026\nDates: Saturday\, September 19 & Sunday\, September 20\, 2026\nTime: 11 a.m.–6 p.m. daily\nLocation: Stonington Vineyards\nAddress: 523 Taugwonk Road\, Stonington\, CT 06378\nSunday Music: Wicked Peach at 3 p.m.\nFeaturing: Live music\, food trucks\, local artisans and Stonington Vineyards wines\nAdvance One-Day Admission: $30\nDay-of Admission: $35\nIncludes: Glass of wine\, keepsake wine glass\, live music and festival amenities\nWeather: Rain or shine\nOutside Food: Permitted\nOutside Alcohol: Prohibited\nWhat to Bring: Lawn chairs\, blankets or a pop-up tent no larger than 10′ x 10′ ( \nMore information is available through the Stonington Vineyards Harvest Festival page. \nTickets can also be purchased through the festival page above. \n  \n 
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/stonington-vineyards-harvest-food-wine-festival-2026/2026-09-19/
LOCATION:Stonington Vineyards\, 523 Taugwonk Rd\, Stonington\, CT\, 06378\, United States
CATEGORIES:Stonnington Vineyards
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260919T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260919T170000
DTSTAMP:20260701T201347Z
CREATED:20260701T201347Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260701T201347Z
UID:10006480-1789815600-1789837200@thectbeacon.com
SUMMARY:Luxe CT: Velvet Mills to Modern Runways at Mystic Museum of Art
DESCRIPTION:Luxe CT: Velvet Mills to Modern Runways at Mystic Museum of Art explores the history of textiles in southeastern Connecticut\, tracing how fabrics\, fashion\, and craftsmanship have shaped the region from the precolonial era through the present day. On view from June 26 through October 11\, 2026\, the exhibition brings together historic artifacts and contemporary works to examine how textiles reflect labor\, immigration\, cultural identity\, and changing ideas of luxury. \nInspired by southeastern Connecticut’s once-thriving velvet industry\, the exhibition features a collaboration between Mystic Museum of Art\, Historic Stonington\, Mashantucket Pequot Museum & Research Center\, Mystic Seaport Museum\, and the Connecticut Region of the Studio Art Quilt Associates. Visitors will encounter an extensive collection of beadwork\, embroidery\, quilts\, velvet\, fashion\, and textile art drawn from partner institutions and the museum’s own collection. \nThe exhibition also highlights contemporary fashion designers with Connecticut connections\, including Xarea Lockhart\, Toriana Sauro\, Christian Siriano\, and Peter Som. Their work connects the region’s textile heritage with modern fashion\, demonstrating how clothing and material culture continue to influence art\, identity\, and design. Throughout the exhibition\, the museum will present lectures\, artist conversations\, and hands-on workshops that further explore these themes. \nExhibition Details\n\nExhibition: Luxe CT: Velvet Mills to Modern Runways\nVenue: Mystic Museum of Art\nDates: June 26-October 11\, 2026\nLocation: Mystic\, CT\n\nExhibition Highlights\nVisitors will experience: \n\ns\nWorks from Mystic Museum of Art’s permanent collection\nLoans from regional museums and organizations\n\nFeatured Partners\nThe exhibition includes contributions from: \n\nHistoric Stonington\nMashantucket Pequot Museum & Research Center\nMystic Seaport Museum\nStudio Art Quilt Associates\, Connecticut Region\n\nFeatured Designers\nThe exhibition showcases work by designers with Connecticut ties\, including: \n\nXarea Lockhart\nToriana Sauro\nChristian Siriano\nPeter Som\n\nAdmission\n\nGeneral Admission: $12\nNew London County residents: $10\nSeniors (65+): $10\nStudents with valid ID: $10\nFree:\n\nMystic Museum of Art members\nYouth ages 17 and under\nMilitary personnel and veterans\n\n\n\nExhibition Programs\nPublic programs are held on select Tuesdays from 5:30-6:30 p.m. \nTuesday\, July 7\nMystic Mudlarking: The River and the Rossie Velvet Mill \n\nGuest speaker: Mary Hendrickson\n\nTuesday\, July 21\nImmigration and Industry \n\nGuest speaker: Chelsea Mitchell\, Library Director & Collections Manager\, Historic Stonington\n\nTuesday\, September 1\nConversation with Alana Ryder and Emerging Designers \nFeaturing: \n\nAlana Ryder\nXarea Lockhart\nToriana Sauro\n\nWorkshops\nAll workshops take place in KTJ Studios. \nSaturday\, September 19\nFrom Textile to Art: Felt Collage Workshop \nSaturday\, September 26\nIntroduction to Sewing Workshop \n\nFeatured designer: Toriana Sauro\n\nSaturday\, October 10\nRelief Printing on Silk Scarf Workshop \nWhy Visit\nLuxe CT examines how textiles have connected communities across centuries while reflecting the region’s history of manufacturing\, immigration\, craftsmanship\, and artistic innovation. By pairing historical artifacts with contemporary fashion and fiber art\, the exhibition offers visitors a deeper understanding of southeastern Connecticut’s cultural heritage and its continuing influence on today’s artists and designers. \n  \n 
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/luxe-ct-velvet-mills-to-modern-runways-at-mystic-museum-of-art/2026-09-19/
LOCATION:Mystic Museum of Art\, 9 Water Street\, Mystic\, 06355\, United States
CATEGORIES:Mystic Museum of Art
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260919T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260919T170000
DTSTAMP:20260705T020852Z
CREATED:20260510T162306Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260705T020852Z
UID:10000486-1789815600-1789837200@thectbeacon.com
SUMMARY:Brickwrecks: Sunken Ships in LEGO Bricks
DESCRIPTION:Brickwrecks: Sunken Ships in LEGO Bricks drops visitors into centuries of maritime mystery and disaster at Mystic Seaport Museum.. The internationally touring exhibition combines massive LEGO® ship recreations with real maritime history\, creating an experience that feels part museum exhibit\, part interactive adventure. As the first American stop for the exhibition\, Mystic Seaport becomes the latest host for a showcase that has previously appeared at major maritime museums in Europe and Australia. \nThe exhibit features eleven detailed LEGO® models recreating famous shipwrecks and maritime disasters spanning thousands of years\, including the Titanic\, the Vasa\, Franklin’s Arctic expedition ships Terror and Erebus\, and the ancient Uluburun trading vessel. Created in partnership with LEGO® Certified Professional Ryan “The Brickman” McNaught\, the displays combine historical storytelling with surprisingly intricate engineering and visual detail. Some models even include cross-section cutaways revealing what happened beneath the waterline. \nInteractive experiences throughout the exhibit invite visitors to test survival scenarios\, operate a remote underwater vehicle\, experiment with ship stability\, and build LEGO® creations of their own. Alongside the models are replica artifacts\, archaeological tools\, and multimedia displays exploring how modern researchers investigate shipwrecks and what those discoveries reveal about trade\, exploration\, disaster\, and human history. The result is an exhibit that works equally well for families\, history buffs\, LEGO® fans\, and anyone who still secretly wants to touch every museum display. \n 
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/brickwrecks-sunken-ships-in-lego-bricks-3/2026-09-19/
LOCATION:Mystic Seaport\, 75 Greenmanville Ave\, Mystic\, CT\, \,06355-1946\,\, United States
CATEGORIES:Mystic Seaport
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260919T103000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260919T180000
DTSTAMP:20260903T140908Z
CREATED:20260903T140908Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260903T140908Z
UID:10007444-1789813800-1789840800@thectbeacon.com
SUMMARY:Connecticut Renaissance Faire 2026 Guide
DESCRIPTION:Connecticut Renaissance Faire 2026 transforms the Lebanon Country Fairgrounds into a sprawling 16th-century fantasy village for nine weekends of jousting\, comedy\, live music\, costumed characters\, artisan shopping\, food\, games and themed adventures. \nThe Faire runs from August 29 through October 25 at 122 Mack Road in Lebanon\, with regular hours from 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. It also opens on holiday Mondays\, including Labor Day and Columbus Day. \nFor 2026\, the Faire is advertising more than 40 shows each day across 13 stages\, along with dozens of games and activities and more than 200 artisans\, food vendors and other merchants. \nAnd this isn’t an event where you simply watch from the sidelines. \nWalk through the gates and you enter a village populated by kings\, queens\, knights\, fairies\, musicians\, rogues and other characters who interact with visitors throughout the day. You can watch armored combat\, cheer at the joust\, throw an axe\, shop for a handmade sword or drinking horn\, take the kids on human-powered rides\, eat a turkey leg and end up in a conversation with a member of the royal court on the way to your next show. \nHere’s how to plan a day at the 2026 Connecticut Renaissance Faire. \nWhen Is the Connecticut Renaissance Faire?\nThe 2026 season runs from August 29 through October 25. \nThe Faire is generally open Saturdays and Sundays from 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.\, with special openings on Labor Day and Columbus Day. \nThe season is divided into themed weekends\, so the experience changes as fall progresses. Themes for 2026 include Dragons & Dungeons\, Roses & Romance\, Shirefolk\, Faerie Ring Revels\, Pirates & Vikings\, Time Travelers\, All Hallows and the new Merry Macabre weekend. \nLabor Day weekend\, September 5–7\, is Dragons & Dungeons\, a fantasy-focused weekend built around quests\, heroes and legendary characters. \nCostumes aren’t required to attend. Some visitors arrive in everyday clothes\, while others treat the themed weekends as an opportunity to build elaborate Renaissance\, fantasy\, pirate\, Viking or other character costumes. \nHow Much Are Connecticut Renaissance Faire Tickets?\nGeneral admission for the 2026 season is $18 for adults and $10 for youth\, while children in the Faire’s child admission category enter free. \nAdmission covers the Faire itself and its regular stage performances. Certain games\, rides\, food\, drinks and premium experiences cost extra. \nOne useful change from the way some fairs and festivals operate is that there are no food tickets. Food and beverages are purchased directly from individual merchants. \nSame-day re-entry is also permitted with a handstamp\, so leaving the grounds doesn’t necessarily mean the end of your Faire day. \nStart With the Shows\nTrying to see everything at the Connecticut Renaissance Faire in one day is probably the wrong approach. \nThere are simply too many performances. \nThe 2026 Faire uses 13 stages and advertises more than 40 shows daily. Entertainment ranges from music and comedy to acrobatics\, combat demonstrations\, theatrical performances and interactive shows. \nOne of the biggest spectacles is the armored combat demonstration from the Knights of Gore. These aren’t performers simply swinging lightweight theatrical weapons around one another. The demonstrations feature fighters in plate armor engaging in full-contact medieval-style combat. \nThe Knights of Gore also present educational demonstrations throughout the day covering subjects such as medieval helmets\, the roles of knights and squires and siege weapons including the trebuchet. \nThe Joust Remains a Centerpiece\nIt’s difficult to imagine a Renaissance faire without knights charging toward one another on horseback. \nJousting remains one of the major attractions in Lebanon. \nThe 2026 season includes jousting from Roundtable Productions and Equus Nobilis\, both listed among the Faire’s new entertainment additions this year. \nThe joust combines horsemanship\, theatrical storytelling and medieval-style competition on a scale that’s difficult to replicate on one of the smaller stages. \nIf seeing a joust is high on your list\, check the schedule when you arrive and build the rest of the day around it rather than assuming you’ll simply stumble across the right performance. \nThere Is Plenty of Comedy\nNot everything involves swords and armor. \nComedy is scattered throughout the Faire\, sometimes on a stage and sometimes walking directly toward you in the lanes. \nThe Norfolk Theatricals specialize in interactive theatrical comedy\, presenting deliberately chaotic original plays with audience members sometimes pulled into the performance. \nBone Dallaire roams the grounds as a self-important thespian and playwright whose opinion of his own talent may exceed everyone else’s. \nThe Faire’s cast of Crown Players adds another layer of continuous theater. Instead of performing only at scheduled times\, characters inhabit the village and interact with guests throughout the day. \nThat distinction is important for first-time visitors. \nThe Connecticut Renaissance Faire isn’t simply a collection of scheduled shows surrounded by food booths. The space between the stages is part of the performance. \nMusic Runs From Celtic Traditions to Sea Chanteys\nLive music is another major part of the day. \nThe 2026 roster includes performers working with Celtic music\, traditional folk\, sea chanteys and other styles that fit naturally into the Faire setting. \nJesse Ofgang and the Diaspora\, new for 2026\, combine Scottish and Irish musical traditions with contemporary rhythms using instruments including bagpipes\, whistles and guitars. \nNemeton: Folk Fantasy Music and Dance brings an especially unusual collection of instruments to the Faire\, including bagpipes\, drums\, double flutes\, penny whistles\, English concertina\, medieval small pipes\, rauschpfeife and hurdy-gurdy. \nNew England’s Misfits of Avalon draw from Celtic music with hammered dulcimer\, mandolin\, guitar and violin. \nOther weekends bring different musicians\, including the maritime and Celtic sounds of the Crimson Pirates and southeastern Connecticut’s Bards of Gungywamp. \nBecause performers vary by themed weekend\, it’s worth checking the schedule for the specific date you’re attending. \nSome of the Best Entertainment Is Strange\nRenaissance faires have always left room for acts that don’t fit neatly into a category. \nThat’s part of the fun. \nFor 2026\, Fly by Night joins the Connecticut Faire with a combination of comedy\, juggling\, whip cracking and sideshow skills. The duo of Steve King and Ryan Roberts has been performing since 1990 and appeared as semifinalists on the fourth season of America’s Got Talent. \nCircus Stella puts rescued dogs into a circus environment alongside Dextre Tripp\, mixing canine tricks with juggling\, ladder balancing\, rope walking and unicycling. \nElsewhere\, visitors can encounter puppetry\, dance\, storytelling\, magic and roaming performers without necessarily planning to see them. \nLeave some empty space in the schedule. \nAt a Renaissance faire\, getting distracted is part of the itinerary. \nGames and Rides Go Beyond the Stages\nThere’s plenty to do when you want to participate rather than watch. \nThe Faire’s games and activities include old-fashioned and Renaissance-inspired challenges\, physical games and human-powered attractions. \nSome activities carry an additional fee. \nYou’ll find opportunities to test skill and strength\, explore the Royal Maze and take part in attractions spread throughout the village. \nFor families with younger children\, this can provide a useful break between longer stage performances. \nFor adults\, it can become surprisingly competitive. \nEat the Turkey Leg\, But Don’t Stop There\nYes\, there are giant turkey legs. \nThe Faire’s Turkey Legs and More stand serves the oversized roasted festival staple along with turkey sundaes\, mac and cheese\, smoked chicken\, lemonade and fried dough. \nBut the food selection has grown far beyond the Renaissance-faire stereotype. \nThe 2026 Faire lists 37 food merchants and seven pubs and taverns\, with meals\, desserts\, snacks and beverages distributed throughout the grounds. \nThere are burgers and hot dogs\, chicken sandwiches\, baked goods\, fried seafood\, sweets and a broad assortment of festival food. \nThe Faire also identifies vendors offering vegetarian\, vegan\, gluten-free and dairy-free choices. \nEvery food merchant is required to offer at least one item priced at $7\, an attempt to keep at least one lower-priced choice available at each location. \nOutside snacks and nonalcoholic drinks are also permitted. \nYou Can Walk the Faire With a Drink\nThere are no isolated beer tents requiring guests to remain inside a designated drinking area. \nAdults can purchase alcoholic beverages from the Faire’s pubs and taverns and carry their drinks while exploring the grounds. \nValid identification is required for alcohol purchases. \nThat also makes the taverns part of the atmosphere rather than simply concession stands. \nFor visitors looking for something more structured\, the Faire offers two separate 21-and-over experiences. \nThe Pub Crawl Is a 90-Minute Quest\nThe Connecticut Renaissance Faire Pub Crawl isn’t simply four drink tickets stapled together. \nThe approximately 90-minute experience is hosted by Fae Frostwhiperer and takes a group of no more than 15 participants through four Faire taverns. \nThere are four alcoholic drinks along the way\, but participants also complete challenges\, play games\, sing\, chant and interact with their guide. \nOne stop at Shattered Shield includes Liar’s Dice\, a vegetable platter and an exclusive small-batch mead that isn’t sold from the tavern’s regular menu. \nAnother stop includes a Test of Strength at King’s Inn Crossing. \nPub Crawls depart twice each Faire day\, at 11 a.m. and 2:45 p.m. \nThe price is $75\, plus a processing fee when purchased online. Tickets can also be purchased at Shattered Shield without the online processing fee\, although each crawl is limited to 15 participants and can sell out. \nParticipants must be 21 or older with valid identification. \nRegular Faire admission is not included with the Pub Crawl. \nWhiskey Tastings Offer a Quieter Break\nFor adults who prefer sipping to crawling\, guided whiskey tastings offer a considerably calmer experience. \nThe approximately one-hour sessions explore a curated selection of whiskies\, with hosts discussing origins\, production methods\, flavor profiles and techniques for nosing and tasting. \nCharcuterie is served alongside the pours. \nThe experience is designed for both beginners and experienced whiskey drinkers\, and advance reservations are strongly recommended because seating is intentionally limited. \nParticipants must be 21 or older and bring valid government-issued photo identification. \nLike the Pub Crawl\, a whiskey tasting is an additional experience. Regular Connecticut Renaissance Faire admission must be purchased separately. \nShopping Is a Major Part of the Faire\nDon’t treat the merchant area as an afterthought. \nThe Faire says the 2026 season includes 213 artisans\, games and food vendors\, with 32 new shops joining the grounds this year. \nThe marketplace is where the fantasy world starts becoming something you can take home. \nDepending on the merchant\, visitors can find clothing\, leatherwork\, jewelry\, drinking vessels\, artwork\, fantasy accessories\, home décor and handcrafted goods. \nSome merchants make items that are specifically useful for people building Renaissance or fantasy costumes\, while others sell pieces that work perfectly well outside the Faire. \nFor someone arriving without a costume\, the marketplace also provides an easy way to gradually become more appropriately dressed as the day progresses. \nYou may enter in jeans. \nThere is no guarantee you will leave without a cloak. \n2026 Is a Significant Expansion Year\nThe Faire has added a substantial amount of new material for 2026. \nIts official count includes 11 new shows\, 32 new shops and seven new food offerings. \nAmong the new entertainment are the two jousting productions\, Fly by Night and Jesse Ofgang and the Diaspora. \nThe Faire is also introducing Merry Macabre\, a new themed weekend for October 24–25 that takes the season into darker territory just before Halloween. \nThat expansion matters even to people who have attended in previous years. \nThe basic formula remains recognizable\, but the Faire is deliberately designed so returning on another weekend doesn’t simply reproduce the same day. \nBringing Kids to the Connecticut Renaissance Faire\nChildren don’t have to understand Renaissance history to find things to do here. \nThere are family-oriented performances\, interactive games\, rides and characters throughout the village. \nOne particularly memorable experience is the Knighting Ceremony with the King and Queen\, where children can present themselves before King Basil and Queen Gwendolyn Genevieve and receive royal recognition before the parade. \nThere are also quests and interactive encounters with the Knights of Gore. \nThe Faire’s combination of structured shows and wandering characters means children can become involved in the fantasy rather than spending the entire day watching adults perform. \nYes\, You Can Bring Your Pet\nThe Connecticut Renaissance Faire has an unusually broad pet policy. \nWell-behaved dogs\, cats\, rabbits\, ferrets\, rats and lizards are permitted. \nPet admission is $5 per animal\, while service animals enter free. \nDogs and cats must have proof of current rabies vaccination. A veterinarian’s letter\, email or current rabies tag can serve as proof. \nPets must remain on a non-retractable leash no longer than six feet and owners are responsible for cleaning up after them. \nLivestock\, horses\, donkeys\, mules and other large animals aren’t permitted. \nThe Faire advises owners to bring food and water for their animals. Water bowls may be available from merchants\, but pet food isn’t sold on the grounds. \nPets are also permitted on the parking shuttles. \nParking Has Changed for 2026\nThis is one section worth reading before leaving home. \nThe Faire has a new parking system for 2026. \nVisitors who want to park directly at the Faire grounds at 122 Mack Road can purchase Premium Parking for $10 per vehicle. \nThere are only 525 Premium Parking spaces available each Faire day\, and they must be purchased online in advance for the specific date you’re attending. \nYou cannot purchase Premium Parking when you arrive at the lot. \nVIP admission includes Premium Parking. \nThere are also 125 free ADA parking spaces at the main Faire site for vehicles displaying a valid handicapped placard or plate. These spaces can’t be reserved and are available on a first-available basis. \nMotorcycles can park at the main site for free. \nFree Parking and Shuttles Are Available\nYou don’t have to pay to park. \nThe Faire operates free satellite parking with continuous shuttle service beginning at 9:30 a.m. \nOne free lot is located at 744 Trumbull Highway in Lebanon. \nAdditional parking is available at Lebanon Middle School\, 891 Exeter Road\, and Lyman Memorial High School\, 917 Exeter Road. \nThere is one important wrinkle with the school lots: the shuttles do not pick up directly at the schools. \nGuests parking at either school walk to the Mobil station located between the two schools\, which serves as the shuttle pickup and drop-off point. \nThe last shuttle leaves the Faire 30 minutes after closing. \nAnd don’t blindly follow your GPS. \nThe Faire specifically warns visitors not to use Barker Road\, which police close to through traffic on Faire weekends. \nWhere to Stay\nFor visitors coming from farther away\, the Faire maintains a list of nearby lodging options rather than operating an on-site campground. \nBecause the event runs for nine weekends\, staying overnight can also make sense for visitors who want to attend both Saturday and Sunday without making the drive twice. \nCheck lodging availability early for popular themed weekends\, particularly as the season moves toward October and foliage season in eastern Connecticut. \nWhat First-Time Visitors Should Know\nThe easiest mistake is approaching the Connecticut Renaissance Faire like an attraction where everything follows one obvious route. \nIt doesn’t. \nThere are performances happening simultaneously\, characters wandering the lanes\, merchants to explore\, food to try and activities that can consume far more time than expected. \nCheck the day’s performance schedule first and choose the handful of shows you really don’t want to miss. \nThen allow the rest of the day to happen around them. \nYou might stop for lunch and encounter a roaming performer. \nYou might head toward a stage and spend 30 minutes shopping instead. \nYou might intend to watch one song and stay for an entire set. \nThat’s not poor planning. \nThat’s pretty much how a Renaissance faire is supposed to work. \nConnecticut Renaissance Faire 2026 Details\nEvent: Connecticut Renaissance Faire\nSeason: August 29–October 25\, 2026\nRegular Days: Saturdays and Sundays\, plus Labor Day and Columbus Day\nHours: 10:30 a.m.–6 p.m.\nLocation: Lebanon Country Fairgrounds\nAddress: 122 Mack Road\, Lebanon\, CT 06249\nAdult General Admission: $18\nYouth Admission: $10\nChild Admission: Free\nEntertainment: More than 40 shows daily across 13 stages\nMarketplace: More than 200 artisans\, food vendors\, games and other merchants\nFood: 37 food merchants and seven pubs and taverns\nPremium On-Site Parking: $10\, advance date-specific purchase required\nFree Parking: Satellite lots with shuttle service\nPet Admission: $5; service animals free\nSame-Day Re-Entry: Permitted with handstamp\nOutside Food: Snacks and nonalcoholic drinks permitted \nMore information is available at the Event Website link below. \nTo purchase tickets\, click the Event Ticketing link below. \n  \n  \n  \nFeatured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people\, location\, or activities shown. \n 
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/connecticut-renaissance-faire-2026-guide/2026-09-19/
LOCATION:Lebanon Fair Grounds\, 122 Mack Road\, Lebanon\, 06249\, United States
CATEGORIES:Lebanon Fairgrounds
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://thectbeacon.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Connecticut-Renaissance-Faire-2026-Guide.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260919T100000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260919T173000
DTSTAMP:20260915T010603Z
CREATED:20260915T010603Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260915T010603Z
UID:10007605-1789812000-1789839000@thectbeacon.com
SUMMARY:Waterfest 2026 Brings Paddling\, Indigenous Music\, Art and a Community Conversation to Long Pond
DESCRIPTION:Waterfest 2026 brings a full day of paddling\, swimming\, music\, art\, environmental learning\, and community conversation to Long Pond in Ledyard on Saturday\, September 19\, with this year’s festival built around a deceptively simple theme: Water Inspires. \nThe Alliance for the Mystic River Watershed’s free annual gathering takes place at 79 Homestead Road\, along a part of the watershed where recreation\, Indigenous history\, wildlife habitat and some very modern questions about flooding and climate resilience all converge. \nThe main Waterfest program begins at 10 a.m.\, with an optional Native-led Lantern Hill hike beginning earlier at 8 a.m. The day’s scheduled activities continue through 4 p.m.\, followed by event cleanup through 5:30. \nAnd this isn’t a festival where the water merely provides the scenery. \nParticipants can get onto Long Pond\, learn how to keep invasive species from hitching a ride on their boats\, paddle toward the site of a proposed fishway\, hear Indigenous music and poetry\, and participate in discussions about what should happen to this landscape in the future. \nWaterfest Is Free for a Reason\nThe Alliance for the Mystic River Watershed describes Waterfest as one of its two signature free community learning events\, along with Springfest. \nThe organization deliberately mixes environmental education with recreation\, arts\, food and conversation. \nWaterfest isn’t intended to feel like a conference about water. \nIt’s meant to get people interacting with it. \nThis year’s “Water Inspires” theme looks at the different ways water can inspire life\, creativity\, learning\, collaboration and movement. \nThat means swimming and paddling belong beside environmental exhibits. Music and poetry belong beside discussions about flood control. Art belongs beside habitat restoration. \nAdmission is free\, although the Alliance is asking anyone who can contribute to consider making a donation toward the cost of producing Waterfest and its ongoing watershed work. \nThe Day Can Start on Top of Lantern Hill\nFor early risers\, Waterfest actually begins two hours before the main program. \nAn optional Native-led hike on Lantern Hill starts at 8 a.m. \nHikers should meet and sign in at the Two Trees Inn parking lot at 7:45 a.m. \nLantern Hill is far more than a convenient place to get a good view. \nThe quartzite ridge rises dramatically above the surrounding ponds and wetlands and is one of the defining natural landmarks of the upper Mystic River watershed. \nThe hill and surrounding landscape also carry deep cultural significance for the Mashantucket Pequot people. \nBeginning Waterfest there provides a different perspective on everything that follows. \nFrom high ground\, water becomes part of a system rather than an isolated pond. \nLong Pond Is Near the Top of the Mystic River Watershed\nWaterfest’s location helps explain much of the day’s programming. \nThe Mystic River doesn’t simply begin somewhere near downtown Mystic and flow toward the sea. \nIts watershed reaches north through portions of Groton\, Stonington\, Ledyard and North Stonington\, as well as the lands of the Mashantucket Pequot and Eastern Pequot Tribal Nations. \nIn the upper watershed\, water flows through a landscape of forested hills\, wetlands and ponds around Lantern Hill. \nLong Pond is one of the important pieces of that system. \nThe pond covers roughly 100 acres and reaches a maximum depth of about 72 feet. Water leaving its southern end flows into Whitford Brook and eventually continues toward the Mystic River and Long Island Sound. \nSo what happens around Long Pond doesn’t necessarily stay around Long Pond. \nThat’s the basic idea behind a watershed. \nYootay Singers Open the Main Program\nAt 10 a.m.\, the Yootay Singers will help open Waterfest\, followed by welcomes\, introductions and instructions for the day. \nIndigenous participation isn’t an ornamental addition to the festival. \nThe Alliance itself is structured around collaboration among the four watershed municipalities and the Eastern Pequot and Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nations. \nThat partnership carries through the day’s schedule. \nLater in the afternoon\, Rashad Young of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation will perform on flute\, followed by poetry from Derrick Strong of the Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation. \nYoung is the Language Director for the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation and serves on the Alliance’s Co-Leadership Board. \nHe’s also a traditional artisan. \nHis work includes making Native flutes\, pipes\, bows\, drums\, bags\, leatherwork and other objects informed by Mashantucket Pequot and Narragansett traditions. \nHis flute playing has been featured at Tribal and public ceremonies\, including Schemitzun and Indigenous commemorations at the Connecticut State Capitol. \nAt Waterfest\, that music returns to the landscape from which much of the cultural tradition surrounding it emerged. \nBefore You Paddle\, Learn to Clean the Boat\nThe first boat-cleaning demonstration begins at 10:30 a.m. \nAnother is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. \nIt might sound like a surprisingly mundane subject for a festival until you consider what can travel on a kayak\, canoe\, paddle\, trailer\, fishing equipment or other wet gear. \nAquatic invasive plants and organisms can be moved from one waterbody to another by recreational users without anyone realizing they’re carrying them. \nCleaning\, draining and drying boats and equipment is one of the simplest ways individual paddlers can reduce that risk. \nFor a festival encouraging people to enjoy the water\, teaching them how to avoid damaging the next body of water they visit is a logical companion lesson. \nAt 11\, Waterfest Turns Back to 2010\nOne of the day’s most substantive programs begins at 11 a.m. \nThe first Community Conversation and Design Circle will look back at the catastrophic flooding of March 2010 and ask participants to help develop recommendations for reducing future flood risk. \nFor people who lived around Lantern Hill at the time\, this isn’t an abstract climate discussion. \nThe 2010 flood physically changed the landscape. \nHeavy rain caused Long Pond Dam to overtop. \nWhitford Brook overtopped Lantern Hill Road. \nLantern Hill Pond flooded the intersection around Homestead and Lantern Hill roads. \nA bridge south of Lantern Hill Pond was breached and washed out. \nRoad infrastructure suffered significant damage. \nIn Ledyard\, firefighters spent days pumping flooded properties while public works crews dealt with damaged roads. A year later\, the town was still planning major reconstruction work. \nSixteen years later\, the flood remains important enough that the Alliance’s current Mystic River Watershed Vulnerability Assessment uses photographs of the 2010 event to illustrate the risks facing the upper watershed. \nThe Flood Question Isn’t Settled\nThat’s what makes the Waterfest conversation more than a history lesson. \nThe towns and watershed organizations are still working on infrastructure in the Lantern Hill and Whitford Brook corridor. \nIn 2022\, Ledyard accepted $3 million in state funding for infrastructure improvements involving the Whitford Brook area\, including work connected with Long Pond Dam\, Bush Pond Dam\, Bush Pond Dike and nearby culverts. \nThen\, in April 2026\, Ledyard authorized another $3.2248 million transportation grant for replacement of the Lantern Hill Road bridge over Whitford Brook below Long Pond. \nThose projects exist alongside a broader regional effort to understand how flooding\, extreme heat and drought could affect the Mystic River watershed in the future. \nThe current vulnerability assessment brings together the four watershed towns\, both Tribal Nations\, the Alliance\, Connecticut Sea Grant\, Fuss & O’Neill\, Resilient Land & Water and the Long Island Sound Study. \nWaterfest gives ordinary residents a seat in that conversation. \nLunch Comes With a Dance Like Water Party\nAfter a morning spent thinking about infrastructure and flood resilience\, the schedule deliberately loosens up. \nFrom 12:30 to 1 p.m.\, it’s time for lunch\, music and the Dance Like Water Party. \nFree food is part of the Waterfest experience. \nIt’s another example of how the Alliance has structured its community events differently from conventional environmental meetings. \nYou don’t have to arrive with technical knowledge. \nYou don’t need to belong to an environmental organization. \nYou can come because you want to paddle. \nYou can come for the music. \nYou can come because your children want to swim. \nAnd while you’re there\, you might learn why a culvert a few hundred yards away matters to a fish swimming north from Long Island Sound. \nRashad Young and Derrick Strong Take Over at 1\nAt 1 p.m.\, Waterfest shifts toward Indigenous music and spoken word. \nRashad Young will perform on Mashantucket flute\, followed by poems from Eastern Pequot writer and Alliance co-founder Derrick Strong. \nStrong’s words are already woven into the Alliance’s identity. \nThe organization prominently uses his line: \n“The rivers flow through us.” \nIt’s an unusually concise expression of the idea behind Waterfest. \nA watershed isn’t simply a blue line on a map that communities agree to protect. \nIts water passes through drinking supplies\, ecosystems\, food systems\, cultural traditions and communities. \nThe people living around it are part of the watershed\, too. \nAt 1:30\, Paddle Toward a Fishway That Doesn’t Exist Yet\nOne of the most interesting activities of the day begins at 1:30 p.m. \nFollowing another boat-cleaning demonstration\, participants can join a guided paddle to the future fishway at Long Pond Dam. \nThe project could dramatically change what Long Pond means to migratory fish. \nRight now\, Long Pond Dam creates a barrier on Whitford Brook. \nAlewives are anadromous fish. They’re born in freshwater\, migrate to the ocean and later return to freshwater to spawn. \nA dam can turn what was once a connected migration route into a dead end. \nThe proposed solution at Long Pond is a nature-like fishway. \nInstead of relying on a highly engineered ladder-like structure\, the concept uses a channel designed to mimic natural stream conditions\, allowing fish to gradually move around the obstruction. \nThe Numbers Behind the Fishway Are Enormous\nThe potential ecological payoff is much larger than the size of the project might suggest. \nEngineering work for the Long Pond project reports that Connecticut DEEP Fisheries estimated restored passage could eventually support an annual run of more than 250\,000 alewives. \nThe project could help establish approximately 6.6 miles of connected river corridor\, stretching from the confluence of Whitford Brook and the Mystic River upstream toward the top of the Lantern Hill Pond system. \nAlewives aren’t the only species that could benefit. \nThe Whitford Brook system is also habitat for migratory and resident fish including American eel\, and improved stream connectivity can benefit an entire aquatic food web. \nThat’s why the afternoon paddle is more interesting than simply paddling to a dam. \nParticipants will be traveling toward a place where people are actively trying to reconnect the freshwater at Waterfest with the sea. \nAt 2\, The Conversation Moves From Water to Hemp\nThe second Community Conversation begins at 2 p.m. with an unusual subject: \nLiving in a locally grown hemp home. \nIt may seem like a detour from ponds and fishways\, but it fits the larger theme of community resilience. \nIndustrial hemp can be processed into building materials\, including hemp-lime composites commonly known as hempcrete. These materials have attracted attention as alternatives to more carbon-intensive conventional construction materials. \nWaterfest’s afternoon conversation puts that idea into the local context: what happens when building materials can be grown regionally\, and how might housing itself become part of a more regenerative relationship between people\, land and climate? \nIt’s another example of Waterfest deliberately stretching the definition of watershed care beyond picking up trash beside a stream. \nThere Are Prizes at 3\nThe day’s prize drawing begins at 3 p.m. \nThe Alliance hasn’t published a complete prize list in the event information provided\, so consider that part a surprise. \nThe main public festival concludes at 4 p.m. \nVolunteers who want to stay and help put the site back together can participate in cleanup from 4 to 5:30 p.m. \nThat’s an appropriately practical ending for an event about stewardship. \nWaterfest Is Really About Who Gets to Make the Decisions\nThe Alliance for the Mystic River Watershed is a relatively young nonprofit\, but its organizational model is one of the more interesting things about it. \nRather than treating the watershed as belonging to whichever municipality happens to contain a particular stream\, the Alliance works across four towns and two Tribal Nations. \nIts mission combines ecological health with community resilience and cultural vitality. \nThat matters because water ignores political borders. \nFloodwater doesn’t stop at a town line. \nNeither does pollution. \nNeither does a migrating alewife. \nAnd neither does the Mystic River watershed. \nWaterfest puts that philosophy into practice for a day. \nSwim in the pond. \nPaddle it. \nListen to music beside it. \nLearn how to keep invasive species out of it. \nRemember what happened when it overflowed in 2010. \nImagine hundreds of thousands of fish eventually reaching it again. \nAnd\, most importantly\, join the conversation about what happens next. \nDetails\nEvent: Waterfest 2026\nTheme: Water Inspires\nDate: Saturday\, September 19\, 2026\nMain Location: Long Pond\nAddress: 79 Homestead Road\, Ledyard\, CT\nAdmission: Free\nDonations: Encouraged to help offset Waterfest costs and support the Alliance’s watershed programs\nMain Program: 10 a.m.–4 p.m.\nOptional Lantern Hill Hike: 8 a.m.; meet/sign in at Two Trees Inn parking lot at 7:45 a.m.\n10 a.m.: Yootay Singers; welcome\, introductions and instructions\n10:30 a.m.: Boat-cleaning demonstration\n11 a.m.–Noon: Community Conversation/Design Circle on the 2010 flood and flood-risk-reduction recommendations\n12:30–1 p.m.: Lunch\, music and Dance Like Water Party\n1 p.m.: Rashad Young\, Mashantucket flute; Derrick Strong\, Eastern Pequot poetry\n1:30 p.m.: Boat-cleaning demonstration and guided paddle to the future fishway\n2 p.m.: Community Conversation Round 2\, Living in a Locally Grown Hemp Home\n3 p.m.: Prize drawing\n4–5:30 p.m.: Event cleanup\nActivities: Swimming\, paddling\, environmental learning\, art\, music\, community exhibits and conversations\nOrganizer: Alliance for the Mystic River Watershed\nEvent Contact: 914-462-2857\nWhat to Bring: Dress for outdoor activities and the day’s weather. Participants planning to paddle or swim should bring appropriate personal equipment and follow event safety instructions.\nWeather: Outdoor waterfront event; check the organizer’s event information for any weather-related updates. \nMore information is available at the Event Website link below. \n  \nFeatured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people\, location\, or activities shown. \nResources\nAlliance for the Mystic River Watershed – Team\nAlliance for the Mystic River Watershed – Support Our Work\nMystic River Watershed Vulnerability Assessment\nMystic River Watershed Living Atlas\nTown of Ledyard – Whitford Brook Watershed Infrastructure Improvements\nTown of Ledyard – 2026 Lantern Hill Road Bridge Funding\nPrinceton Hydro – Long Pond Nature-Like Fishway\nSave the Sound – Long Pond Fish Passage\nMashantucket Pequot Museum – Rashad Young\nUnited Way of Southeastern Connecticut – Alliance for the Mystic River Watershed
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/waterfest-2026-brings-paddling-indigenous-music-art-and-a-community-conversation-to-long-pond/
LOCATION:Long Pond\, 79 Homestead Rd\, Ledyard\, 06339\, United States
CATEGORIES:Long Pond Ledyard
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://thectbeacon.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Waterfest-2026-Brings-Paddling-Indigenous-Music-Art-and-a-Community-Conversation-to-Long-Pond.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260919T100000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260919T160000
DTSTAMP:20260916T220152Z
CREATED:20260916T220035Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260916T220152Z
UID:10007921-1789812000-1789833600@thectbeacon.com
SUMMARY:Harvest Moon Living Exhibition Celebrates the Season Through Pequot Culture\, Food and Community
DESCRIPTION:Harvest Moon Living Exhibition brings Indigenous art\, foodways\, music\, storytelling\, social dancing and hands-on cultural activities together at the Mashantucket Pequot Museum & Research Center on Saturday\, September 19. \nRunning from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.\, the family-friendly celebration is built around something much older than the modern idea of a fall festival. \nFor the Mashantucket Pequot people\, September’s Harvest Moon marks the final period for gathering crops and preparing for winter. \nThe museum’s Living Exhibition turns those seasonal traditions into something visitors can experience rather than simply read about behind glass. \nThere will be corn roasting over fire\, corn husk crafts\, Indigenous vendors\, storytelling\, social dancing\, a flute performance\, food samples\, animals\, a marine touch tank and opportunities to explore the landscape surrounding the museum. \nIt’s a full day devoted to the relationship among culture\, community and the land. \nThe Harvest Moon Is Part of a Larger Cycle\nThe Harvest Moon isn’t an isolated celebration at the museum. \nIt belongs to Kunâhneepamuhshâtunônak\, “Our Moons\,” a larger Mashantucket Pequot cultural framework based on the lunar cycle and the changing seasons. \nDifferent moons mark changes in the natural world and the activities traditionally associated with them. \nJune brings the Strawberry Moon\, connected with the year’s first berries. July is the Blueberry Moon. August’s Green Corn Moon coincides with the annual Schemitzun celebration and the green corn harvest. \nThen comes September. \nThe Harvest Moon represents the period when the last crops are harvested and preparations for winter begin. \nLater moons mark cranberry harvesting\, falling leaves\, hunting and winter gift-giving. \nRather than presenting those traditions as something that existed only in the past\, the museum’s Living Exhibitions emphasize their continuation within contemporary Pequot life. \nThat’s an important distinction. \nThis isn’t a historical reenactment. \nIt’s living culture. \nThe Day Starts With an Indigenous Market\nFrom 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.\, visitors can explore the day’s vendor market along with craft activities and scavenger hunts. \nThe marketplace gives Native makers and artisans a place within the celebration while allowing visitors to encounter Indigenous art as something being created now. \nThat’s another recurring theme in the museum’s seasonal programming. \nTraditional knowledge doesn’t have to mean static tradition. Art\, food\, storytelling and music can retain connections to earlier generations while continuing to change with the people creating them. \nThe market runs throughout the entire six-hour event\, making it something visitors can return to between performances and activities. \nCorn Becomes One of the Stars of the Day\nHarvest celebrations tend to eventually lead to food. \nHere\, corn takes center stage. \nFrom 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.\, the Weewachum Food & Beverage Station is scheduled to serve fresh corn on the cob\, popcorn and purple corn juice\, or chicha morada\, while supplies last. \nBeginning at noon\, visitors can also watch a series of fire-roasted corn salad demonstrations. \nDemonstrations are scheduled for noon\, 12:30\, 1 and 1:30 p.m. \nIt’s food\, but it’s also interpretation. \nThe museum uses foodways throughout its seasonal programming to connect agriculture\, environment\, culture and community. Ingredients become another way of explaining how people interacted with the land and how that relationship continues. \nTurn Corn Husks Into Something Else\nThe day also puts the remains of the harvest to work. \nCorn Husk Creations sessions are scheduled for noon and 2 p.m.\, with each session lasting approximately an hour. \nThe activity is free for museum members. Nonmembers can contribute what they can. \nCorn husk work provides an accessible entry into a much larger idea: when a crop is valuable\, the useful part isn’t necessarily limited to what ends up on the dinner table. \nThat kind of resourcefulness was fundamental to life long before the modern language of sustainability arrived. \nFor children in particular\, making something offers a different kind of connection than simply looking at an object in an exhibit case. \nThey leave having actually worked with the material. \nAnimals Arrive at 11 a.m.\nFamilies have another particularly kid-friendly section of the day beginning at 11 a.m. \nXen’s Critters will bring animal encounters to the museum through 3 p.m. \nThe museum is also advertising a Maritime Aquarium touch tank during the same period. \nThat broadens the day’s connection to the natural world beyond agriculture. \nMashantucket Pequot history is inseparable from the environment of southern New England\, including its forests\, rivers\, wetlands and coastal waters. \nAnimals and marine life make that relationship tangible for younger visitors who may not be ready for a long discussion about ecology or traditional lifeways. \nLet them touch something first. \nThe questions tend to follow. \nSocial Dancing Begins at 12:30 p.m.\nThe afternoon shifts increasingly toward performance and shared experience. \nFollowing the day’s welcome and program introduction\, social dancing begins at 12:30 p.m. \nA flute performance follows at 12:55 p.m. \nAt 1:20 p.m.\, the program turns toward Stories of the Harvest\, with a storyteller sharing another form of cultural knowledge. \nThen at 2:45 p.m.\, social dancing returns for the closing portion of the program. \nThat mixture of music\, movement and oral tradition is deliberate. \nCulture isn’t transmitted through one medium. \nIt moves through stories\, songs\, dance\, food\, language\, objects\, places and relationships between generations. \nThe Living Exhibition puts several of those forms in the same room on the same day. \nGo Deeper With a Pequot Village Tour\nVisitors who want to add more museum interpretation to the day have several options. \nAt 10:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.\, the museum offers its one-hour Exhibit Highlight Tour. \nThe guided experience travels across roughly 20\,000 years of history\, moving from the Ice Age and the arrival of Indigenous peoples through the museum’s Pequot Village and the enormous changes that followed European contact. \nThose tours require separate tickets. \nAt noon\, visitors can instead take the museum’s 20-minute Pequot Village guided tour\, which also requires a ticket. \nThe recreated 16th-century village is one of the museum’s signature experiences. \nRather than displaying a collection of disconnected artifacts\, the immersive environment places homes\, tools\, activities\, sounds and other details into the context of a functioning Pequot community. \nThe short guided tour focuses on family\, community and daily life. \nMuseum Members Get a First Look at a New Outdoor Experience\nThere’s also something new happening at 1 p.m. \nMuseum members can participate in a first-look version of Gifts of the Land\, a guided walk along the Pequot Trails surrounding the museum. \nThe experience explores native plants\, wildlife and the Mashantucket landscape while connecting them with Pequot knowledge and culture. \nParticipation in this particular program is limited to museum members. \nIts inclusion during the Harvest Moon celebration is especially fitting. \nThe day’s central idea isn’t merely harvesting crops. \nIt’s understanding the relationship between people and the environment that sustains them. \nA walk through the actual landscape makes that relationship considerably less abstract. \nThis Is a Museum Where the Building Is Only Part of the Story\nThe Mashantucket Pequot Museum & Research Center opened in 1998 and is owned and operated by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation. \nIts permanent exhibitions span thousands of years\, including natural history\, Indigenous life before European arrival\, the Pequot War and the Tribe’s survival and resurgence into the present day. \nBut the Harvest Moon Living Exhibition illustrates an important part of what the institution has increasingly emphasized. \nA museum devoted to Indigenous people cannot tell the story solely in the past tense. \nThe Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation is here now. \nIts artists are creating now. \nIts families are passing knowledge between generations now. \nIts agricultural work continues now. \nIts seasonal traditions continue now. \nA “living exhibition” makes that point right in the name. \nSpend an Hour or Spend the Day\nThe schedule makes Harvest Moon unusually flexible. \nSomeone could arrive for the market and a little social dancing and stay for an hour or two. \nFamilies could build most of the day around crafts\, animal encounters\, the touch tank\, scavenger hunts and food. \nVisitors interested primarily in history and culture could combine the Harvest Moon programming with the museum’s permanent exhibitions and one of the guided tours. \nAnd because the event stretches from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.\, there’s no single performance that defines the entire experience. \nIt’s meant to be explored. \nCome for the harvest. \nThen see where the day takes you. \nDetails\nEvent: Harvest Moon Living Exhibition\nDate: Saturday\, September 19\, 2026\nTime: 10 a.m.–4 p.m.\nVenue: Mashantucket Pequot Museum & Research Center\nAddress: 110 Pequot Trail\, Mashantucket\, CT 06338\nAdmission: Harvest Moon activities are free with museum admission; some guided experiences require separate tickets\nAudience: All ages and family-friendly\nVendor Market & Craft Activities: 10 a.m.–4 p.m.\nXen’s Critters & Maritime Aquarium Touch Tank: 11 a.m.–3 p.m.\nGourd Painting: 11 a.m.–3 p.m.; free for members\, nonmembers may donate what they can\nWeewachum Food & Beverage Station: 11 a.m.–2 p.m.\, while supplies last\nFire-Roasted Corn Salad Demonstrations: Noon\, 12:30\, 1 and 1:30 p.m.\nCorn Husk Creations: Noon and 2 p.m.; free for members\, nonmembers may donate what they can\nSocial Dancing: 12:30 and 2:45 p.m.\nFlute Performance: 12:55 p.m.\nStories of the Harvest: 1:20 p.m.\nExhibit Highlight Tours: 10:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.; separate tickets required\nPequot Village Guided Tour: Noon; separate ticket required\nGifts of the Land Trail Walk: 1 p.m.; museum members only\nParking: Free parking is available at the museum\nPhone: 860-396-6910 \nMore information is available at the Event Website link below. \nTo purchase museum admission\, click the Event Ticketing link below. \n  \n  \nFeatured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people\, location\, or activities shown.
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/harvest-moon-living-exhibition-celebrates-the-season-through-pequot-culture-food-and-community/
LOCATION:Mashantucket Pequot Museum\, 110 Pequot Trail\, Mashantucket\, 06338\, United States
CATEGORIES:Mashantucket Pequot Museum
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://thectbeacon.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Harvest-Moon-Living-Exhibition-Celebrates-the-Season-Through-Pequot-Culture-Food-and-Community.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260919T100000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260919T160000
DTSTAMP:20260921T030313Z
CREATED:20260905T020341Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260921T030313Z
UID:10007471-1789812000-1789833600@thectbeacon.com
SUMMARY:Ninigret Park Annual Arts and Crafts Show
DESCRIPTION:Ninigret Park Annual Arts and Crafts Show on Saturday\, September 19\, will bring about 50 artists and makers to the park for a day of handmade work\, live music and food. \nNow in its third year\, the show runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the New Pavilion area of Ninigret Park. This year’s exhibitors span woodworking\, pottery\, jewelry\, quilting\, crochet\, macramé\, and other forms of handmade art and craft. \nStonington-area guitarist and singer-songwriter Ron Drago will provide live music during the event\, and local organizations and vendors will provide food and refreshments. \nA rain date is scheduled for Saturday\, September 26. \nAbout 50 Artists and Makers in One Place\nThe scale of the show is large enough to offer variety without turning the day into a sprawling commercial festival. \nOrganizers expect approximately 50 exhibitors\, with the emphasis on artists\, artisans and makers rather than mass-produced merchandise. \nThe announced mix includes woodworkers\, potters\, jewelers\, quilters\, crochet artists and macramé makers\, along with other crafts. \nOne returning Charlestown artist is Brian O’Connor of South County Paddles\, whose work goes well beyond the business name. \nO’Connor is a woodworker known for creating carved fish and detailed fish dioramas. His work frequently draws on the species and waterways of southern Rhode Island\, making his booth particularly connected to the landscape surrounding the show. \nOne of O’Connor’s past pieces\, Anadromous Ascension III\, depicted the migration of fish such as river herring from saltwater into freshwater rivers to reproduce. O’Connor is also a founding member of Protect Rhode Island Brook Trout\, connecting his woodworking with his interest in the region’s native fish and waterways. \nHe is scheduled to return to the show this year with a selection of his fish dioramas. \nRon Drago Provides the Live Music\nThe arts and crafts aren’t the only attraction. \nRon Drago\, a guitarist and singer-songwriter based in the Stonington area\, will perform live during the show. \nDrago is a familiar name around southeastern Connecticut and southwestern Rhode Island\, performing solo acoustic shows at wineries\, restaurants\, breweries and other local venues. \nHis repertoire draws from decades of popular music\, making the performance more of a soundtrack to an afternoon of browsing than a separate concert that requires visitors to stop everything and gather around a stage. \nThat format fits this event particularly well. Visitors can move between booths\, stop for food\, explore the park and return to the music throughout the day. \nFood Will Be Available at the Show\nFood and refreshments are also planned. \nThe Downey Weaver American Legion Post 34 is among the organizations scheduled to sell food\, and Del’s Lemonade is expected to be part of the day as well. \nAdditional food offerings may also be available. \nThat gives visitors the option of turning a quick trip through the craft booths into a longer afternoon at Ninigret Park. \nThe Park Is Part of the Day\nOne of the things that distinguishes this show from an indoor craft fair is its location. \nNinigret Park is one of Charlestown’s major public recreation spaces\, with a combination of open fields\, trails and recreational facilities spread across the property. \nThe show is being held near the New Pavilion\, but visitors aren’t limited to the vendor area. \nNinigret Park includes Little Nini Pond\, A Kid’s Place Playground\, picnic shelters\, walking and bicycling paths\, an 18-hole disc golf course\, basketball and tennis courts and other recreational areas. \nThat makes the show particularly easy to combine with a family day at the park. Someone who isn’t interested in spending several hours looking through craft booths has plenty of other options nearby. \nNinigret’s Wildlife Refuge Is Next Door\nThe natural landscape extends beyond the town park itself. \nNinigret Park sits alongside the Ninigret National Wildlife Refuge\, part of the Rhode Island National Wildlife Refuge Complex. \nThe refuge protects coastal habitat associated with Ninigret Pond and includes trails through grasslands\, shrubland and other habitat used by migratory birds and wildlife. \nAccess from the park also connects visitors with the salt pond environment\, including a kayak launch area. \nIt’s an unusually fitting setting for an arts event with makers whose work often draws inspiration from Rhode Island’s coast\, forests and wildlife. \nFrom Naval Airfield to Community Park\nThe open landscape at Ninigret has another layer that’s easy to miss. \nMuch of the property was once part of a World War II-era naval auxiliary airfield. \nAfter the military use ended\, the former air station property eventually became a combination of town recreation land and federally protected wildlife habitat. Traces of the old airfield remain visible in the unusually broad\, flat landscape. \nToday\, the town-owned portion has become one of Charlestown’s busiest gathering places\, hosting everything from community recreation to major annual festivals. \nThe arts and crafts show operates at the opposite end of the scale from Ninigret’s largest festivals. Instead of multiple stages and thousands of visitors\, the focus is on individual makers\, their work and a day in the park. \nThe Show Is Only in Its Third Year\nDespite the “annual” name\, this isn’t a decades-old Charlestown tradition. \n2026 marks the third year of the Ninigret Park Arts and Crafts Show. \nThe event began with roughly 50 exhibitors\, a scale organizers have continued as the show has developed. \nThat also explains its straightforward format. There isn’t a midway\, complicated admission structure or packed schedule of attractions. \nIt’s essentially a community craft show in one of South County’s best-known parks: dozens of makers\, live acoustic music\, something to eat and plenty of room to spend time outdoors afterward. \nEvent Details\nEvent: Ninigret Park Annual Arts and Crafts Show\nDate: Saturday\, September 19\, 2026\nTime: 10 a.m.–4 p.m.\nRain Date: Saturday\, September 26\nLocation: New Pavilion at Ninigret Park\nAddress: Park Lane\, Charlestown\, RI 02813\nExhibitors: Approximately 50 artists and makers\nCrafts: Woodworking\, pottery\, jewelry\, quilting\, crochet\, macramé and more\nLive Music: Ron Drago\nFood: Downey Weaver American Legion Post 34\, Del’s Lemonade and additional offerings \n\n  \nFeatured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people\, location\, or activities shown.
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/ninigret-park-annual-arts-and-crafts-show/
LOCATION:Ninigret Park\, 5 Park Lane\, Charlestown\, RI\, 02813\, United States
CATEGORIES:Ninigret Park
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CREATED:20260624T030727Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260624T031304Z
UID:10006249-1789812000-1789822800@thectbeacon.com
SUMMARY:Waterford Farmers Market
DESCRIPTION:The Waterford Farmers Market returns for the 2026 season\, bringing local food\, handmade goods\, and community spirit to the Waterford Community Center every Saturday from June 20 through October 24. Shoppers can browse a rotating selection of vendors offering fresh produce\, baked goods\, meats\, honey\, flowers\, artisan crafts\, specialty foods\, and other locally made products. \nWhether you’re picking up ingredients for the week\, searching for unique gifts\, or simply enjoying a Saturday morning outing\, the market offers a chance to support local farmers\, makers\, and small businesses. New vendors and seasonal offerings appear throughout the season\, making each visit a little different from the last. \nEvent Details \nDates: Saturdays\, June 20 – October 24\, 2026\nTime: 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM\nLocation: Waterford Community Center\, 24 Rope Ferry Road\, Waterford\, CT \nVendors May Include: \n\nFresh fruits and vegetables\nLocal meats and seafood\nBaked goods and breads\nHoney and specialty foods\nFlowers and plants\nArtisan crafts and handmade goods\nLocal artists and makers\n\nAdmission: Free \n 
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/waterford-farmers-market/2026-09-19/
LOCATION:Waterford Community Center\, 24 Rope Ferry Rd\, Waterford\, 06385\, United States
CATEGORIES:Waterford Community Center
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SUMMARY:Westerly Performing Arts Tour Takes Young Performers Behind the Scenes at Three Downtown Arts Institutions
DESCRIPTION:The Westerly Performing Arts Tour gives young singers\, musicians and actors something they don’t normally get from sitting in the audience: a look behind the curtain at three of Westerly’s major performing arts organizations and a chance to find out how they can become part of them. \nThe guided walking tour begins beneath the marquee at The UNITED Theatre at 10 a.m. Saturday\, September 19\, before heading through downtown to the Granite Theatre and George Kent Performance Hall\, home of The Chorus of Westerly. \nOver roughly 90 minutes\, participants will meet artists and educators\, explore performance spaces\, learn about training programs and discover opportunities to sing\, act\, play an instrument or otherwise become involved in Westerly’s performing arts community. \nFor a young person who knows they want to perform but doesn’t know where to begin\, that’s really the point of the morning. \nThree Stops\, Three Different Ways Onto a Stage\nThe tour isn’t simply a walk through three interesting buildings. \nEach stop represents a different part of the performing arts. \nAt The UNITED\, the focus includes music education and the many ways musicians can develop their skills. \nAt the Granite Theatre\, participants actually step onto the stage while learning about acting\, theatrical training and performance. \nAt The Chorus of Westerly\, the tour moves into vocal and ensemble training inside Kent Hall. \nTogether\, the three organizations offer a surprisingly broad introduction to what’s available to a young performer within a relatively small section of downtown Westerly. \nAnd participants will hear directly from the people who teach and create the work rather than simply picking up three brochures. \nIt Starts Under The UNITED Marquee\nThe first meeting point is one of downtown Westerly’s most recognizable landmarks: the marquee at The UNITED Theatre at 5 Canal Street. \nFrom there\, participants head behind the scenes. \nThe UNITED today is considerably more than a movie theater. \nIts modern arts complex contains a 750-capacity flexible performance space\, three cinemas\, an event and gallery space and a dedicated music school. \nThe building hosts concerts\, theater\, dance\, comedy\, films\, lectures and other programming while maintaining an increasingly substantial educational operation. \nYoung visitors on Saturday’s tour will get a closer look at that educational side. \nThe UNITED Music School Is a Working Training Center\nThe UNITED Music School offers instruction and performance opportunities across a range of instruments\, ages and ability levels. \nThe idea isn’t simply to teach someone how to play scales in a practice room. \nStudents can develop through lessons and ensembles while being conneGcted to an active performing arts organization where musicians are regularly rehearsing\, recording and appearing onstage. \nThe UNITED also extends its education programs beyond traditional instrumental instruction. \nIts broader arts programming has included songwriting\, voice\, photography\, video\, visual arts\, film and podcasting\, along with after-school programming for local students. \nThe tour gives prospective students a chance to see where that work happens and ask the people involved what participating actually looks like. \nThe Building Has Been Training Entertainers for a Century\, in a Way\nThere’s another reason the UNITED is an appropriate place to begin. \nIn 1926\, the original United Theatre opened as a vaudeville house. \nThat means the building turns 100 years old in 2026. \nVaudeville theaters were variety houses. A single bill could contain singers\, dancers\, comedians\, musicians\, novelty performers and other acts. \nThe United later became a movie theater before closing in 1986. \nDecades later\, a major redevelopment joined the historic theater with the neighboring Montgomery Ward building. Following an extensive renovation\, the new UNITED reopened in July 2021 as a multipurpose arts center. \nA building that once presented performers now both presents them and helps train the next generation. \nSaturday’s tour makes that connection unusually literal. \nThen the Tour Heads Through Wilcox Park\nFrom The UNITED\, the group walks through Wilcox Park toward the Granite Theatre. \nThat makes the event a genuine downtown arts tour rather than three disconnected building visits. \nThe park itself is one of the features that makes this possible. \nWesterly’s compact downtown puts theaters\, music spaces\, restaurants\, shops and historic buildings within walking distance of one another\, with Wilcox Park sitting near the center of it all. \nFor young participants\, the walk also demonstrates something that’s easy to overlook when visiting one venue at a time: \nThese organizations are neighbors. \nThey’re part of the same arts community. \nAt the Granite\, Young Performers Get to Step Onto the Stage\nThe second major stop is the Granite Theatre at 1 Granite Street. \nHere\, participants will step onto the stage and hear how theatrical training reaches beyond memorizing lines and learning where to stand. \nThe Granite specifically emphasizes the ways theater can develop confidence\, communication skills and personal growth. \nThose benefits matter even for children who never intend to become professional actors. \nGetting onstage requires speaking clearly. \nActors have to listen to one another. \nThey need to collaborate\, remember instructions\, adapt when something unexpected happens and become comfortable communicating in front of other people. \nA theatrical production is also intensely collaborative. \nThe person delivering the line may be the one the audience sees\, but performances depend on directors\, designers\, technicians\, stage managers and many others working together. \nFor a child interested in theater but uncertain about being the center of attention\, there are plenty of ways into that world. \nThe Granite Has Been Expanding Its Youth Programs\nThe Granite’s mission specifically combines entertainment and education\, and the theater has been developing dedicated programming for younger performers. \nIts Youth Theatre Program has included theatrical training\, summer camps and staged productions for young actors. \nRecent youth programming has been designed for participants roughly 8 to 18 years old\, giving children and teenagers the opportunity to work toward an actual performance rather than treating theater solely as a classroom exercise. \nSaturday’s stop gives prospective young actors and their families a chance to see the space before deciding whether that kind of program feels right for them. \nThat can be much more useful than trying to make the decision from a website. \nThe Granite’s Stage Is Inside an 1849 Church\nThe building itself has already spent more than 175 years gathering people together. \nThe Greek Revival structure was purchased for $200 in 1843 and became the Christian Chapel in Westerly. \nThe building was completed in 1849 and later became the Broad Street Christian Church. \nIts basic historic character survived remarkably well\, although the steeple required remodeling after being damaged during the Hurricane of 1938. \nThe building eventually found an entirely different purpose. \nIn 2000\, it reopened as the Granite Theatre. \nThe former church sanctuary became an intimate performance venue where actors now perform only a short distance from the audience. \nFor a young performer stepping onto its stage Saturday morning\, it’s worth looking around. \nThat’s not a purpose-built modern auditorium. \nIt’s another piece of Westerly history that the arts helped preserve. \nThe Final Stop Is Kent Hall\nThe walking tour continues to 119 High Street\, where another former church has become one of Westerly’s major performance spaces. \nGeorge Kent Performance Hall is home to The Chorus of Westerly. \nThe organization uses Kent Hall for rehearsals\, classes\, concerts and educational programs throughout the year. \nFor young singers\, this portion of the tour may be particularly useful because The Chorus of Westerly has made children’s musical education part of its identity from the beginning. \nParticipants will learn how singers develop musicianship\, vocal technique and ensemble skills\, and how children can progress into serious choral performance even without arriving with years of previous training. \nYou Don’t Need to Arrive Already Knowing How to Sing in a Chorus\nThe Chorus of Westerly explicitly says that children don’t need previous voice lessons\, formal music classes or other musical training to begin its children’s program. \nTeaching them is part of the job. \nIts children’s program is designed for young people approximately ages 8 through 18 and uses multiple levels so developing singers can be placed appropriately. \nEach young singer receives at least two hours of rehearsal per week. \nAnd this isn’t a children’s choir that exists entirely apart from the organization’s major performances. \nOne of The Chorus of Westerly’s founding principles was giving children and teenagers the opportunity to sing challenging music alongside adults in serious performance settings. \nYoung singers have long participated in the organization’s main symphonic and Pops programming. \nThat makes the Kent Hall stop less about asking\, “Can my child already do this?” \nIt’s about discovering how they can learn. \nThe Chorus Has Built a Program That Can Last a Lifetime\nThe children’s program is only one piece of The Chorus of Westerly. \nThere is an auditioned Symphonic Chorus for adults. \nThere are also non-auditioned programs designed to make group singing accessible to people with different experience levels and at different stages of life. \nThe organization has developed a Foundations Chorus\, Threshold Singers and an Encore Choir for older adults\, among other educational and outreach programs. \nThat creates an unusual continuum. \nSomeone can begin singing at Kent Hall as a child and remain involved in choral music well into adulthood. \nThe organization isn’t simply producing concerts. \nIt’s trying to create singers. \nKent Hall Has Heard Some Extraordinary Music\nThe room the young performers will visit has hosted considerably more than local rehearsals. \nThe Chorus of Westerly first performed there in 1968. \nOver the decades\, Kent Hall has welcomed internationally known musicians and ensembles including Yo-Yo Ma\, Pete Seeger\, Rudolf Serkin\, The King’s Singers\, Chanticleer\, The Tallis Scholars\, the Choir of King’s College Cambridge and the Vienna Boys’ Choir. \nIts history predates all of them. \nConstruction of the building began in 1886 as Westerly’s first Roman Catholic church\, Immaculate Conception. \nThe Chorus eventually acquired the building and undertook years of restoration and renovation. \nIn 2004–05\, a nearly $2 million project added an office wing and backstage access. Later work addressed the roof\, bell tower\, HVAC systems\, rehearsal spaces and lower level. \nToday it’s listed on the National Register of Historic Places. \nSo Saturday’s young singers will be standing in a room with some stories to tell. \nThe Tour Is Really About Finding Your Door In\nA child saying “I like music” doesn’t necessarily know what comes next. \nDo I need lessons? \nCan I join a band? \nWhat if I’ve never acted before? \nDo I have to audition? \nWhat happens at an audition? \nCan I sing in a chorus if I can’t read music? \nWhat if I want to work in theater but don’t want to act? \nThose questions can make arts organizations seem more intimidating from the outside than they actually are. \nThe Westerly Performing Arts Tour removes some of that barrier by putting families directly in the spaces and introducing them to the people who can answer those questions. \nThere’s no requirement that a participant emerge from Saturday morning having chosen an artistic career. \nFinding something they’d like to try is enough. \nParents Need to Come Along With Younger Participants\nThe tour is designed for young performers\, but participants under 18 must be accompanied by an adult. \nThat makes sense for another reason. \nParents are usually the ones who need answers about schedules\, commitments\, auditions\, costs and transportation before a child can join a program. \nInstead of a young person coming home excited about something and trying to explain it\, parent and child can hear the information together. \nThe UNITED asks participants to reserve a spot in advance. \nThe tour begins at the UNITED marquee at 10 a.m. The UNITED describes the guided experience as approximately 90 minutes\, while the Chamber calendar blocks out 10 a.m. to noon\, so families would be wise to keep the full two-hour window available. \nThree Institutions\, One Arts Community\nThe most interesting part of the Westerly Performing Arts Tour may not be any single stop. \nIt’s the fact that all three stops exist so close together. \nWithin one morning\, a young person can explore a century-old theater reborn as a modern music and arts center\, stand on the stage of an 1849 church transformed into a community theater and visit an 1880s church that became home to a nationally recognized choral organization. \nThey’re different institutions with different histories and specialties. \nBut they’re doing versions of the same thing. \nThey’re taking people who want to create something and giving them a place to begin. \nOn September 19\, they’re opening those doors together. \nDetails\nEvent: The Westerly Performing Arts Tour\nDate: Saturday\, September 19\, 2026\nStart Time: 10 a.m.\nCalendar Window: 10 a.m.–noon\nGuided Tour Length: Approximately 90 minutes\nStarting Point: The UNITED Theatre marquee/front entrance\nStarting Address: 5 Canal Street\, Westerly\, RI 02891\nStops: The UNITED Theatre and Music School\, Granite Theatre and George Kent Performance Hall/The Chorus of Westerly\nAudience: Young performers and families interested in local performing arts opportunities\nUnder 18: Must be accompanied by an adult\nActivities: Behind-the-scenes theater visit\, music school introduction\, Granite Theatre stage visit\, choral education introduction and conversations with artists and educators\nWalking: The tour travels between downtown locations\, including a walk through Wilcox Park\nRegistration: Advance reservation is requested\nContact: The UNITED Theatre\, 401-388-8208 \nMore information is available at the Event Website link below. \nTo reserve your spot\, click the Event Registration link below. \n  \n  \nFeatured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people\, location\, or activities shown.
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/westerly-performing-arts-tour-takes-young-performers-behind-the-scenes-at-three-downtown-arts-institutions/
LOCATION:United Theatre\, 5 Canal Street\, Westerly\, RI\, 02891\, United States
CATEGORIES:United Theater
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SUMMARY:Mystic River Boathouse Park Ribbon Cutting Opens a New Stretch of the River to the Public
DESCRIPTION:Mystic River Boathouse Park Ribbon Cutting Ceremony celebrates the opening of a project nearly a decade in the making on Saturday\, September 19\, transforming a former industrial brownfield into a new public waterfront park\, community rowing center\, and permanent home for Stonington High School Crew. \nThe ceremony runs from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at 123 Greenmanville Avenue\, just north of Mystic Seaport Museum. \nBut this is much bigger than a ribbon-cutting for another small town park. \nThe roughly 1.5-acre property includes new public access to a portion of the upper Mystic River where much of the shoreline has historically been privately owned. It also incorporates the Jim Dietz Rowing Center and Hart Perry Boathouse\, rowing and public-access docks\, a pedestrian launch for non-motorized watercraft\, ADA-accessible waterfront features\, a living shoreline and recreational space. \nAnd getting it built took about 10 years. \nIt Started With a Vote in 2016\nStonington residents approved the project at a town meeting in 2016\, authorizing the purchase of the Greenmanville Avenue property. \nThe location was attractive for an obvious reason. \nIt sits directly on the Mystic River. \nBut underneath that waterfront property was a much more complicated story. \nThe peninsula had been shaped during Mystic’s industrial era\, in part through deposits of coal slag and other industrial material associated with the neighboring Rossie Velvet Mill. \nThat meant the town wasn’t simply buying an empty waterfront lot and turning it into grass and docks. \nEnvironmental remediation had to come first. \nIn 2021\, Stonington secured a $753\,889 state grant to help remediate the contaminated property. \nThat was only one of the obstacles. \nThen There Was a Historic House That Couldn’t Simply Be Demolished\nSitting on the property was another complication: the Lovelace House. \nBecause the house was located within a historic district\, plans had to accommodate its preservation rather than simply removing it. \nThe State Historic Preservation Office became involved\, and Stonington Community Rowing committed to helping relocate and rehabilitate the building as part of the overall project. \nThe house had to be incorporated into a substantially larger plan that was already trying to balance a public park\, environmental cleanup\, shoreline restoration and a modern rowing facility. \nThere were also objections to an earlier boathouse design. \nPlans were revised. \nPermits were needed from state agencies and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. \nCosts rose. \nAnd the years accumulated. \nBy 2025\, the Price Had Reached About $5.3 Million\nBy the time construction was finally ready to move forward in 2025\, the overall project had grown to approximately $5.3 million. \nFunding came together through a combination of state and federal grants\, town funding and private fundraising associated with Stonington Community Rowing. \nStonington had assembled roughly $4.9 million for the public portion before the Board of Finance approved an additional $400\,000 in June 2025. \nThat finally cleared one of the project’s last major financial obstacles. \nConstruction began later that year. \nThe September 19 ribbon cutting is the other end of that story. \nThe New Park Gives Mystic Something Surprisingly Rare: More Public River Access\nMystic is defined by its river. \nThat doesn’t necessarily mean it’s easy to reach the water. \nLarge portions of the Mystic River shoreline are occupied by private homes\, businesses\, marinas and other properties. \nThe new Mystic River Boathouse Park creates another publicly accessible piece of waterfront north of Mystic Seaport Museum. \nThe park includes lawn and landscaped areas\, waterfront access and ADA-accessible coastal walkways. \nMore importantly for people who want to get onto the river rather than simply look at it\, the project includes a pedestrian boat ramp\, access piers and floating docks. \nThe public launch is intended for non-motorized personal watercraft\, opening another access point for activities such as kayaking and paddling. \nThat’s one of the reasons town officials have consistently described the project as more than a rowing facility. \nThe rowing program occupies an important part of the property. \nThe park belongs to the public. \nThe Shoreline Itself Is Part of the Project\nLook closely at the water’s edge and another piece of the project emerges. \nInstead of treating the riverbank solely as infrastructure\, designers incorporated a living shoreline using natural materials\, native vegetation and tidal-wetland enhancements. \nLiving shorelines can help stabilize waterfront property while maintaining or improving habitat and allowing the edge of the land to behave more naturally than a continuous hardened seawall. \nThe Mystic project includes tidal-wetland enhancements and shoreline sills as part of that approach. \nRACE Coastal Engineering also designed the project’s piers\, gangways\, rowing docks and pedestrian boat ramp. \nEven the way the floating docks are secured reflects the needs of rowers. \nRather than conventional pilings that could interfere with long racing shells and oars\, the docks use helix-style moorings and elastomeric lines that move with the changing tide. \nIt’s an unusually technical detail for a public park. \nBut this isn’t an ordinary park. \nStonington Crew Finally Gets a Home\nFor the Stonington High School rowing program\, September 19 represents something even bigger. \nThe program has existed for nearly three decades without a permanent facility of its own. \nFor approximately 20 years\, Mystic Seaport Museum hosted Stonington Crew\, allowing generations of students to train and launch from museum property. \nThe new facility changes that. \nStonington Community Rowing will operate from the Jim Dietz Rowing Center and Hart Perry Boathouse\, giving the high school program a permanent home while expanding rowing opportunities beyond the school team. \nThe boathouse includes two bays for shells\, oars\, coach boats and other equipment. \nUpstairs is a roughly 4\,500-square-foot training center with rowing machines and strength-training equipment. \nThe broader plan calls for rowing opportunities for youth and adults at different experience levels\, including recreational\, competitive and adaptive rowing. \nJim Dietz Is One of American Rowing’s Major Figures\nThe name on the rowing center isn’t ceremonial window dressing. \nJim Dietz is one of the most accomplished figures in American rowing. \nDietz represented the United States at three Olympic Games as a rower\, competed internationally for years and later built a long coaching career. \nHis rowing résumé includes numerous national championships and international competitions\, and he became closely associated with southeastern Connecticut rowing. \nNaming the community rowing center for Dietz connects the new facility with a much larger American rowing tradition. \nMembers of the Dietz family are expected to participate in Saturday’s celebration. \nHart Perry’s Name Carries Its Own Rowing History\nThe boathouse is named for another towering figure in the sport. \nHart Perry spent decades as executive director of the National Rowing Foundation and became one of the best-known administrators and advocates in American rowing. \nHe was also deeply connected to Mystic. \nPerry helped establish and develop rowing activity associated with Mystic Seaport and played a central role in the growth of the Coastweeks Regatta\, which became a fixture on the Mystic River. \nMembers of the Perry family are also expected at Saturday’s opening. \nPutting the names Jim Dietz Rowing Center and Hart Perry Boathouse together therefore says something about the ambitions for the facility. \nIt’s a community boathouse with unusually deep connections to the history of American rowing. \nThe Coastweeks Regatta Has Already Come Home\nThere’s an especially nice piece of timing surrounding the ribbon cutting. \nJust six days earlier\, on September 13\, the 29th Coastweeks Regatta returned to the Mystic River. \nThe race had previously been hosted by Mystic Seaport Museum and became one of the early head races of the fall rowing calendar. \nFor its return in 2026\, Stonington Community Rowing hosted the regatta from the new Jim Dietz Rowing Center and Hart Perry Boathouse. \nThe approximately 2-kilometer course began upriver and finished near the new boathouse park and Delamar Mystic. \nSo although the ceremonial ribbon isn’t cut until September 19\, the new rowing facility has already begun doing exactly what its supporters spent years trying to make possible. \nBoats are back on the river. \nThe Plan Extends Beyond Rowing\nThe project’s organizers have consistently envisioned the property as a community resource rather than a private rowing compound. \nStonington Community Rowing has identified partnerships with Stonington Recreation\, Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center and Mystic Seaport Museum as avenues for expanding programming. \nThat could bring marine science education\, health and recreation activities and other programs onto the property in addition to rowing. \nThe town has similarly discussed using nonprofit partnerships to expand river access for children\, families and residents from different backgrounds. \nThat’s significant because a new boathouse alone would primarily benefit people who row. \nA public waterfront park can serve everyone else too. \nSomeone can launch a kayak. \nSomeone can walk down to the river. \nSomeone can sit on the lawn. \nA child can learn something about the estuary. \nSomeone who has lived in Stonington for decades but never had a reason to enter a rowing facility can simply use the waterfront. \nSaturday Celebrates the People Who Kept It Alive\nThe ribbon cutting is being organized with Stonington Community Rowing\, the Town of Stonington and the Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce. \nThe Dietz and Perry families are expected to join members of the Stonington community for the ceremony. \nThat feels appropriate for a project that survived environmental problems\, preservation requirements\, redesigns\, permitting\, funding gaps\, rising construction costs and nearly a decade between public approval and completion. \nThere is one important parking instruction for Saturday. \nVisitors may park behind the Rossie Mill or in Mystic Seaport Museum’s North Parking Lot. \nOrganizers specifically ask attendees not to use Velvet Lane. \nThen walk down toward the river. \nAfter ten years\, there’s finally a park waiting there. \nDetails\nEvent: Mystic River Boathouse Park Ribbon Cutting Ceremony\nDate: Saturday\, September 19\, 2026\nTime: 10–11:30 a.m.\nLocation: Mystic River Boathouse Park\nAddress: 125 – 129 Greenmanville Avenue\, Mystic\, CT 06355\nHosts/Partners: Stonington Community Rowing\, Town of Stonington and Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce\nFeatured Facilities: Jim Dietz Rowing Center and Hart Perry Boathouse\nPark Features: Public waterfront access\, lawn and landscaped areas\, ADA-accessible waterfront features\, living shoreline\, rowing docks\, access piers and pedestrian launch for non-motorized watercraft\nParking: Available behind Rossie Mill and at the Mystic Seaport Museum North Parking Lot\nImportant: Do not park on Velvet Lane\nAdmission: No admission charge is listed for the public ribbon-cutting ceremony\nCeremony: Members of the Dietz and Perry families and the Stonington community are invited to participate in the opening celebration \nMore information is available at the Event Website link below. \n  \n  \nFeatured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people\, location\, or activities shown.
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/mystic-river-boathouse-park-ribbon-cutting-opens-a-new-stretch-of-the-river-to-the-public/
LOCATION:Mystic River Boathouse Park\, 125 - 129 Greenmanville Avenue\, Mystic\, 06355\, United States
CATEGORIES:Mystic River Boathouse Park
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://thectbeacon.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Mystic-River-Boathouse-Park-Ribbon-Cutting-Opens-a-New-Stretch-of-the-River-to-the-Public.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260919T090000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260919T180000
DTSTAMP:20260901T212201Z
CREATED:20260901T212201Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260901T212201Z
UID:10007321-1789808400-1789840800@thectbeacon.com
SUMMARY:B.F. Clyde’s Cider Mill 2026: Complete Guide
DESCRIPTION:B.F. Clyde’s Cider Mill is now open for the 2026 season\, beginning another fall of fresh-pressed sweet cider\, cider donuts\, traditional hard cider\, apple wine and one of the most unusual pieces of working history in Connecticut. \nThe family-owned Old Mystic landmark opened for the season September 1 and is currently scheduled to operate seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at 129 North Stonington Road. \nBut calling Clyde’s a cider shop doesn’t quite explain why generations of families make a trip here every fall. \nThe mill has been family-owned since 1881. Fourth\, fifth and sixth generations of the family still work in the business. Apples are still crushed and pressed using historic machinery powered by steam. Visitors can watch the machinery operate\, descend into the cellar for traditional hard cider tastings\, sample apple wines in a converted grist mill and leave with a bag of cider donuts. \nClyde’s calls itself the oldest steam-powered cider mill in the United States. \nMore precisely\, it is the last operating steam-powered cider mill in the country\, according to the mill\, and its historic cider-making machinery has been recognized by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers as a National Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark. \nIt isn’t a reproduction of an old cider mill. \nIt’s the real thing. \nA Mystic Fall Tradition Since 1881\nThe story begins with Benjamin F. Clyde. \nIn 1881\, Clyde began producing cider from apples he had pressed at other local mills. He eventually rented a press before purchasing his own mill in 1897. \nThe equipment that followed would become the heart of the operation visitors still come to see. \nClyde purchased a screw press manufactured by Boomer & Boschert of Syracuse\, New York. The company also supplied the apple grater\, elevator and cider pump\, along with plans for the mill building. \nThe machinery was installed in 1898. \nAt the time\, cider mills were hardly unusual in rural America. \nThey served much the same role for apple growers that grist mills did for farmers growing grain. Orchards could bring surplus apples to a centrally located mill\, where the fruit could be processed and pressed into juice. Some of that juice could then be fermented into hard cider. \nMost of those community mills disappeared. \nClyde’s didn’t. \nThe Steam-Powered Mill Is Still Working\nThat’s what makes a visit different from touring a preserved historic building. \nThe machinery still has a job. \nApples enter the cider-making system and are elevated to a grinder\, where they’re reduced to pulp. That pulp is prepared for pressing\, and the historic screw press applies the tremendous pressure needed to extract the juice. \nThe technology was impressive for its era. \nAccording to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers\, the all-steel screw press could apply pressure at three speeds and represented one of the last generations of screw presses before hydraulic presses became widespread during the 20th century. \nASME designated B.F. Clyde’s Cider Mill a National Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark in 1994\, recognizing the machinery as a rare survivor of an industry that was once common throughout America’s apple-growing regions. \nMore than a century after the equipment was installed\, Clyde’s still uses the mill to make cider. \nWhen Can You Watch Clyde’s Press Cider?\nVisitors don’t have to settle for looking at the machinery. \nClyde’s runs it during the season. \nThe mill’s typical pressing schedule is: \nTuesday and Thursday: 10 a.m.–noon\nSaturday and Sunday: 10 a.m.–noon \nThe schedule can vary because Clyde’s presses according to production needs\, so the machinery isn’t guaranteed to be running continuously throughout those periods. \nEven when the press isn’t operating\, visitors are welcome to look inside the historic press building. \nFor anyone specifically interested in seeing the steam-powered machinery at work\, a pressing morning is the best time to plan a visit. \nHow Clyde’s Makes Sweet Cider\nFresh sweet cider is the product that started everything. \nClyde’s purchases its apples from small orchards rather than operating a pick-your-own orchard of its own. The apples are processed at the mill and pressed into cider using the historic equipment. \nThe finished sweet cider is flash pasteurized on the property. \nVisitors can buy cider to take home or drink it while visiting\, and seasonal cider drinks have become part of the experience alongside the mill’s baked goods. \nThat combination has helped turn what was originally a working agricultural business into a fall destination. \nYou can come to learn how a 19th-century cider press works. \nYou can also come because you want cider and a donut. \nNeither is the wrong reason. \nAbout Those Clyde’s Cider Donuts\nFor plenty of visitors\, the steam engine has competition. \nClyde’s cider donuts have become almost as closely associated with the mill as the cider itself. \nThe store sells its well-known cider donuts along with other baked goods and seasonal treats. The selection can vary\, but the broader shop also carries jarred products\, honey from local beekeepers\, candied apples made by the family and other locally produced goods. \nIt’s part bakery\, part country store and part historic attraction. \nAnd on a busy fall weekend\, the line is evidence that plenty of people know exactly what they came for. \nThen There Is the Cider Downstairs\nThe word “cider” gets considerably more complicated at Clyde’s. \nSweet cider is only part of the story. \nClyde’s also makes traditional hard cider using a process very different from the sweeter\, carbonated canned ciders that have become common in supermarkets and bars. \nThe hard cider begins with apple juice and ferments before aging in oak whiskey barrels. \nThe process from juice to finished hard cider typically takes about a year. \nAfter fermentation and aging\, the hard cider receives relatively little filtration before being sold. That preserves more of the raw\, oaky character produced by the barrel. \nThe result is considerably stronger than many commercial hard ciders. \nClyde’s hard ciders and apple wines generally contain 12 to 14 percent alcohol. \nHard Cider vs. Apple Wine: What’s the Difference?\nThis is one of the more interesting parts of Clyde’s operation because the two products begin in essentially the same place. \nBoth the hard cider and apple wine start as fermented apple juice aged in oak whiskey barrels. \nWhat happens afterward separates them. \nClyde’s hard cider is only lightly filtered to remove sediment. That leaves it with a bolder flavor\, more pronounced oak character and more bite. \nThe apple wine receives considerably more filtration. \nThat additional processing produces a smoother\, somewhat sweeter product that is also shelf stable before opening. \nSo someone expecting Clyde’s hard cider to taste like a modern canned hard cider may be surprised. \nThis is closer to an older cider-making tradition. \nWhat’s in the Hard Cider Cellar?\nThe hard cider cellar sits underneath the press building. \nThat’s where visitors can taste Clyde’s traditional hard ciders and where the product has been made for generations. \nAvailability changes throughout the season\, but Clyde’s 2026 lineup includes several recurring varieties. \nThe Original is the starting point. It’s dry\, without added fruit flavors competing with the oak character of the barrel. \nLucky Lion is also dry and crisp\, with a character Clyde’s says some drinkers compare to Scotch. \nBlackout goes even further in that direction. It’s Clyde’s most popular hard cider and wine flavor\, with strong oak notes that the mill describes as almost reminiscent of whiskey. \nThen things get fruitier. \nBoomerang combines apple and cranberry for a tart\, sweeter cider. \nGoodfella adds blackberry and lands on the sweeter end of the lineup. \nYellow Jacket combines apple and orange\, producing some sweetness with a citrus bite. \nCherry Bomb adds another fruit-driven option. \nBecause Clyde’s rotates its hard ciders\, individual varieties can change during the season. \nThe Apple Wine List Goes Much Further\nThe wine side of the operation offers even more variety. \nClyde’s currently lists 14 apple wines\, ranging from dry expressions of apple to much sweeter fruit combinations. \nApple Wine is the driest of the wine lineup. \nSpiced Apple uses mulling spices for a distinctly fall-oriented version. \nSpider Cider combines sweetness with pumpkin spices and can be warmed or used in a hot toddy. \nStrawberry Bliss is the sweetest wine in the lineup\, combining apple and strawberry. \nBlueberry Spinner combines apple and blueberry. \nApple Raspberry leans sweet but tart. \nCider House Blend combines apple\, orange and cranberry. \nSeveral of the hard cider varieties\, including Original\, Lucky Lion\, Blackout\, Boomerang\, Goodfella and Yellow Jacket\, are also produced as wines. \nThe distinction comes back to filtration. \nSame roots. \nDifferent finish. \nYes\, You Can Taste Them for Free\nClyde’s offers separate hard cider and wine tastings throughout its season. \nAnd the tastings are free. \nNo purchase is required and no reservation is necessary. \nVisitors can sample up to four hard ciders and up to four wines at their respective tasting locations. \nHard cider tastings take place in the cellar beneath the press building. \nWine tastings are held in the tasting room\, which has its own connection to the property’s history: the building is a converted grist mill once used to produce johnnycake meal. \nTastings are first-come\, first-served. \nCurrent tasting hours are: \nMonday–Saturday: 9 a.m.–6 p.m.\nSunday: 10 a.m.–6 p.m. \nEveryone participating in a tasting must show a valid ID\, regardless of age or appearance. Clyde’s does not accept expired IDs or photographs of identification. \nConnecticut alcohol rules also mean Clyde’s cannot sell its hard cider or wine before 10 a.m. on Sundays. \nA Few Clyde’s Flavors to Know Before You Taste\nIf you don’t know where to start\, the tasting bottles are generally arranged from driest to sweetest\, and the staff can help narrow the choices. \nFor something dry: Original or Apple Wine. \nFor strong oak character: Blackout. \nFor dry and crisp: Lucky Lion. \nFor tart cranberry: Boomerang. \nFor something sweeter: Goodfella. \nFor fall spice: Spiced Apple or Spider Cider. \nFor very sweet fruit: Strawberry Bliss or Blueberry Spinner. \nOne warning for anyone accustomed to mass-market hard cider: remember the alcohol content. \nAt 12 to 14 percent ABV\, Clyde’s hard cider is much closer to wine strength than a typical bottle or can of commercial cider. \nCan You Bring Back a Clyde’s Growler?\nYes. \nClyde’s sells 64-ounce growlers of hard cider and offers growler refills. \nThere are a couple of important rules. \nClyde’s refills growlers rather than exchanging them\, so customers should clean their growler before bringing it back. The mill can only refill glass growlers that have a stamped or imprinted 64-ounce measurement. \nWine cannot be used for growler fills. \nThe refill program is for hard cider. \nHard cider should also be kept cool after purchase. Clyde’s recommends refrigeration. \nThere’s More Than Cider\nThe tasting room also contains Clyde’s gift shop\, with merchandise and locally made products that can include handmade earrings\, postcards and art prints. \nElsewhere at the mill\, visitors can browse honey produced by local beekeepers\, jarred foods\, family-made candied apples\, baked goods and other seasonal products. \nThat makes it possible to spend considerably more time at Clyde’s than simply buying a gallon of cider and heading home. \nWatch the press. \nGet cider and donuts. \nExplore the store. \nGo downstairs for a hard cider tasting. \nVisit the wine tasting room. \nBrowse the gift shop. \nIt’s effectively several different experiences spread across the historic property. \nIs B.F. Clyde’s Cider Mill Good for Kids?\nYes. \nClyde’s welcomes children of all ages. \nThe working mill is also an opportunity to show kids a piece of machinery doing the job it was actually designed to do more than a century ago. \nThere is no alcohol involved in the regular sweet cider\, and the bakery\, cider and mill demonstration make Clyde’s an easy family fall stop. \nJust don’t confuse the two kinds of cider. \nThe traditional hard cider and apple wines are 12 to 14 percent alcohol and are strictly for adults 21 and older. \nCan You Pick Apples at Clyde’s?\nNo. \nThis is one of the most useful things to know before making the trip. \nB.F. Clyde’s is a cider mill\, not a pick-your-own orchard. \nThe mill purchases apples from small orchards and uses them to produce its cider. \nIf apple picking is part of your fall plans\, you’ll need to visit an orchard separately. \nCan You Bring a Dog?\nYes\, with restrictions. \nLeashed pets are permitted on the grounds. \nThey aren’t allowed inside the buildings or on the porch\, and visitors need to bring whatever they need to clean up after their pets. \nParking Can Be the Hardest Part of a Fall Visit\nClyde’s popularity comes with one predictable problem. \nIt gets busy. \nThe main parking lot can fill during peak periods\, particularly on fall weekends. \nClyde’s asks visitors to try the main lot first and to respect posted no-parking areas and neighboring properties if parking along nearby roads. \nAn auxiliary lot is available at 49 North Stonington Road. It’s approximately four-tenths of a mile from the mill\, so visitors using it should expect a walk. \nIf your schedule is flexible\, a weekday visit can make the entire experience easier. \nIf you’re coming specifically to see the press operate\, Tuesday or Thursday morning offers the combination of a weekday visit and a scheduled pressing window. \nClyde’s Isn’t a Museum\, and That’s the Point\nThere are plenty of places where historic machinery survives behind ropes. \nClyde’s is different. \nBenjamin Clyde started making cider in 1881. \nHe acquired his own mill in the 1890s. \nThe equipment installed in 1898 survived the arrival of hydraulic presses\, mass food production\, supermarkets\, interstate highways and more than a century of changes in how Americans buy their food. \nThe family survived with it. \nToday\, fourth\, fifth and sixth generations are involved in the operation. \nEvery September\, the doors open again. \nApples arrive. \nThe steam-powered machinery starts moving. \nFresh cider begins flowing. \nAnd people line up for cider donuts. \nThat’s why B.F. Clyde’s Cider Mill is more than another place to add to a Connecticut fall checklist. It’s a piece of New England’s agricultural and industrial history that never stopped doing its job. \n2026 Visitor Guide\nAttraction: B.F. Clyde’s Cider Mill\n2026 Season Opening: September 1\, 2026\nCurrent Hours: 9 a.m.–6 p.m.\, seven days a week\nLocation: 129 North Stonington Road\, Mystic\, CT 06355\nAdmission: Free\nChildren: Welcome\nPets: Leashed pets allowed on the grounds; not inside buildings or on the porch\nApple Picking: No\nSweet Cider: Available\nCider Donuts and Baked Goods: Available\nHard Cider: Available for adults 21+\nApple Wine: Available for adults 21+\nAlcohol Content: Hard cider and wine are generally 12–14% ABV\nTastings: Free; no reservation required\nHard Cider Tastings: Cellar beneath the press building\nWine Tastings: Tasting room\nTasting Hours: Monday–Saturday\, 9 a.m.–6 p.m.; Sunday\, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.\nTypical Pressing Schedule: Tuesday\, Thursday\, Saturday and Sunday\, 10 a.m.–noon\nParking: Main lot plus auxiliary parking at 49 North Stonington Road\nThanksgiving: Closed\nShipping: Not available\nPreorders/Call-Ahead Orders: Not available \nHard Cider Menu\nAmerican Society of Mechanical Engineers History \nMore information is available at the Event Website link below. \n  \n  \n  \n  \nFeatured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people\, location\, or activities shown.
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/b-f-clydes-cider-mill-2026-complete-guide/2026-09-19/
LOCATION:B.F. Clyde’s Cider Mill\, 129 North Stonington Road\, Mystic\, 06355\, United States
CATEGORIES:B.F. Clyde's Cider Mill
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://thectbeacon.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/BF-Clydes-Cider-Mill-2026-Complete-Guide.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260919T090000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260919T170000
DTSTAMP:20260918T214807Z
CREATED:20260918T214807Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260918T214807Z
UID:10008461-1789808400-1789837200@thectbeacon.com
SUMMARY:Clark Farms Fall Festival Celebrates 250 Years of Rhode Island Farming
DESCRIPTION:Clark Farms Fall Festival Celebrates 250 Years of Rhode Island Farming with a corn maze devoted to the state’s agricultural history\, plus hayrides\, zip lines\, farm animals\, live music\, food\, and a full farm park in Matunuck\, 25 miles from Mystic. \nThe festival is underway for the fall season at Clark Farms\, where the 2026 theme connects one of New England’s quintessential autumn traditions to Rhode Island’s 250th anniversary. \nThis year’s corn maze is “250 Years of Farming in Rhode Island\,” and the farm uses the attraction to explore how agriculture has changed throughout the state’s history. The maze and farm park are open during the week\, but weekends expand into the full Fall Festival experience with additional attractions\, food\, and entertainment. \nMore Than a Corn Maze\nMaking it through the maze is only part of the day. \nAdmission also opens up a collection of farm attractions including pedal-powered go-karts\, a petting zoo\, corn pit\, straw maze\, giant Mountain Slide\, farm basketball and a Western Town shooting gallery. \nThen there’s the corn cannon\, which gives visitors a chance to launch ears of corn across the farm. \nWeekend festival days add zip lines\, food\, performances and live music\, along with one of the more traditional fall experiences: a hayride through the surrounding Matunuck countryside. Clark Farms says its newer hayride is wheelchair accessible. \nThe farm’s butterfly house is also expected to remain open through late September\, while pumpkins and fall decorations are appearing throughout the property. Gem mining is available for an additional charge. \nCelebrating Rhode Island’s Farming Story\nThe 2026 theme is especially appropriate for a farm whose own history began with vegetables. \nClark Farms was established in South Kingstown in 1989 as a vegetable farm. Over the decades it expanded into plants\, nursery operations and landscape design\, eventually adding its larger Matunuck location in 2008. \nToday\, the business operates both as a working garden center and landscaping operation and as a seasonal destination\, bringing visitors onto the property for events including its summer sunflower displays and annual Fall Festival. \nFor this year’s maze\, Clark Farms is looking farther back than its own history. The attraction showcases the evolution of Rhode Island agriculture across 250 years\, turning a trip through the corn into a little state history along the way. \nFood\, Music and This Weekend’s Schedule\nClark Farms runs its own farm canteen during the festival\, with food that includes fresh-cut fries made with Matunuck-grown red potatoes\, hot dogs\, doughboys and corn dogs. Fresh hot donuts are also available on busy weekends. \nFor the weekend of Sept. 19–20\, the farm has announced additional food and entertainment. \nSaturday\, Sept. 19\nDel’s Frozen Lemonade — 11 a.m.–4 p.m. \nSunday\, Sept. 20\nDrink Coffee — 9 a.m.–2 p.m.\nPot Cellar — Live music\, 11 a.m.–2 p.m.\nCalifornia Taco food truck — 11 a.m.–3 p.m.\nDel’s Frozen Lemonade — 11 a.m.–4 p.m. \nSaturday also marks the deadline for Clark Farms’ new Scarecrow Competition. The contest has been accepting entries throughout September\, with a $500 Clark Farms gift card going to the winner. \nWeekends Bring the Full Festival\nVisitors can tackle the corn maze and explore the farm park throughout the week\, but there’s an important distinction between a weekday visit and the weekend Fall Festival. \nWeekend admission is when Clark Farms adds attractions such as the hayride\, zip lines\, expanded food offerings\, performances and live music. \nWeekend Fall Festival admission is $20 per person\, with children age 2 and younger admitted free. Weekday admission to the corn maze and farm park is $15 per person. \nTickets can be purchased at the farm\, although Clark Farms recommends buying them online in advance to avoid the in-person ticket line. \nSturdy shoes aren’t a bad idea either. This is a real cornfield rather than a paved attraction\, and paths can get muddy after rain. \nDogs are permitted in some of Clark Farms’ shopping areas but are not allowed inside the farm park or Fall Festival area because of the animals. Service animals are permitted. \nFrom a corn maze tracing 250 years of Rhode Island agriculture to a hayride through present-day Matunuck farmland\, this year’s Fall Festival puts a little history behind the pumpkins\, cider donuts and traditional fall fun. \nMore information is available at the Event Website link below. \nTo purchase tickets\, click the Event Ticketing link below. \nDetails\nEvent: Clark Farms Fall Festival\nSeason: Sept. 19–Nov. 1\, 2026\nLocation: Clark Farms\nAddress: 2984 Commodore Perry Highway\, Matunuck\, RI 02879\n2026 Theme: 250 Years of Farming in Rhode Island\nWeekend Admission: $20 per person; children 2 and younger free\nWeekday Admission: $15 per person\nTickets: Available online or at the farm; advance online purchase is recommended\nIncluded Attractions: Corn maze\, petting zoo\, corn pit\, straw maze\, Mountain Slide\, pedal go-karts\, basketball\, Western Town shooting gallery\, corn cannon and other farm activities. (Most attractions are during Fall Fest on Sat & Sun\, not during the week)\nWeekend Extras: Hayrides\, zip lines\, food\, performances and live music\nPets: Dogs are not permitted in the farm park/Fall Festival area; service animals are permitted\nWhat to Wear: Sturdy footwear is recommended\, particularly after rain \n  \n  \nFeatured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people\, location\, or activities shown.
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/clark-farms-fall-festival-celebrates-250-years-of-rhode-island-farming/2026-09-19/
LOCATION:Clark Farms\, 2984 Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry Memorial Hwy\, Matunuck\, RI\, 02879\, United States
CATEGORIES:Clark Farms
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://thectbeacon.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Clark-Farms-Fall-Festival-Celebrates-250-Years-of-Rhode-Island-Farming.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260919T090000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260919T170000
DTSTAMP:20260921T030329Z
CREATED:20260915T024437Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260921T030329Z
UID:10007549-1789808400-1789837200@thectbeacon.com
SUMMARY:The Velvet Mill End-of-Season Indoor Sidewalk Sale
DESCRIPTION:The Velvet Mill End-of-Season Indoor Sidewalk Sale takes over the sprawling Stonington mill September 19 and 20\, as participating merchants move sale and clearance merchandise out of their shops and into the hallways for a building-wide weekend of browsing. \nThe idea is essentially a sidewalk sale without having to worry about the sidewalk. \nInstead of setting up along Bayview Avenue\, businesses throughout the historic Velvet Mill will place markdowns\, clearance merchandise\, and special finds immediately outside their doors. Shoppers can wander through the building\, discovering sales as they go. \nAnd “wander” is the appropriate word. \nThe Velvet Mill is now home to dozens of independent businesses\, with an unusually eclectic retail mix that includes antiques\, vintage clothing and furniture\, art\, jewelry\, home décor\, books\, bicycles\, crystals\, paper goods\, handmade products\, food\, beer and rum. \nOrganizers recommend coming early for the best selection. \nHere’s What You’ll Find Around the Mill\nThe Velvet Mill has not published a definitive list identifying exactly which tenants will participate in the sidewalk sale. Here is a list of all of the businesses. \nVintage\, Antiques and Collectibles\nThis is probably the strongest shopping category for anyone who likes hunting rather than knowing exactly what they’re going to buy. \n21st Century Antiques deals in antiques and estate items and also handles estate sales and online estate auctions. \na little something is a vintage shop combining older pieces with merchandise selected to work in contemporary homes. \nEpoch Destiny Boutique specializes in collectibles\, antiques and vintage merchandise. \nFun and Funky Vintage lives up to its name with vintage furniture\, housewares\, lighting\, artwork and smaller decorative finds. \nGranary Farmhouse Antiques takes a more refined approach\, concentrating on antique furniture and carefully selected pieces for the home. \nVictoria Clare Vintage is another vintage seller and collector operating from the Mill. \nUnit 88 specializes in vintage and nautical merchandise\, an appropriate combination about a mile from Stonington Harbor. \nBalls of Yarn mixes new\, vintage\, upcycled and consigned merchandise rather than fitting neatly into a single category. \nStevie T’s Treasure Tent adds another treasure-hunting stop to the building. \nBooks & Collectibles is exactly what its name suggests\, adding used and collectible books and other finds to the mix. \nFor a clearance event\, these may be some of the most interesting shops because “sale merchandise” doesn’t necessarily mean last season’s mass-produced inventory. \nAt the Velvet Mill\, it could mean something that hasn’t been in season for 50 years. \nClothing\, Jewelry and Things to Wear\nThe Mill also has several boutiques and makers selling fashion and accessories. \nValomie Boutique offers women’s clothing\, accessories and gift items. \nMountain Hollow combines jewelry and accessories with botanicals\, rocks and minerals\, books\, home décor\, T-shirts and nature-inspired goods. \nNomad’s Novelties sells handmade and novelty merchandise through its Mill studio and online shop. \nThere are also individual artists and makers throughout the building whose work can include wearable art and handcrafted pieces. \nThat’s part of what makes the sale different from a conventional shopping-center clearance event. A significant amount of what’s sold inside the Mill comes from small independent sellers rather than national brands. \nFurniture and Home Décor\nIf you’re looking for something larger\, the Mill has that covered too. \nBali Bungalow specializes in handmade furniture and natural home décor. \nHandcrafted Homestead Furniture produces handcrafted furniture from its Mill workshop. \nFun and Funky Vintage overlaps this category with vintage furniture\, lighting\, housewares and artwork. \nGranary Farmhouse Antiques offers antique and vintage furniture and decorative pieces with a more traditional farmhouse aesthetic. \nInterior Connections works in interior design and furnishings. \nThis is one category where a clearance sale could get interesting quickly. Furniture and décor occupy space\, and end-of-season events give retailers an obvious reason to make room for incoming inventory. \nRocks\, Crystals and Nature-Inspired Finds\nMountain Hollow deserves its own category. \nThe South Studios shop began with rocks and minerals and has grown into a broader nature-oriented store offering polished and natural stones\, crystals\, botanicals\, jewelry\, books\, décor\, clothing and wellness-oriented merchandise. \nIt’s one of those shops where “I’m just going to look around for five minutes” is an optimistic prediction. \nArt Is Everywhere\nThe Velvet Mill isn’t simply a collection of stores. \nIt’s also one of southeastern Connecticut’s larger concentrations of working artists and galleries. \nStonington Gallery and Park Fine Art provide traditional gallery stops. \nAllgood Studios & Gallery combines gallery space with a creative agency and an arcade. \nBlack Star Studio is an artist studio. \nOther painters\, designers and independent artists maintain working spaces throughout the building\, including Mystic Rose Decorative Painting and a number of individual studios. \nThat means shoppers walking the sale can move from vintage merchandise and clothing into original art without ever leaving the building. \nPaper Goods\, Stickers and Handmade Pieces\nShuttle Press & Bindery has been operating since 2014 and produces handcrafted paper goods using traditional printing and binding techniques. \nLaurel Hill Designs specializes in stickers\, decals and customizable creative goods. \nThese smaller items make particularly good sidewalk-sale territory because merchants can easily move selections into the corridor for people to browse without entering every studio. \nEven the Bicycle Shop Is Vintage\nThen there’s Dave’s Bicycles. \nIts specialty stretches from bicycles dating to approximately the 1890s through 2010\, including vintage road\, track and mountain bikes\, three-speeds\, cruisers and youth bicycles. \nThat’s a pretty good illustration of why the Velvet Mill is difficult to describe as simply a shopping center. \nYou can go from antique furniture to crystals to handmade stationery and end up looking at a century-old bicycle. \nThere’s Plenty to Eat While You Wander\nThe weekend doesn’t have to be an exercise in continuous shopping. \nMeryl + Masa is a sourdough bakery and Latin eatery making its food by hand with an emphasis on local and seasonal ingredients. \nThe Back Door Kitchen & Pizzeria specializes in wood-fired sourdough pizza alongside salads\, sandwiches and desserts. \nWhitecrest Eatery is the Mill’s bistro-style restaurant\, with a seasonal menu ranging from burgers and salads to seafood\, pasta and specialty cuts. \nBeer’d Brewing Co. – The Mill operates its original brewery and taproom here\, while Rum Tropic Distillery produces rum and serves cocktails\, flights and bottles. \nBorough Bagel Co. handles the breakfast end of things with fresh bagels and breakfast sandwiches. \nAnd Dock 9 adds cocktails and a restaurant menu at the rear of the Mill. \nThat makes it fairly easy to turn the sidewalk sale into a half-day visit rather than a quick shopping stop. \nSaturday Comes With a Farmers Market\nSaturday morning adds another reason to arrive early. \nThe Stonington Village Farmers Market operates inside the Velvet Mill from 9 a.m. to noon\, bringing local farmers\, food producers and makers into the building. \nThat means Saturday visitors can effectively shop two events at once. \nStart with the farmers market\, wander into the Mill’s shops and studios\, see what participating businesses have put into the hallways for the sidewalk sale\, stop for lunch and keep exploring. \nIt’s difficult to think of many places where the shopping list could plausibly include vegetables\, sourdough bread\, an antique lamp\, a crystal\, an original painting\, a vintage bicycle and a locally brewed IPA. \nThe Velvet Mill can get weird that way. \nFrom Velvet Factory to Indoor Main Street\nThe building itself makes the sale more interesting. \nThe Velvet Mill was constructed in 1888 and became home to the American Velvet Company\, which produced textiles here for more than a century before manufacturing ceased in Stonington in 1996. \nRather than demolishing the enormous industrial complex or converting the entire building into residences\, it gradually became something resembling an indoor neighborhood. \nArtists moved in. \nThen galleries. \nMakers. \nSmall retailers. \nRestaurants. \nFitness and wellness studios. \nA brewery. \nA distillery. \nAnd more businesses followed. \nThe old industrial corridors now function almost like streets connecting them. \nFor one weekend in September\, that analogy becomes literal. \nThe merchants are putting their merchandise out on the “sidewalk.” \nThe sidewalk just happens to be inside a 19th-century velvet factory. \nDetails\nEvent: The Velvet Mill End-of-Season Indoor Sidewalk Sale\nDates: Saturday\, September 19 and Sunday\, September 20\, 2026\nVenue: The Velvet Mill\nAddress: 22 Bayview Avenue\, Stonington\, CT 06378\nAdmission: Free\nFormat: Participating businesses place sale\, clearance and promotional merchandise in the hallways outside their shops\nMerchants: The Velvet Mill has not published a definitive list of participating sidewalk-sale businesses; not every tenant should be assumed to be offering sale merchandise\nShopping: Vintage and antiques\, clothing\, jewelry\, furniture\, home décor\, art\, collectibles\, books\, bicycles\, rocks and minerals\, handmade goods and more\nFood & Drink: Multiple restaurants\, bakeries and beverage businesses operate inside the Mill\nSaturday Farmers Market: 9 a.m.–noon\nTip: Organizers recommend arriving early for the best selection\nSetting: Indoors; the sale takes place throughout the Mill’s interior hallways \nMore information is available at the Event Website link below. \n  \n  \nFeatured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people\, location\, or activities shown. \n 
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/the-velvet-mill-end-of-season-indoor-sidewalk-sale-2/
LOCATION:Velvet Mill\, 22 Bayview Ave\, Stonington\, CT\, 06378\, United States
CATEGORIES:Velvet Mill
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://thectbeacon.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/The-Velvet-Mill-End-of-Season-Indoor-Sidewalk-Sale.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260919T090000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260919T120000
DTSTAMP:20260511T024639Z
CREATED:20260508T022649Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260511T024639Z
UID:10000898-1789808400-1789819200@thectbeacon.com
SUMMARY:Stonington Village Farmers Market
DESCRIPTION:Stonington Village Farmers Market has become one of the defining Saturday morning traditions along the Connecticut shoreline\, bringing together local farms\, food vendors\, artisans\, musicians\, and neighbors inside and outside the historic Velvet Mill. Running year-round since becoming a permanent seasonal fixture in 2008\, the market transforms with the seasons\, moving outdoors during the warmer months and indoors during late fall and winter while continuing to serve as a gathering place for the community. \nThe market offers far more than produce stands. Visitors can browse locally grown vegetables and fruits\, cheeses\, baked goods\, meats\, seafood\, maple syrup\, flowers\, mushrooms\, prepared foods\, and handmade crafts while live music plays in the background. The atmosphere feels distinctly coastal New England\, blending small-town community energy with the creativity and food culture that defines Stonington Village. Families\, dog owners\, and longtime locals mingle throughout the morning while vendors showcase everything from handmade soaps and pottery to organic kombucha and Mediterranean cuisine. \nWhat makes the Stonington Village Farmers Market stand out is how deeply connected it feels to the rhythm of the region itself. Some visitors arrive early for greenhouse spinach or fresh seafood before it sells out\, while others come simply to wander with coffee in hand and reconnect with neighbors. Between the local farmers\, prepared food vendors\, musicians\, and rotating artisan booths\, the market has evolved into more than a shopping destination. It has become a weekly community ritual that reflects the character\, creativity\, and agricultural roots of southeastern Connecticut. \nParticipating Vendors & Farms \n\nAPIS VERDI\nBroad Brook Acres\nDavis Farm\nISSA Catering\nJon Fish\nSeacoast Mushrooms\nSugar Maple Farms\nSweet Acre Farm\nWakin’ Up Waggin’\n18th Century Purity Farm\nStonyledge Farm and Studio Farm Products\nSummer Hill Catering\nCato Corner Farm\nTreatzles\nFiber + Mud\nYALLA\n\nSponsors & Organizers \n\nStonington Village Improvement Association (SVIA)\nVelvet Mill\n\n 
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/stonington-village-farmers-market-3/2026-09-19/
LOCATION:Velvet Mill\, 22 Bayview Ave\, Stonington\, CT\, 06378\, United States
CATEGORIES:Velvet Mill
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://thectbeacon.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Stonington-Village-Farmers-Market-at-the-Velvet-Mill.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260918T220000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260919T010000
DTSTAMP:20260916T214005Z
CREATED:20260916T214005Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260916T214005Z
UID:10007920-1789768800-1789779600@thectbeacon.com
SUMMARY:Jon Kondelik’s Adult Bingo Turns Bingo Into an X-Rated Comedy Game Show at Mohegan Sun
DESCRIPTION:Jon Kondelik’s Adult Bingo takes the familiar bingo card\, throws out the church-basement atmosphere and replaces it with comedians\, risqué games and decidedly adult prizes Friday\, September 18\, at Comix Comedy Club inside Mohegan Sun. \nCalling this simply “bingo” doesn’t quite explain it. \nComix presents the 10 p.m. show as part of its Comix Uncensored lineup\, combining actual bingo with an interactive\, adults-only comedy game show. Players still get cards. Numbers still get called. Someone can still win. \nIt’s everything happening between those numbers that makes this a very different Friday night. \nYes\, You Really Do Play Bingo\nThe bingo part isn’t merely a name attached to a comedy show. \nEvery guest receives one bingo card and one dabber. Players who want more chances can purchase additional sheets for $5\, with three bingo cards on each uncut sheet. \nBut conventional bingo is only the framework. \nComix describes the show as mixing adult-themed bingo rounds\, risqué mini-games and naughty prizes\, with the competition punctuated by comedy and audience interaction. \nThat also explains the late starting time. \nThe show begins at 10 p.m. and is restricted to guests 21 and older. \nJon Kondelik Is Running the Game\nComedian\, actor\, writer and filmmaker Jon Kondelik serves as the show’s game-show host. \nKondelik came to stand-up after spending years working in the film business. His screen work has included independent films and television projects\, and his acting credits have put him in productions alongside performers including Danny Trejo\, LeVar Burton\, Mariel Hemingway and Ethan Suplee. \nHis career also comes with a particularly unusual piece of personal history. \nKondelik lost several fingers in a special-effects makeup accident in 2011\, an experience that subsequently became part of his comedy material and public story. \nFor Adult Bingo\, however\, he isn’t simply delivering a stand-up set. \nHe’s essentially the ringmaster. \nThree Comedians Join the Competition\nComix says Kondelik will be joined onstage by three comedian participants and one additional “naughty host.” \nThat structure moves the night closer to an adult game show than a traditional comedy-club performance. \nThe comedians become part of the competition and entertainment while the audience plays along from the room. \nComix hasn’t announced the participating comedians for the September 18 edition\, so there’s also an element of surprise built into the evening. \nAnd given the show’s uncensored billing\, this probably isn’t the night to bring someone who gets uncomfortable when the conversation turns sexual. \nThe Prizes Aren’t Exactly Bingo-Hall Gift Baskets\nComix deliberately keeps some mystery around what players can win\, describing the rewards simply as “spicy prizes.” \nThat’s probably enough information. \nThe larger point is that Adult Bingo is designed as a late-night comedy event rather than serious competitive gambling. The bingo cards give everyone something to play while Kondelik and the other performers keep the room moving through jokes\, games and whatever unexpected situations emerge from the format. \nIt’s participatory comedy with a bingo card in front of you. \nIt’s Part of Comix’s Late-Night Side\nComix Roadhouse occupies an unusual niche inside Mohegan Sun. \nIt’s simultaneously a restaurant\, bar\, live-music venue and comedy club\, with programming ranging from touring stand-up comics and comedy magic to line dancing\, live bands\, drag bingo\, burlesque and other late-night shows. \nThe September 18 calendar demonstrates the range particularly well. \nComedian Erik Griffin performs at 8 p.m. in the Comedy Club before Adult Bingo takes over the late-night slot at 10. \nElsewhere in the Roadhouse that night\, the band He Said She Said is scheduled to perform. \nSo someone arriving early for bingo doesn’t have to make the show the beginning of the evening. \nDinner Before Naughty Bingo Is an Option\nComix specifically encourages Adult Bingo ticket holders to arrive early and eat in the Roadhouse before the show. \nThe restaurant serves a broad American roadhouse menu alongside regional craft beer and cocktails\, making it possible to turn the event into dinner and a show without leaving Mohegan Sun. \nThere is a $10 food-and-beverage minimum associated with Adult Bingo. \nThe venue remains open well after the show’s 10 p.m. starting time on Fridays. \nDefinitely Not the Bingo You Played With Grandma\nThere’s a reason Comix keeps emphasizing that distinction in its promotion. \nThe mechanics are familiar. \nThe atmosphere isn’t. \nThis is bingo reworked for a comedy-club crowd: a card and dabber in front of you\, comedians onstage\, adult humor\, suggestive games and prizes that Comix apparently believes are better left to the imagination until you get there. \nFor readers scrolling through the weekend calendar and wondering exactly what the words “Adult Bingo” are hiding\, that’s the answer. \nQuite a bit\, apparently. \nDetails\nEvent: Jon Kondelik’s Adult Bingo\nDate: Friday\, September 18\, 2026\nTime: 10 p.m.\nVenue: Comix Comedy Club at Comix Roadhouse\nLocation: Mohegan Sun\, Casino of the Earth\nAddress: 1 Mohegan Sun Boulevard\, Uncasville\, CT 06382\nFormat: X-rated comedy game show\, bingo and adult-themed mini-games\nHost: Jon Kondelik\nAge: 21+\nIncluded: One bingo card and one dabber per guest\nAdditional Bingo Cards: $5 per sheet\, with three cards per uncut sheet\nFood & Beverage Minimum: $10\nSeating: First come\, first served\nAccessibility: Assistive listening is available; inquire at the front desk\nPhone: 860-862-7000 \nMore information is available at the Event Website link below. \nTo purchase tickets\, click the Event Ticketing link below. \n  \n  \nFeatured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people\, location\, or activities shown.
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/jon-kondeliks-adult-bingo-turns-bingo-into-an-x-rated-comedy-game-show-at-mohegan-sun/
LOCATION:COMIX Roadhouse\, 1 Mohegan Sun Blvd\, Uncasville\, 06382\, United States
CATEGORIES:Foxwoods
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://thectbeacon.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Jon-Kondeliks-Adult-Bingo-Turns-Bingo-Into-an-X-Rated-Comedy-Game-Show-at-Mohegan-Sun.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260918T210000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260919T010000
DTSTAMP:20260921T030346Z
CREATED:20260913T031559Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260921T030346Z
UID:10007592-1789765200-1789779600@thectbeacon.com
SUMMARY:Bar Crawl Mystic Takes the Whaling City Run Club Off the Running Route and Into Four Downtown Pubs
DESCRIPTION:Bar Crawl Mystic gives the Whaling City Run Club a different kind of Friday-night course September 18\, trading mileage for four downtown Mystic bars during a late-night crawl that begins at 9 p.m. \nThe schedule starts at Friar Tuck’s Tavern at 9 p.m.\, moves to Dive at 9:45 p.m.\, continues to The Harp and Hound at 10:15 p.m.\, and finishes at Chapter One Food & Drink at 10:45 p.m. \nThere’s no advertised 5K\, pace group or finish-line clock here. \nThe club’s invitation is considerably simpler: “Join the pod.” \nWhaling City Run Club Is Building a Community Beyond Running\nWhaling City Run Club is part of the growing social-running scene in southeastern Connecticut\, bringing runners together for organized group outings rather than treating running strictly as a solitary workout. \nThe group has become increasingly visible at community events as well. \nEarlier this summer\, Whaling City Run Club organized a 5K run and walk ahead of Celebrate New London\, the citywide July festival that filled downtown and the waterfront with music\, food\, art and fireworks. \nBut the Mystic bar crawl illustrates another part of modern run-club culture. \nThe running may be what brings everyone together. \nIt doesn’t have to be the only thing they do together. \nThis time the group is meeting for drinks\, conversation and a walk through Mystic’s Friday-night bar scene. \nFour Stops\, Less Than Two Hours\nThis isn’t one of those pub crawls requiring a complicated map or transportation between neighborhoods. \nAll four stops are clustered in downtown Mystic\, making the crawl easily walkable. \nThe published schedule is: \n9 p.m. – Friar Tuck’s Tavern\n9:45 p.m. – Dive\n10:15 p.m. – The Harp and Hound\n10:45 p.m. – Chapter One Food & Drink \nThe itinerary also moves through four bars with noticeably different personalities. \nYou’ve got a medieval-flavored tavern. \nA subterranean dive bar. \nA tiny Irish pub. \nAnd a Main Street restaurant that shifts into nightlife mode as Friday night gets later. \nThat’s a pretty good survey of downtown Mystic drinking in less than two blocks. \nStop One: Friar Tuck’s Tavern\nThe crawl begins at Friar Tuck’s Tavern\, 12 Water Street\, at 9 p.m. \nFriar Tuck’s leans hard into its tavern identity\, combining an Irish and British-inspired menu with a medieval atmosphere\, draft beer\, whiskey\, cocktails and a late-night bar crowd. \nThe food menu includes the sort of things you’d expect to encounter in a pub: Scotch eggs\, English fish and chips\, burgers\, wings and hearty comfort food. \nFor a bar crawl\, however\, the important feature may simply be that Friar Tuck’s is accustomed to being a late-night downtown gathering place. \nFriday hours extend until 2 a.m.\, well beyond the group’s scheduled departure. \nWhaling City Run Club is giving it 45 minutes. \nThen the course heads across Water Street. \nStop Two: Dive\nAt 9:45 p.m.\, the group moves to Dive. \nDive is the downstairs bar beneath The Port of Call at 15 Water Street\, one of downtown Mystic’s more ambitious cocktail destinations. \nUpstairs and downstairs are intentionally different experiences. \nThe Port of Call is the polished side\, with an inventive beverage program and internationally influenced food. \nDive is exactly what the name suggests it wants to be: the more casual late-night sibling. \nThe downstairs room has a deep-sea exploration theme\, shuffleboard\, a photo booth\, drinks and late-night snacks. \nThere’s also a nightly reverse happy hour from 10 to 11 p.m.\, currently featuring $6 well drinks\, $6 wine and $6 drafts. \nThat means the Whaling City crew’s 9:45 arrival lands almost perfectly. \nThe crawl moves on at 10:15\, but reverse happy hour will have begun before they leave. \nStop Three: The Harp and Hound\nThe third stop is The Harp and Hound\, tucked upstairs at 4 Pearl Street. \nArrival is scheduled for 10:15 p.m. \nThe Harp and Hound has been part of Mystic since 2002\, when Irish proprietor Leo Roche opened the pub in a building dating to the early 18th century. \nRoche grew up in Glin in County Limerick\, Ireland\, and the Mystic pub was designed to evoke the kind of Irish country pub he knew there. \nIt’s small. \nThat’s part of its charm. \nThe room has the cozy\, slightly hidden feeling that people tend to mean when they talk about finding a “real pub\,” with Guinness\, whiskey and traditional pub food at the center of the experience. \nThe Harp also has a longstanding connection to live music and Mystic’s local bar crowd. \nAnd unlike a large restaurant where a group can disappear into separate tables\, it’s difficult for a crowd to enter The Harp and Hound without becoming part of the room. \nThat should work well for a run club. \nThen It’s Back Down to Main Street\nThe final scheduled move comes quickly. \nAt 10:45 p.m.\, the group heads to Chapter One. \nThe walk from Pearl Street back to West Main Street takes only a few minutes\, and by this point the crawl has made essentially a small loop through the heart of downtown. \nThere isn’t another departure time on the schedule. \nChapter One is the finish line. \nStop Four: Chapter One\nChapter One Food & Drink\, at 32 West Main Street\, is one of the later-night establishments directly on Mystic’s main downtown strip. \nDuring the day\, it’s a full-service restaurant serving seafood\, burgers\, steaks\, pasta and other New American dishes. \nThe beverage side includes cocktails\, beer and an unusually large collection of drink flights\, including margarita\, mule\, espresso martini\, mimosa and Old Fashioned flights. \nOn Friday and Saturday nights\, the atmosphere can change considerably. \nChapter One stays open until 2 a.m.\, making it a natural final stop for a crawl beginning at 9. \nThe Whaling City schedule gives the group an arrival time but no finish time. \nSo unlike an actual group run\, nobody has to sprint the final stretch. \nMystic Is Particularly Well Suited to a Crawl\nDowntown Mystic’s compact layout makes this itinerary work. \nFriar Tuck’s and Dive sit practically across Water Street from one another. \nThe Harp and Hound is tucked just off West Main on Pearl Street. \nChapter One is back on West Main. \nThere is no need to drive from stop to stop. \nThat’s important for an event built around alcohol\, but it also changes the atmosphere of the evening. \nThe walking becomes part of it. \nYou leave one bar\, step into downtown Mystic at night\, walk a few minutes with the group and pile into the next one. \nIt’s less a tour of four isolated businesses than a night moving through one compact downtown. \nDon’t Let “Run Club” Confuse You\nNothing in Whaling City Run Club’s announcement indicates that participants will be running between the bars. \nThis is advertised as a bar crawl\, not a run. \nThat’s probably for the best. \nThe four venues are close enough together that walking is easy\, and alcohol and road running make a particularly poor training combination. \nThe poster also doesn’t advertise a registration fee\, ticket or package of included drinks. \nSo don’t assume the crawl price includes beverages. \nThe current announcement simply gives participants the meeting point\, times and four-bar route. \nA Different Kind of Friday Night With the Pod\nRunning clubs have always provided something beyond exercise. \nTraining partners become friends. \nFriends start getting together when nobody is wearing a race bib. \nWhaling City Run Club’s Mystic crawl is that idea distilled into a Friday night. \nThe group starts together at Friar Tuck’s. \nMoves together through Dive and The Harp and Hound. \nThen lands at Chapter One before 11. \nNobody needs a personal best. \nNobody needs to check their mile splits. \nAnd for once\, ordering another round probably doesn’t mean running another lap. \nDetails\nEvent: Bar Crawl Mystic\nDate: Friday\, September 18\, 2026\nOrganizer: Whaling City Run Club\nStart Time: 9 p.m.\nLocation: Downtown Mystic\nFormat: Four-stop walking bar crawl\nAdmission: No ticket or registration fee is advertised in the current announcement\nDrinks: No included drink package is advertised; participants should expect to purchase their own beverages\nAge: Participants drinking alcohol must be 21+ and should carry valid ID\nRunning: The announcement describes a bar crawl and does not indicate participants will run between venues \n9 p.m. – Friar Tuck’s Tavern\n12 Water Street\, Mystic \n9:45 p.m. – Dive at The Port of Call\n15 Water Street\, Mystic \n10:15 p.m. – The Harp and Hound\n4 Pearl Street\, Mystic \n10:45 p.m. – Chapter One Food & Drink\n32 West Main Street\, Mystic \nTransportation: All four establishments are within walking distance in downtown Mystic. Anyone drinking should arrange a designated driver\, rideshare or other safe transportation home rather than driving. \nMore information is available through the Whaling City Run Club social media pages. \n  \n  \nFeatured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people\, location\, or activities shown.
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/bar-crawl-mystic-takes-the-whaling-city-run-club-off-the-running-route-and-into-four-downtown-pubs/
LOCATION:Downtown Mystic\, West Main Street\, Mystic\, CT\, 06355\, United States
CATEGORIES:Downtown Mystic
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://thectbeacon.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/The-CT-Beacon-Mystic-Bridge.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260918T203000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260918T223000
DTSTAMP:20260626T233945Z
CREATED:20260513T011926Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260626T233945Z
UID:10001498-1789763400-1789770600@thectbeacon.com
SUMMARY:Frosty Drew Observatory and Science Center's Stargazing Nights
DESCRIPTION:Frosty Drew Observatory and Science Center’s Stargazing Nights turn a quiet Friday evening in Ninigret Park into one of the most atmospheric experiences in southern New England. Hosted by Frosty Drew Observatory & Science Center\, the weekly gathering invites visitors to explore the night sky through powerful telescopes while astronomers guide guests across planets\, star clusters\, distant galaxies\, and the glowing band of the Milky Way overhead. Under some of the darkest skies in Rhode Island\, the experience feels less like a formal science program and more like stumbling into a community of people quietly obsessed with the universe. \nAs darkness settles over Ninigret Park\, visitors can expect views that change depending on the season and sky conditions\, often including Saturn’s rings\, Jupiter’s moons\, the cratered surface of the Moon\, and deep space objects rarely visible in brighter suburban areas. The observatory’s Sky Theatre and telescope stations create an immersive environment where curious first-timers mingle with amateur astronomers and longtime stargazers. There’s something strangely calming about standing in near silence while strangers take turns peering into the cosmos\, especially on clear summer nights when the Milky Way stretches visibly across the sky. \nThe observatory typically opens around 8:30 p.m. on Friday nights and remains active through at least 10:30 p.m.\, sometimes later depending on weather and viewing conditions. Because the event is weather dependent\, updates are posted on the day of the event before 3 p.m. Organizers also note that Ninigret Park’s dark sky rules prohibit white light use after dusk in order to protect night vision and sensitive astronomical equipment\, giving the entire area an almost surreal glow of dim red lights and shadowy pathways. Tickets for Frosty Drew Observatory and Science Center’s Stargazing Nights can be purchased by clicking the event link below. \nWhen ticket sales open\, a link to purchase / acquire tickets will be added to the “Cost” field on the event page. Once event capacity is reached\, these fields will be listed as “Sold Out“\, and we will be unable to allow entry to any more guests. \nRules and Suggestions:\n• Guests should avoid using white flashlights\, phone flashlights\, or bright screens after dusk\n• Red light flashlights are encouraged to preserve night vision\n• Bug spray is highly recommended during warmer months due to mosquitoes and insects near the wildlife refuge\n• Weather conditions may affect visibility or event operations\n• Children ages 5 and older require tickets\n• Arriving early is recommended for the best viewing opportunities and parking access \n 
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/frosty-drew-observatory-and-science-centers-stargazing-nights/2026-09-18/
LOCATION:Frosty Drew Observatory and Science Center\, 61-62 Park Lane\, Charlestown\, RI\, 02813\, United States
CATEGORIES:Frosty Drew Observatory and Science Center
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://thectbeacon.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Frosty-Drew-Observatory-and-Science-Centers-Stargazing-Nights.jpeg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260918T200000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260918T230000
DTSTAMP:20260914T235442Z
CREATED:20260914T235442Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260914T235442Z
UID:10007603-1789761600-1789772400@thectbeacon.com
SUMMARY:Aquanett Brings the Big Hair\, Big Guitars and ’80s Metal Back to the Charlestown Rathskeller
DESCRIPTION:Aquanett at the Charlestown Rathskeller turns the Rathskeller’s outdoor stage into a full-blown ’80s rock show Friday\, September 18\, with three hours of Bon Jovi\, Def Leppard\, Mötley Crüe\, Whitesnake\, Poison\, Aerosmith and the other bands that ruled rock radio and MTV. \nAquanett takes the stage from 8 to 11 p.m. at the Charlestown Rathskeller’s wooded Down Back music venue. \nTickets are $15 in advance plus Eventbrite fees or $20 at the door\, and this is a 21+ outdoor show. \nThe Rathskeller suggests arriving early for dinner and drinks. \nThat might be the calmest part of the evening. \nAquanett Has Been Doing This Since the ’80s Were Still a Recent Memory\nThere are plenty of bands playing ’80s covers. \nAquanett has spent more than a quarter-century trying to recreate what it actually felt like to attend an ’80s hard-rock concert. \nThe Springfield\, Massachusetts-based group formed in late 1999 and played its first shows in early 2000. \nThat timing is interesting. \nThe members weren’t looking back on the ’80s from 40 years away. They launched Aquanett less than a decade after Nirvana\, Pearl Jam and the alternative-rock explosion had pushed much of the music they loved out of the mainstream. \nThey went in the opposite direction. \nBig guitar solos. \nBig choruses. \nLights. \nCostumes. \nSpecial effects. \nAnd\, naturally\, very big hair. \nAquanett celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2020 and has continued touring throughout the Northeast since then. \nThis Isn’t an ’80s Pop Dance Party\nThe decade was big enough to contain Madonna\, Duran Duran\, Cyndi Lauper\, Prince\, Michael Jackson and New Kids on the Block. \nThat’s not Aquanett’s neighborhood. \nTheir show is rooted firmly in the hard rock and metal side of the 1980s\, particularly the bands that turned Los Angeles’ Sunset Strip into rock-and-roll mythology. \nThink Bon Jovi\, Whitesnake\, Mötley Crüe\, Guns N’ Roses\, Def Leppard and Poison. \nAdd Aerosmith and other arena-rock heavyweights and you get a much better idea of what Friday night will sound like. \nThis is music built around distorted guitars\, soaring vocals\, enormous hooks and choruses specifically engineered for several thousand people to sing simultaneously. \nAquanett brings that attitude to a considerably more intimate backyard in Charlestown. \nThe Band Wants to Recreate the Concert\, Not Just the Songs\nAquanett’s own description makes a point of separating the group from a conventional cover band standing in the corner of a bar. \nThe musicians use a complete stage production with lighting\, effects\, costumes and theatrical presentation intended to evoke the excess of an actual 1980s rock concert. \nThat’s an important distinction. \nA convincing version of a Def Leppard song is one thing. \nRecreating the era requires some spectacle. \nThe clothes mattered. \nThe poses mattered. \nThe guitar heroics mattered. \nMTV mattered enormously. \nBy the middle of the decade\, a band’s image and its music had become almost inseparable. \nAquanett leans into all of it. \nMTV Changed What a Rock Star Looked Like\nWhen MTV went on the air in 1981\, it gave rock musicians something previous generations didn’t have: a national television outlet playing music videos around the clock. \nSuddenly\, sounding like a rock star wasn’t enough. \nYou needed to look like one. \nFor the hard-rock bands that followed\, subtlety wasn’t particularly useful. \nHair grew. \nStages grew. \nPyrotechnics grew. \nMusic videos became miniature movies. \nBands such as Mötley Crüe\, Poison and Bon Jovi understood that perfectly\, while Def Leppard became one of the defining rock acts of the MTV era. \nBy the late ’80s\, Guns N’ Roses had injected something darker and more dangerous into the formula. \nAquanett’s show draws from that whole period rather than treating the decade as one interchangeable collection of nostalgic hits. \nMeet the Current Aquanett\nAquanett currently lists Madison Humel\, Michael Abdow\, David Ward\, Matthew Macri\, Rick Thompson and Edmond H. Dupont III as its performing lineup\, with Ian Jones handling sound engineering. \nHumel is the newest chapter in the band’s history. \nA longtime vocalist who grew up around music\, she developed through theater\, singing competitions and choral ensembles before spending more than a decade performing with bands\, established musicians and tribute acts. \nShe studied with local musician Livio Gravini and credits him with teaching her to make authenticity the foundation of a performance. \nThat becomes particularly important when you’re stepping into songs originally sung by some of the most recognizable rock vocalists of the 1980s. \nMichael Abdow Has a Career Far Beyond the Tribute Circuit\nGuitarist Michael Abdow brings some serious progressive-metal credentials to the stage. \nHe’s an international recording and touring musician\, songwriter and producer whose work includes Fates Warning and longtime Fates Warning vocalist Ray Alder. \nAcross his career\, Abdow has released four solo albums\, appeared on numerous other recordings and toured on four continents. \nHe’s also been featured in major guitar publications for his technical and melodic playing. \nAnd he’s been doing this particular gig for a long time. \nAbdow joined Aquanett in 2008. \nFor a band recreating an era in which the lead guitarist was often nearly as important as the singer\, having a player with that background makes a difference. \nDavid Ward Has Been There Since the Beginning\nGuitarist David Ward goes back to Aquanett’s formation. \nWard grew up studying the guitar styles of Van Halen\, Ozzy Osbourne and Iron Maiden\, later taking private lessons\, attending a Connecticut guitar workshop and studying music theory at Holyoke Community College. \nDuring the 1990s\, he played in hard-rock and metal bands including Sweet Tragedy\, Aces High and Straw Dogs. \nThen came Aquanett. \nWard joined the Springfield-area project in late 1999\, just as the group was taking shape\, and played its first shows in early 2000. \nHe’s remained with it for more than two decades. \nAlong the way\, Ward has even played alongside Mötley Crüe vocalist Vince Neil and Extreme drummer Paul Geary. \nFor someone who built his playing around the music of that period\, those are pretty appropriate names to have on the résumé. \nAquanett Has Survived Longer Than the Era It Recreates\nThere’s an amusing bit of arithmetic here. \nThe period most people think of as the classic hair-metal explosion didn’t last very long. \nBy the early 1990s\, musical tastes were changing rapidly. Grunge and alternative rock became dominant\, and many of the bands that had filled arenas only a few years earlier suddenly seemed to belong to another age. \nAquanett itself has now existed for more than 26 years. \nThat’s considerably longer than the period of popular music it recreates. \nAnd the audience hasn’t disappeared. \nIf anything\, several generations can now recognize the songs. \nSome remember buying the records when they were new. \nOthers discovered them through older siblings or parents. \nSome weren’t alive until years after the last can of Aqua Net had been emptied backstage. \nThe choruses still work. \nThe Rathskeller Has Already Brought Aquanett Back This Year\nSeptember 18 isn’t Aquanett’s first trip to Charlestown in 2026. \nThe band played the Rathskeller on June 20\, and its return less than three months later says something about the fit between band and venue. \nAquanett’s own current tour calendar lists the Charlestown show between dates across Massachusetts\, Connecticut\, Rhode Island\, New York and New Hampshire. \nEarlier this month\, the group played its annual Labor Day weekend show at the Windjammer in Westerly\, followed by appearances at the Three County Fair and MGM Springfield. \nAfter Charlestown\, the tour heads to Saratoga Springs and Clinton\, Massachusetts. \nSo this isn’t a local band occasionally assembling for an ’80s night. \nAquanett maintains an active regional touring schedule. \nDown Back Is Built for This Kind of Night\nThe Charlestown Rathskeller is a restaurant\, tavern and live-music venue tucked into the woods at 489A Old Coach Road. \nIts history stretches back to 1933\, when the Rathskeller began life as a speakeasy-era establishment. \nThe modern property combines a restored dining room and tavern with an outdoor patio\, bars and its seasonal Down Back entertainment area. \nDown Back sits across the backyard from the restaurant. \nThere’s an outdoor stage\, backyard bar\, burger shack\, bonfire and room for lawn games including cornhole and bocce. \nIt’s intentionally less polished than an indoor theater. \nThat’s part of the attraction. \nYou can arrive early\, eat\, have a drink and then head outside for the show rather than treating dinner and the concert as two completely separate outings. \nCome Early if You Want Dinner\nThe Rathskeller’s kitchen is open until 10 p.m. Friday\, while the tavern itself remains open until 1 a.m. \nThe restaurant’s regular menu leans toward hearty tavern food: burgers and sandwiches\, grilled meats\, seafood and shareable appetizers. \nThe venue specifically encourages Aquanett ticket holders to arrive early for dinner and drinks before the 8 p.m. show. \nThat’s probably the better plan if you’re actually hungry. \nOnce Aquanett gets going\, abandoning your spot halfway through Pour Some Sugar on Me because you suddenly remembered dinner may seem like a questionable life choice. \nFriday’s Show Is Outside\nOne detail worth knowing before buying a ticket: this is an outdoor performance. \nAquanett’s concert listing identifies the September 18 Rathskeller date as a 21+ outside show. \nThe Down Back setting is one of the reasons the Rathskeller has become such a busy warm-weather music venue\, but outdoor concerts inevitably come with weather considerations. \nAnyone attending should check the venue and band’s event pages before leaving if Friday’s forecast becomes questionable. \nNo separate rain location or rain-date arrangement is advertised in the current ticket information. \n$15 Now or $20 at the Door\nAdvance tickets are $15 plus Eventbrite fees. \nAdmission rises to $20 at the door. \nThe show runs from 8 to 11 p.m. \nEventbrite lists a refund policy allowing refunds until seven days before the event\, so that window is effectively closed for anyone buying during event week. \nThe Rathskeller also warns that tickets may sell quickly. \nThis is not an all-ages event. \nAquanett’s own listing specifies 21+ for the Charlestown performance. \nThere May Be No Better Setting for Three Hours of Musical Excess\nThe joke about ’80s hair metal is that everything was too much. \nToo much hair. \nToo many guitar solos. \nToo much spandex. \nToo many lights. \nToo much hairspray. \nToo much everything. \nThat’s also exactly why the music remains so much fun to revisit. \nNobody wrote Livin’ on a Prayer hoping the audience would quietly appreciate its restraint. \nThese were songs built to be played loudly in a room full of people who already knew the chorus. \nAquanett has spent more than 25 years preserving that part of the experience. \nOn September 18\, they’ll bring it outside to a stage in the woods of Charlestown. \nTease the hair accordingly. \nDetails\nEvent: Aquanett at the Charlestown Rathskeller\nDate: Friday\, September 18\, 2026\nTime: 8–11 p.m.\nLocation: The Charlestown Rathskeller\, Down Back outdoor music venue\nAddress: 489A Old Coach Road\, Charlestown\, RI 02813\nBand: Aquanett\nMusic: 1980s hard rock and metal tribute\nCurrent Band Members: Madison Humel\, Michael Abdow\, David Ward\, Matthew Macri\, Rick Thompson and Edmond H. Dupont III\nAge: 21+\nAdvance Tickets: $15 plus Eventbrite fees\nDoor Price: $20\nSetting: Outdoor show\nFood: The Rathskeller serves lunch and dinner; the venue encourages concertgoers to arrive early for dinner and drinks\nKitchen Hours Friday: Noon–10 p.m.\nRathskeller Friday Hours: Noon–1 a.m.\nParking: On-site parking is available at the Rathskeller\nWeather: Outdoor event; check with the venue for any weather-related changes\nContact: 401-792-1000 \nMore information is available at the Event Website link below. \nTo purchase tickets\, click the Event Ticketing link below. \n  \n  \nFeatured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people\, location\, or activities shown.
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/aquanett-brings-the-big-hair-big-guitars-and-80s-metal-back-to-the-charlestown-rathskeller/
LOCATION:Rathskeller\, 489A Old Coach Rd\, Charlestown\, RI\, 02813\, United States
CATEGORIES:Rathskeller
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260918T200000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260918T220000
DTSTAMP:20260916T020755Z
CREATED:20260916T020755Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260916T020755Z
UID:10007919-1789761600-1789768800@thectbeacon.com
SUMMARY:The Great Escape at Wolf Den Recreates Journey’s Arena-Rock Sound in an Intimate Room
DESCRIPTION:The Great Escape at Wolf Den brings Journey’s soaring vocals\, melodic guitar lines\, and enormous choruses to Mohegan Sun on Friday\, September 18\, with one of New England’s longest-running Journey tribute bands taking the stage for a free 21+ show. \nThe Great Escape formed in 2008 around a fairly straightforward objective: play Journey’s music with enough precision and energy that the songs retain the impact of the originals. \nNearly two decades later\, the band is still doing it. \nThe current group centers on vocalist Jason Paulino\, whose upper-register voice made Journey an obvious fit\, along with guitarist Rich Vigdor\, keyboardist John Dischert\, bassist and band founder Bob Wheeler\, and drummer Dennis King. \nAt the Wolf Den\, they’ll have one of rock’s deepest catalogs of recognizable songs to work with. \nJourney Made the Opening Notes Enough\nSome bands have hits. \nJourney has songs where a few seconds can identify the entire record. \nThe piano introduction to Don’t Stop Believin’. The keyboard opening of Separate Ways (Worlds Apart). The guitar melody of Lights. The first vocal lines of Faithfully and Open Arms. \nMuch of that music came from Journey’s extraordinary commercial run from the late 1970s through the mid-1980s\, particularly during the years when Steve Perry\, Neal Schon\, Jonathan Cain\, Ross Valory and Steve Smith formed the band’s best-known lineup. \nJourney’s 1981 album Escape became its first No. 1 album in the United States and produced Don’t Stop Believin’\, Who’s Crying Now and Open Arms. \nThe Great Escape’s name leaves little mystery about which period of Journey provides the band’s foundation. \nIt Started With a Bass Player Who Couldn’t Shake the Idea\nThe Great Escape’s origins trace largely to bassist Bob Wheeler. \nWheeler began playing bass at about 16 after some high-school friends wanted to form a band and bass happened to be the instrument nobody else had claimed. \nHe taught himself\, played Boston-area venues including The Channel and The Paradise and eventually stepped away from performing. \nYears later\, Wheeler began playing again. \nDuring that period\, he encountered an advertisement seeking a bassist for a Journey tribute band. The audition never happened\, but the idea stuck with him. \nThen he heard Jason Paulino sing. \nPaulino auditioned for a cover band Wheeler was playing with\, and when the group performed a couple of Journey songs\, Wheeler realized he’d found the voice that could make his old idea work. \nThe two began discussing a Journey project. \nIn 2008\, The Great Escape was born. \nJason Paulino Had the Voice for the Job\nThe hardest part of creating a convincing Journey tribute is also the most obvious. \nYou need somebody who can sing those songs. \nSteve Perry’s voice wasn’t simply high. His combination of range\, control\, phrasing and power became one of the defining sounds of American rock radio. \nPaulino has spent much of his career working in that territory. \nThe Great Escape’s official biography describes his voice as exceptionally close to Perry’s when singing Journey material. Earlier in his career\, Paulino also appeared multiple times as a “Star of the Day” and became a finalist on the New England television talent program Community Auditions. \nMore recently\, he has begun establishing a musical identity outside the tribute-band world. \nPaulino relocated to the Nashville area and has been developing original material as a singer-songwriter while continuing to return for selected Great Escape performances. \nHis original single Don’t Give Up On Me earned a 2026 Josie Music Awards nomination for Song of the Year – Rock Artist\, with the awards scheduled just two days after Friday’s Wolf Den appearance. \nThat makes this particular Great Escape show land at an interesting point in the singer’s career. \nThe Guitar Parts Matter Just as Much\nJourney’s music would be considerably easier to imitate if the challenge stopped with the vocals. \nIt doesn’t. \nNeal Schon’s guitar work is embedded throughout the songs\, often creating recognizable melodies within seconds. \nThat’s where Rich Vigdor comes in. \nThe Great Escape describes its guitarist’s approach as recreating Journey’s riffs and solos note for note. \nFor a tribute band\, that attention to detail matters. \nA song such as Stone in Love doesn’t merely need distortion and a fast solo. Lights needs its particular melodic phrasing. Who’s Crying Now builds toward one of Schon’s most recognizable closing guitar passages. \nThe audience already knows how those moments are supposed to sound. \nKeyboards Are Essential to the Journey Formula\nThen there are the keyboards. \nJourney’s early records grew from the band’s progressive-rock roots\, but Jonathan Cain’s arrival before Escape helped reshape the group into the arena-rock powerhouse most listeners remember. \nPiano and synthesizer became essential parts of the sound. \nThe opening of Don’t Stop Believin’ wouldn’t exist without that piano figure. \nSeparate Ways wouldn’t be Separate Ways without its aggressive synthesizer opening. \nOpen Arms depends on piano to create the space around Perry’s vocal. \nIn The Great Escape\, John Dischert handles keyboard and piano while also contributing vocal harmonies. \nThe rhythm section is anchored by Wheeler on bass and Dennis King on drums. \nTogether\, the five musicians have the pieces required to recreate a catalog that is much more musically layered than its radio-friendly hooks sometimes suggest. \nThe Great Escape Has Been Doing This for Nearly Two Decades\nLongevity separates The Great Escape from the endless cycle of tribute acts that form\, play for a few years and disappear. \nThe band has been performing since 2008. \nIts résumé includes appearances at casinos\, theaters\, clubs and festivals around New England and beyond\, including previous performances at Mohegan Sun. \nThe group was also recognized as New England’s Best Tribute Band at the Limelight Magazine Awards in 2009 and again in 2013\, according to the band’s official biography. \nThat history has allowed the musicians to spend years refining the small details of Journey’s material. \nAnd with a catalog this familiar\, small details are exactly what audiences notice. \nExpect the Big Journey Songs\nMohegan Sun hasn’t published a song-by-song setlist for Friday night\, so there is no reason to pretend we know precisely what the band will play. \nBut The Great Escape’s own material makes its mission clear. \nThis is a Journey tribute. \nThe band’s repertoire has included the songs audiences would expect from that description\, with Escape\, Lights and even Steve Perry’s solo hit Oh Sherrie featured among recordings on its website. \nJourney’s catalog gives the band plenty more to draw from\, including Any Way You Want It\, Wheel in the Sky\, Lovin’\, Touchin’\, Squeezin’\, Stone in Love\, Who’s Crying Now\, Open Arms\, Separate Ways\, Faithfully and\, inevitably\, Don’t Stop Believin’. \nWhich of those make Friday’s final set is up to the band. \nThe singalong potential isn’t. \nThe Wolf Den Makes a Very Big Catalog Feel Small\nJourney built much of its reputation playing arenas. \nThe Wolf Den is essentially the opposite. \nLocated inside Mohegan Sun’s Casino of the Earth\, the venue puts audiences remarkably close to performers and offers its concerts without an admission charge. \nThat intimacy is particularly suited to a tribute act. \nInstead of watching musicians recreate an arena-rock band from the far end of an arena\, audiences can see the playing that goes into recreating the music. \nThere is a tradeoff. \nSpace is limited. \nThe Wolf Den uses first-come\, first-served seating\, and Mohegan Sun specifically recommends arriving early. \nDon’t Line Up Before 5 p.m.\nThere is an important Wolf Den rule for anyone determined to get a seat. \nGuests may begin lining up no earlier than three hours before showtime. \nFor Friday’s 8 p.m. performance\, that means 5 p.m. \nOne person is permitted to hold up to four places in line\, but everyone must be present when seating occurs. A place in line does not allow someone to claim an empty seat for a friend arriving later. \nBecause seating is limited and The Great Escape is playing a catalog filled with familiar radio hits\, arriving well before 8 p.m. is the safer approach for anyone who considers sitting important. \nThe venue is also 21 and older and non-smoking. \nOne Night Before a Very Different Journey for Its Singer\nThere is a fun bit of timing surrounding Friday’s show. \nPaulino has spent nearly two decades singing songs associated with one of rock’s most famous voices. \nNow he’s increasingly putting his own name on the music. \nTwo days after The Great Escape performs at the Wolf Den\, the 2026 Josie Music Awards are scheduled at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry House\, where Paulino’s Don’t Give Up On Me is among the nominated independent recordings. \nBut first comes Friday night in Uncasville. \nFive musicians. \nA small room. \nNo admission charge. \nAnd a catalog created for rooms many times its size. \nDetails\nEvent: The Great Escape at Wolf Den\nDate: Friday\, September 18\, 2026\nTime: 8 p.m.\nVenue: Wolf Den at Mohegan Sun\nLocation: Casino of the Earth\nAddress: 1 Mohegan Sun Boulevard\, Uncasville\, CT 06382\nBand: The Great Escape\nMusic: Tribute to Journey\nAdmission: Free\nAge: 21+\nSeating: Limited and first come\, first served\nLine: Guests may line up no earlier than 5 p.m.\, three hours before showtime\nHolding Places: One person may hold up to four places in line; guests must be present when seats are assigned\nSmoking: The Wolf Den is a non-smoking entertainment venue\nPhone: 1-888-226-7711\nSchedule: Times and performers are subject to change \nMore information is available at the Event Website link below. \n  \n  \nFeatured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people\, location\, or activities shown.
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/the-great-escape-at-wolf-den-recreates-journeys-arena-rock-sound-in-an-intimate-room/
LOCATION:Wolf Den\, 1 Mohegan Sun Blvs\, Uncasville\, CT\, 06382\, United States
CATEGORIES:Mohegan Sun
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260918T200000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260918T220000
DTSTAMP:20260916T013647Z
CREATED:20260916T013647Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260916T013647Z
UID:10007918-1789761600-1789768800@thectbeacon.com
SUMMARY:Thana Alexa Quartet Brings a Grammy-Nominated Voice and a Global Jazz Palette to The Side Door
DESCRIPTION:Thana Alexa Quartet brings vocalist\, composer\, and sonic experimenter Thana Alexa to The Side Door Jazz Club in Old Lyme on Friday\, September 18\, for an intimate performance that stretches jazz well beyond the traditional singer-and-rhythm-section format. \nAlexa will be joined by Alejandra Sofia on keyboards and vocals\, JC Maillard on guitar and vocals\, and Jacquelene Acevedo on percussion and vocals. \nThat instrumentation offers a clue about what to expect. \nAlexa herself is credited not only with vocals\, but also loops\, effects\, and percussion. Every other member of the quartet contributes vocals. There is no conventional acoustic-bass-and-drum rhythm section in the announced lineup. \nInstead\, this is a band built around voices\, percussion\, electronics\, keyboards and guitar\, giving Alexa room to move between contemporary jazz\, improvisation\, world music and the sounds of her Croatian-American background. \nThana Alexa Uses Her Voice as More Than a Lead Instrument\nCalling Alexa a jazz singer doesn’t quite describe what she does. \nShe is a vocalist\, composer\, arranger and producer who treats the human voice as both a storytelling instrument and another component of the band. \nShe can sing a lyric conventionally and then move into wordless improvisation\, rhythmic figures\, layered vocal textures or electronically manipulated sounds. \nThat approach has helped establish Alexa as one of the more distinctive vocalists to emerge from contemporary jazz. \nBorn in New York City to a Croatian family\, Alexa spent part of her childhood in Croatia before returning to the United States. She later studied jazz and contemporary music at The New School in New York. \nThe two worlds never entirely separated. \nHer music has increasingly drawn from both her American jazz education and Croatian heritage\, particularly as she began exploring questions of family\, immigration\, femininity and identity in her own compositions. \nThose ideas came together most completely on ONA. \nONA Turned Family Stories Into a Grammy-Nominated Album\nReleased in 2020\, ONA takes its title from the Croatian word for “she.” \nThe album began with stories of the women in Alexa’s family\, including generations shaped by migration and cultural change\, but developed into something considerably broader: a musical exploration of women’s experiences\, strength and identity. \nIt also became Alexa’s breakthrough recording. \nONA received a Grammy nomination for Best Jazz Vocal Album at the 63rd Grammy Awards. \nThe album produced a second Grammy nomination through violinist Regina Carter’s performance on Alexa’s composition Pachamama\, which was nominated for Best Improvised Jazz Solo. \nThat distinction is worth making: Alexa herself is a Grammy nominee for ONA\, while the album generated two Grammy nominations overall. \nThe record also demonstrated just how far Alexa was willing to push the vocabulary of vocal jazz. \nThe Band Coming to Old Lyme Is Built Differently\nThe quartet announced for The Side Door reflects that experimental side of Alexa’s music. \nThana Alexa handles voice\, loops\, effects and percussion. \nAlejandra Sofia plays keyboards and adds vocals. \nJC Maillard plays guitar and contributes vocals. \nJacquelene Acevedo adds percussion and vocals. \nFour musicians. Four voices. \nRather than treating backing vocals as decoration behind the lead singer\, the configuration gives Alexa a palette of vocal and instrumental sounds that can be stacked\, repeated\, manipulated and reshaped during a performance. \nLoops allow a performer to record a phrase in real time and immediately play it back\, building additional musical layers over it. Effects can alter the tone\, space and character of a voice just as guitarists have used pedals to reshape the sound of an electric guitar for decades. \nCombine that with keyboards\, guitar and percussion and the quartet can create a much larger sonic environment than its four-person lineup suggests. \nAlexa Has Another Connection to One of Jazz’s Great Modern Drummers\nAlexa is also a longtime member of Migration\, the ensemble led by drummer and composer Antonio Sánchez\, her husband. \nSánchez is best known outside jazz circles for creating the percussion-driven score for Alejandro González Iñárritu’s 2014 film Birdman\, but his career reaches much further into contemporary jazz. \nAlexa’s work with Migration placed her voice inside music where rhythm\, composition and improvisation are deeply intertwined. \nThat experience is easy to connect with her own approach. \nShe doesn’t simply stand in front of a jazz band and sing over it. \nThe voice becomes part of the machinery. \nSONICA Put Three Women’s Voices at the Center\nAlexa has explored that idea from another direction through SONICA\, the vocal trio she formed with singer Nicole Zuraitis and bassist-vocalist Julia Adamy. \nThe project places vocal harmony\, improvisation and original composition at its center\, reinforcing Alexa’s interest in treating voices as an ensemble rather than separating a lead singer from accompanying musicians. \nThat emphasis also connects to another continuing Alexa project: Founding Mothers of Jazz. \nThe project examines and celebrates women who helped shape jazz while often receiving less attention than their male contemporaries. \nFor Alexa\, that isn’t separate from the music. \nQuestions about whose stories get told\, who gets remembered and whose voices are heard run directly through her work. \nHer Croatian Connection Now Extends to a Jazz Festival\nAlexa’s relationship with Croatia has also become part of her professional life. \nShe serves as artistic director of the Ponta Lopud Jazz Festival\, held on the Croatian island of Lopud. \nThe festival brings international jazz musicians together in an environment designed around performance\, collaboration and artistic exchange. \nIt’s another indication of how Alexa’s career has evolved beyond the conventional boundaries of vocalist or bandleader. \nShe’s a performer\, composer and producer\, but increasingly also a curator and organizer helping determine which artists and musical ideas get brought together. \nFriday’s Side Door appearance brings that much larger musical world into one of Connecticut’s smallest serious jazz rooms. \nThe Side Door Was Designed for Nights Like This\nThe setting matters. \nThe Side Door Jazz Club operates inside the historic Old Lyme Inn at 85 Lyme Street\, directly across from the Florence Griswold Museum. \nIt isn’t a multipurpose room that occasionally presents jazz. \nIt’s a dedicated listening room. \nThat makes a substantial difference for a quartet whose music can depend on subtle vocal interactions\, electronics\, percussion and improvisation. \nThere isn’t much distance between performer and audience at The Side Door\, and the room’s emphasis is on listening rather than providing background music for a bar or restaurant. \nFor a vocalist who can shift from an intimate lyric to experimental vocal effects in the same performance\, that’s exactly the kind of room where the details can be heard. \nDinner Can Be Part of the Night\nThe Old Lyme Inn gives concertgoers another option before the music begins. \nSide Door ticket holders receive 10% off dinner at the Old Lyme Inn on concert nights. The venue recommends scheduling dinner reservations no later than 6 p.m. \nDoors for the concert open at 7:15 p.m.\, with Alexa and the quartet scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. \nSeating is reserved rather than general admission\, so purchasing a ticket also determines where you’ll be sitting. \nThe performance is scheduled to run until approximately 10 p.m. \nFree parking is available. \nA Different Kind of Vocal Jazz\nAnyone expecting a conventional evening of standards sung over piano\, bass and drums may be surprised by this one. \nAlexa certainly comes from jazz. \nBut she also comes from a generation of musicians for whom electronics\, global influences\, unconventional instrumentation and studio techniques aren’t outside additions to the genre. \nThey’re simply more tools. \nThe announced quartet makes that particularly clear. \nFour voices. Guitar. Keyboards. Percussion. Loops. Effects. \nAnd at the center of it all is a singer who seems considerably less interested in fitting comfortably inside the definition of a jazz vocalist than in discovering how much further the human voice can go. \nDetails\nEvent: Thana Alexa Quartet\nDate: Friday\, September 18\, 2026\nTime: 8–10 p.m.\nDoors: 7:15 p.m.\nVenue: The Side Door Jazz Club\nAddress: 85 Lyme Street\, Old Lyme\, CT 06371\nLineup: Thana Alexa\, voice/loops/FX/percussion; Alejandra Sofia\, keys/voice; JC Maillard\, guitar/voice; Jacquelene Acevedo\, percussion/voice\nAdmission: Ticketed event; current pricing and seat availability should be confirmed through the ticketing page\nSeating: Reserved seating\nAge: All ages\nParking: Free parking\nDinner: Side Door ticket holders receive 10% off dinner at the Old Lyme Inn; dinner reservations should be scheduled no later than 6 p.m.\nRefunds: No refunds\nPhone: 860-434-2600 \nMore information is available at the Event Website link below. \nTo purchase tickets\, click the Event Ticketing link below. \n  \n  \nFeatured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people\, location\, or activities shown. \n 
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/thana-alexa-quartet-brings-a-grammy-nominated-voice-and-a-global-jazz-palette-to-the-side-door/
LOCATION:Side Door Jazz Club\, 85 Lyme St\, Old Lyme\, 06372\, United States
CATEGORIES:SIde Door Jazz Club
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260918T200000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260918T220000
DTSTAMP:20260908T223445Z
CREATED:20260908T223445Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260908T223445Z
UID:10007525-1789761600-1789768800@thectbeacon.com
SUMMARY:Lee Brice: Sunriser Tour at Foxwoods
DESCRIPTION:Lee Brice: Sunriser Tour at Foxwoods brings one of country music’s most successful singer-songwriters to the Premier Theater on Friday\, September 18\, for an 8 p.m. show built around a catalog that has produced nine No. 1 country singles and more than 10 billion career streams. \nBrice has spent the better part of two decades moving between two sides of Nashville. He’s the rough-edged baritone behind hits including I Drive Your Truck\, I Don’t Dance\, Rumor\, One of Them Girls and A Woman Like You. But before much of the country knew his voice\, other stars were already singing his songs. \nGarth Brooks\, Kenny Chesney\, Jason Aldean and Tim McGraw are among the artists who have recorded Brice’s work. That songwriting background remains central to a career that has earned him CMA and ACM awards\, a Grammy nomination and a collection of multi-Platinum records. \nNine Trips to No. 1\nThere isn’t one particular kind of Lee Brice hit. \nDrinking Class is a working-week anthem. Rumor rides a considerably more soulful groove. A Woman Like You and I Don’t Dance move toward romance\, while I Hope You’re Happy Now\, his duet with Carly Pearce\, is about two people discovering that moving on isn’t nearly as clean as it sounds. \nThen there’s I Drive Your Truck. \nThe 2012 recording became one of the defining songs of Brice’s career\, telling the story of someone coping with a loved one’s death by climbing into his truck and driving. \nThe song was inspired by the real story of Army Sgt. 1st Class Jared Monti\, who was killed in Afghanistan in 2006 while attempting to rescue a fellow soldier and was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. Monti’s father\, Paul\, kept his son’s Dodge Ram and drove it as a way of remaining connected to him. \nBrice didn’t write I Drive Your Truck — Jessi Alexander\, Connie Harrington and Jimmy Yeary did — but his performance helped turn it into a major country hit. The song won Song of the Year at both the CMA and ACM awards. \nIt’s also a useful example of what Brice does particularly well. His biggest recordings often depend less on vocal gymnastics than on making a story sound believable. \nHe Was a Hit Songwriter Before He Was a Country Star\nBrice understands the relationship between a songwriter and the artist who eventually makes a song his own because he’s been on both sides of it. \nOne of his biggest early breaks came without his name on the front of the record. \nBrice co-wrote Garth Brooks’ More Than a Memory with Billy Montana and Kyle Jacobs. When Brooks released the song in 2007\, it did something no single had previously accomplished in the history of Billboard’s country chart: it debuted at No. 1. \nBy then\, Brice had begun landing songs with other performers as well. \nJason Aldean recorded his material. So did Tim McGraw. Kenny Chesney would eventually join the list. \nBrice was simultaneously trying to establish himself as a recording artist\, but that side of his career took longer to catch. \nHis breakthrough finally arrived with Love Like Crazy. The song spent 56 weeks on Billboard’s country chart\, establishing Brice as more than the songwriter whose work other singers were recording. \nThen the hits began stacking up. \nHis nine country-radio No. 1 singles now include A Woman Like You\, Hard to Love\, I Drive Your Truck\, I Don’t Dance\, Drinking Class\, Rumor\, I Hope You’re Happy Now\, One of Them Girls and Memory I Don’t Mess With. \nFrom Clemson Football to Nashville\nThere was a point when music wasn’t Brice’s only possible future. \nBorn in Sumter\, South Carolina\, he grew up singing in church\, started playing piano at 7 and moved on to guitar. By 10\, he was already writing songs. \nBut he was also an athlete. \nBrice played football at Clemson University before an arm injury helped redirect his attention toward music. Nashville eventually became the destination\, and songwriting became his way into the industry. \nThat history helps explain the mix that still runs through his records. \nThere’s traditional Nashville songcraft underneath music that freely borrows from rock and pop. Brice can make a large room work with a song like Parking Lot Party and then turn around and build a performance around something as restrained as I Don’t Dance. \nThe latter is particularly personal. \nBrice wrote I Don’t Dance for his wife\, Sara\, and performed it at their wedding before eventually recording and releasing it. It became another No. 1 and one of his signature love songs. \n“One of Them Girls” Had a Historic Awards Run\nBy 2020\, Brice was more than a decade removed from his first album\, but some of the biggest successes of his career were still ahead. \nOne of Them Girls became his longest-running No. 1 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart and eventually earned an unusual sweep of songwriting honors. \nThe track was named Song of the Year by the Academy of Country Music and also received song-of-the-year recognition from ASCAP and BMI. \nAround the same period\, Brice joined Carly Pearce for I Hope You’re Happy Now. \nThe duet won Musical Event of the Year at the CMA Awards and both Single of the Year and Music Event of the Year at the ACM Awards. \nThose songs appeared on Brice’s 2020 album Hey World\, which has since been certified Platinum. \nRather than settling into the role of a country nostalgia act built around 2010s hits\, Brice had managed to add another group of career-defining songs a decade after his breakthrough. \nThe Next Chapter Includes “Cry\,” Country Friends and Colbie Caillat\nBrice’s recent recordings continue moving between solo material and collaboration. \nIn 2025\, he released Cry\, followed by Said No Country Boy Ever\, which brought him together with longtime Nashville friends Jamey Johnson\, Randy Houser\, Jerrod Niemann\, Dallas Davidson and Rob Hatch. \nHe’s also teamed with Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Colbie Caillat for the duet Kinda Single. \nThe collaborations make sense for an artist whose career has always been intertwined with Nashville’s songwriting community. Brice isn’t simply handed songs after the writing is finished. He’s a songwriter himself\, with 11 co-writing credits on his 2020 Hey World album alone and decades of experience writing both for himself and other artists. \nThe Sunriser Tour gives him a catalog broad enough to move between those newer releases and songs that have been country-radio fixtures for years. \nThe Premier Theater Keeps the Show Short of Arena Scale\nFoxwoods is putting Brice in the Premier Theater\, its primary room for major touring concerts and comedians. \nThe theater sits inside The Fox Tower and offers something different from seeing the same performer in an arena. It’s large enough for a full touring production but considerably more contained\, with reserved seating and relatively close sightlines throughout much of the room. \nFoxwoods recommends The Fox Tower for the most convenient parking. \nAnyone attending should also pay attention to the theater’s bag rules. Shopping bags and backpacks aren’t permitted\, and all bags are subject to search. Ticketmaster also specifies that guests must use their assigned seats and that smoking is prohibited in and around the theater. \nFood and drinks can be purchased inside the venue\, while the surrounding resort offers considerably more options for anyone making dinner part of the night. \nOne Night\, a Lot of Country Radio History\nA Lee Brice concert presents an interesting problem when it comes time to build a setlist. \nLeave out A Woman Like You and you’re skipping a No. 1. The same is true of Hard to Love. And I Drive Your Truck. And I Don’t Dance. And Drinking Class. \nThen come Rumor\, I Hope You’re Happy Now\, One of Them Girls and Memory I Don’t Mess With. \nThat’s before getting to Love Like Crazy\, Parking Lot Party or the newer music. \nThe result is a Friday night at Foxwoods that can function as both a current tour stop and something approaching a survey of mainstream country music from the past 15 years. \nAnd underneath much of it is the part of Lee Brice’s career that started before the fame: a songwriter who figured out how to make the stories he wrote for other people work just as well when he stepped behind the microphone himself. \nDetails\nEvent: Lee Brice: Sunriser Tour\nDate: Friday\, September 18\, 2026\nTime: 8 p.m.\nPerformer: Lee Brice\nTour: Sunriser Tour\nMusic: Country\nVenue: Premier Theater at Foxwoods Resort Casino\nAddress: 39 Norwich-Westerly Road\, Mashantucket\, CT 06339\nSeating: Reserved seating; guests must sit in their assigned seats\nBest Parking: The Fox Tower\nBag Policy: No shopping bags or backpacks; all bags are subject to search\nSmoking: No smoking in or around the Premier Theater \nMore information is available at the Event Website link below. \nTo purchase tickets\, click the Event Ticketing link below. \n  \nFeatured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people\, location\, or activities shown.
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/lee-brice-sunriser-tour-at-foxwoods/
LOCATION:Premier Theater at the Foxwoods Resort & Casino\, 39 Norwich-Westerly Rd\, Ledyard\, 06339\, United States
CATEGORIES:Foxwoods
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260918T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260918T220000
DTSTAMP:20260917T173613Z
CREATED:20260917T173613Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260917T173613Z
UID:10008450-1789759800-1789768800@thectbeacon.com
SUMMARY:Amy Gallatin and Stillwaters Open Friday Night Folk’s New Season in New London
DESCRIPTION:Amy Gallatin and Stillwaters Open Friday Night Folk’s New Season in New London on Sept. 18\, bringing country\, bluegrass\, folk\, and western swing to All Souls for the first concert of a nine-show season stretching into next spring. \nThe 7:30 p.m. concert pairs Gallatin’s lead vocals with one of the group’s defining sounds: Roger Williams on resophonic guitar. They’ll be joined by Williams’ son\, JD Williams\, on mandolin and vocals\, and veteran bluegrass musician Bob Dick on bass and vocals. \nTogether\, the quartet occupies a musical space somewhere between an old country record and a bluegrass picking session. Traditional country songs get stripped back to acoustic instruments. Bluegrass can soften into a ballad. Folk\, western swing and Americana move in and out of the set without requiring anyone to stop and announce that the genre has changed. \nIt’s music built around voices and strings. \nFor Friday Night Folk\, it’s also the beginning of another season in a New London concert tradition that dates back to 1989. \nFrom Western Ranches to the New England Bluegrass Scene\nGallatin’s road to Connecticut didn’t exactly follow the standard path to becoming a New England folk and bluegrass performer. \nBorn in Muscle Shoals\, Alabama\, she spent years moving around the American West\, including time in Idaho\, Montana\, Oregon and California. Horses and music were both part of the picture. She worked at guest ranches\, helped organize horseback riding programs and performed as an entertainer. \nGallatin later recalled spending about a dozen years working on ranches in the West\, along with stints as a ski bum and bartender. \nMusic was there all along\, but the career began to take a different shape after she encountered Connecticut musicians while spending a winter in New England in 1992. \nThe acoustic music community she discovered here offered something she hadn’t found to the same degree out West: a network of musicians and an established bluegrass scene. \nSo Gallatin packed her guitar into a Ford Econoline van and headed east in 1993. \nConnecticut became home. \nOver the years that followed\, Gallatin recorded 10 albums and toured across the United States as well as Canada\, Mexico\, the United Kingdom and Europe. Stillwaters has made multiple European tours\, and the group has twice represented the United States as featured performers at the European World of Bluegrass convention in the Netherlands. \nHer influences reach well beyond bluegrass. Gallatin points to the cowboy songs she encountered in the West along with country artists including Emmylou Harris\, Merle Haggard\, Loretta Lynn and the Everly Brothers. \nThat helps explain why an Amy Gallatin and Stillwaters show doesn’t fit neatly into one musical drawer. \nThe Sound of a Guitar Built to Be Heard\nThen there’s Roger Williams. \nWilliams plays resophonic guitar\, often called a Dobro\, an instrument that can look vaguely familiar until you hear it. \nInstead of relying solely on a wooden soundboard to amplify the strings like a conventional acoustic guitar\, a resophonic guitar uses a metal resonator. The result is that bright\, ringing\, almost vocal sound closely associated with bluegrass. \nPlayed horizontally with a steel bar\, the instrument can slide between notes rather than simply jumping from one fretted pitch to another. In the right hands\, it can cry behind a country vocal one moment and turn into a fast-moving lead instrument the next. \nWilliams has had plenty of time to figure out what it can do. \nHe began playing Dobro-style resophonic guitar in 1963 while still a teenager. Within roughly a year\, he was performing with the Lilly Brothers and Don Stover at Boston’s Hillbilly Ranch\, an important venue in the development of New England bluegrass. \nHis career since then has connected him with an extensive list of folk and bluegrass musicians\, including Hazel Dickens\, Joe Val\, Mac Wiseman\, Southern Rail\, Mark Schatz\, Wyatt Rice and others. His work has also taken him overseas numerous times. \nEventually\, his musical path crossed Gallatin’s. \nTheir partnership grew around a shared affection for country standards\, but rather than simply reproducing the arrangements of the originals\, they began giving the songs an acoustic bluegrass treatment. \nThat contrast became part of Stillwaters’ identity: Gallatin’s country-rooted lead vocal out front\, with Williams’ resophonic guitar winding around it. \nA Father and Son Share the Stage\nThere’s another relationship inside Friday night’s lineup. \nMandolin player JD Williams grew up with Roger Williams as his father\, which meant music wasn’t exactly something waiting to be discovered outside the house. \nHe learned multiple instruments early\, eventually attending Berklee College of Music and developing a style that draws not only from bluegrass but from jazz and blues. \nJD has since worked as a sideman and session player with musicians and groups around New England and New York\, including Southern Rail\, The Hot Flashes\, The Cadleys and Connecticut songwriter Nathan Day. \nHe has also spent years performing alongside his father. \nThe smaller mandolin occupies a very different sonic space from Roger’s resophonic guitar\, allowing the two Williamses to trade rhythmic and melodic roles while Gallatin handles the lead vocal. \nThe family connection isn’t just a footnote in the band’s biography. Years of playing together can create the sort of musical shorthand that’s difficult to manufacture in rehearsal. One player knows where the other is headed before he quite gets there. \nBob Dick Brings His Own Bluegrass History\nHolding down the bottom end Friday night is Bob Dick\, another musician whose history reaches deep into New England bluegrass. \nDick is a Berklee alumnus and a founding member of the long-running Blackstone Valley Bluegrass Band. Earlier in his career he played with several regional groups before joining Front Range in 1991. \nFront Range went on to tour nationally and in Europe\, with Dick recording six albums with the group. \nHis work eventually extended beyond performing. Dick founded Appleland Recording Studios in Northbridge\, Massachusetts\, and became a producer and recording engineer. His credits include Front Range’s One Beautiful Day\, which received the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Gospel Recording of the Year honor in 1995. \nThat means Friday’s quartet isn’t Gallatin surrounded by anonymous backing musicians. \nThere are decades of New England acoustic-music history standing beside her. \nA New London Folk Tradition Since 1989\nThe room has some history\, too. \nFriday Night Folk began at All Souls Unitarian Universalist Congregation in New London in 1989\, bringing traditional and contemporary folk performers to southeastern Connecticut. \nThe names that have passed through the series over the decades amount to a substantial piece of modern folk history. \nJohn Gorka has played there. So have Tom Chapin\, Richard Shindell\, Patty Larkin\, Cheryl Wheeler\, Gordon Bok\, Bill Staines\, Bill Morrissey\, Vance Gilbert\, Utah Phillips\, Sarah Lee Guthrie and Aztec Two-Step\, among many others. \nBut Friday Night Folk was never conceived simply as a concert promoter. \nIts stated mission connects music with social and environmental justice\, and the series has used benefit concerts to support grassroots organizations working in southeastern Connecticut. \nPast beneficiaries have included FRESH New London\, Save the Sound\, the Southeastern Connecticut Community Land Trust\, refugee resettlement organization Start Fresh and other local causes. \nThat relationship between folk music and activism has a long history of its own. American folk traditions have carried labor songs\, civil rights songs\, antiwar music and environmental messages for generations. Friday Night Folk keeps that connection visible rather than treating “folk” simply as an acoustic musical style. \nThe result is something New London doesn’t have many equivalents to: a recurring concert series where nationally and regionally established performers play in an intimate community setting rather than a nightclub or large theater. \nNine Concerts Carry Friday Night Folk Into Spring\nGallatin and Stillwaters aren’t simply playing another date on the Friday Night Folk calendar. They’re opening its 2026-27 season. \nThe series continues Oct. 9 with Crys Matthews\, followed Nov. 13 by the Connecticut Hope Collective for World Kindness Day in a benefit for FRESH New London. \nThe Rivergods arrive Dec. 11\, followed by Geoff Kaufman on Jan. 8. \nA February benefit concert\, Sounds of Justice: From Seeger and Odetta to Today!\, directly taps the relationship between folk music and social movements. March brings Troubadours of Connecticut with Kala Farnham\, Lara Herscovitch and Charlie Widmer. \nWindborne follows April 9\, with Joe Jencks closing the season May 7. \nSeason tickets are available for $125. \nIndividual tickets for Gallatin and Stillwaters are $20 in advance or $25 at the door. \nFor people who can’t make it into Unity Hall\, Friday Night Folk also plans a livestream through the All Souls New London YouTube channel\, with donations encouraged. \nBut inside the room Friday night\, the new season begins the old-fashioned way: four musicians\, a collection of acoustic instruments and songs that have traveled a long way before arriving on Jay Street. \nMore information is available at the Event Website link below. \nTo purchase tickets\, click the Event Ticketing link below. \nDetails\nEvent: Amy Gallatin and Stillwaters — Friday Night Folk 2026-27 Season Opener\nDate: Friday\, Sept. 18\, 2026\nTime: 7:30-10 p.m.\nLocation: Friday Night Folk at All Souls UU\, Unity Hall\nAddress: 19 Jay St.\, New London\, CT 06320\nPerformers: Amy Gallatin\, vocals; Roger Williams\, resophonic guitar and vocals; JD Williams\, mandolin and vocals; Bob Dick\, bass and vocals\nMusic: Country\, bluegrass\, folk\, Americana and western swing\nTickets: $20 in advance; $25 at the door\nSeason Tickets: $125 for the 2026-27 Friday Night Folk season\nLivestream: A livestream is scheduled to be available through the All Souls New London YouTube channel on the night of the concert. Donations are encouraged.\nAccessibility: All Souls describes its Jay Street building as fully accessible\, with wheelchair spaces and assistive listening devices available.\nParking: All Souls has an on-site parking lot\, including designated accessible parking. Additional parking is available at the adjacent courthouse lot on Cottage Street.\nRefund Policy: Refunds are available up to 14 days before the event.\n2026-27 Season: Amy Gallatin and Stillwaters\, Sept. 18; Crys Matthews\, Oct. 9; Connecticut Hope Collective for World Kindness Day\, Nov. 13; The Rivergods\, Dec. 11; Geoff Kaufman\, Jan. 8; Sounds of Justice: From Seeger and Odetta to Today!\, Feb. 12; Troubadours of Connecticut\, March 12; Windborne\, April 9; Joe Jencks\, May 7. \n\nFeatured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people\, location\, or activities shown.
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/amy-gallatin-and-stillwaters-open-friday-night-folks-new-season-in-new-london/
LOCATION:All Souls UU\, Unity Hall\, 19 Jay Street\, New London\, CT\, 06320\, United States
CATEGORIES:All Souls UU
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260918T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260918T210000
DTSTAMP:20260921T030511Z
CREATED:20260915T024207Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260921T030511Z
UID:10007512-1789759800-1789765200@thectbeacon.com
SUMMARY:Almost\, Maine at the Granite Theatre
DESCRIPTION:Almost\, Maine at the Granite Theatre opens Friday\, September 11\, for a two-week run of John Cariani’s romantic comedy about love found\, lost and occasionally turned upside down beneath the northern lights. \nThe Granite Theatre production runs September 11–20 in downtown Westerly\, with 7:30 p.m. performances on Thursdays\, Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sunday matinees. Tickets are $30–$35. \nRather than following one couple through a conventional love story\, Almost\, Maine tells nine interconnected stories about the residents of a tiny fictional community in northern Maine. During the course of one cold Friday night\, relationships begin\, end\, stumble and take some wonderfully strange turns. \nWelcome to Almost\nAlmost isn’t technically a town. \nIn Cariani’s fictional geography\, it’s an unorganized community so far north in Maine that it’s almost in Canada. On a clear winter night\, with the aurora borealis overhead\, its residents experience a series of encounters that revolve around falling in love\, falling out of it or discovering that what they thought they understood about another person wasn’t quite right. \nThe structure is closer to a collection of short stories performed on stage than a traditional beginning-to-end narrative. \nMost of the scenes involve just two characters\, with different residents moving in and out of focus as the evening progresses. The stories stand on their own\, but the shared place\, time and themes gradually turn them into a portrait of one small community. \nCariani also gives the play a touch of magical realism. \nEmotions sometimes become physical things. Characters carry the consequences of love in ways that couldn’t happen in the real world\, yet the feelings behind those moments remain recognizable. That lets Almost\, Maine move quickly between comedy\, absurdity\, heartbreak and tenderness without becoming a conventional romantic comedy. \nA Play That Almost Disappeared\nThe story behind Almost\, Maine is nearly as unlikely as some of the stories inside it. \nJohn Cariani developed the play at the Cape Cod Theatre Project in 2002. It received its world premiere at Portland Stage Company in Maine in 2004\, where it broke box-office records. \nBy then\, Cariani was already familiar to Broadway audiences as an actor. He earned a Tony Award nomination for playing Motel the tailor in the 2004 Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof and had appeared on television in Law & Order. \nAlmost\, Maine reached New York next\, opening Off-Broadway at the Daryl Roth Theatre in January 2006. \nThat production lasted only about a month. \nOrdinarily\, that might have been the end of the story. Instead\, after the play was published and became available to other theaters\, something unexpected happened. \nSmall professional theaters began producing it. Then community theaters picked it up. Colleges and high schools followed. \nAnd they kept doing it. \nFrom Short Off-Broadway Run to Thousands of Productions\nToday\, Almost\, Maine has become one of the most frequently produced contemporary American plays. \nThe play’s official site reports that more than 6\,000 theater companies in the United States have staged it\, along with more than 100 international companies. It has also repeatedly ranked among the most-produced plays in North American high schools. \nPart of the appeal is built into Cariani’s unusual structure. \nWith largely self-contained two-person scenes\, directors can distribute substantial material among an ensemble rather than building an entire production around one or two leading roles. Each vignette gives its actors a complete little story to develop. \nAudiences get something different from that structure\, too. One scene may land as broad comedy while the next turns unexpectedly bittersweet. Not every relationship works out\, and the title itself becomes something of a running idea. \nThings in Almost are frequently close. \nAlmost a town. Almost Canada. Almost together. Almost over someone. Almost happy. \nBut not quite. \nJohn Cariani Wrote About the Maine He Knew\nThe fictional setting wasn’t chosen at random. \nCariani grew up in Presque Isle in Aroostook County\, the enormous and sparsely populated region at the northern end of Maine. He has said those years shaped his affection for the landscape\, language and people that eventually found their way into Almost\, Maine. \nThe setting is intentionally remote. The cold matters. The darkness matters. So does the northern sky. \nAgainst that isolation\, the small interactions between people become bigger. A conversation on a bench\, an unexpected visitor at the door or an encounter between two neighbors can become the most important thing happening for miles. \nCariani eventually returned to the world he created in another form. In 2022\, he adapted Almost\, Maine into a novel\, expanding the interconnected stories and characters beyond what audiences see on stage. \nBut the theatrical version remains the work that made Almost into a place thousands of actors and audiences have visited. \nInside Westerly’s Historic Granite Theatre\nThe setting for this production has its own story. \nGranite Theatre occupies a restored Greek Revival building at 1 Granite Street in downtown Westerly. Long before actors performed there\, the building was a church. \nThe congregation that became the Broad Street Christian Church was organized in 1843\, and the building was completed in 1849. Its prominent classical façade and columns remain part of one of downtown Westerly’s distinctive historic structures. \nThe building eventually found a second life as a performance space\, reopening as the Granite Theatre in 2000. \nToday\, Renaissance City Theatre operates the Granite as a nonprofit theater\, presenting plays\, musicals\, family productions\, educational programs and special events throughout the year. \nIt’s also an intimate room. With roughly 140 seats\, the audience is close to the performers rather than watching from the distance of a large regional theater. That should suit a play built around small conversations and two-person encounters particularly well. \nOpening Night Begins a Seven-Performance Run\nAlmost\, Maine opens at 7:30 p.m. Friday\, September 11. \nA second evening performance follows Saturday\, September 12\, before the first Sunday matinee at 2 p.m. September 13. \nThe production returns the following Thursday and continues through Sunday\, September 20\, for seven performances in all: \n\nFriday\, September 11 at 7:30 p.m.\nSaturday\, September 12 at 7:30 p.m.\nSunday\, September 13 at 2 p.m.\nThursday\, September 17 at 7:30 p.m.\nFriday\, September 18 at 7:30 p.m.\nSaturday\, September 19 at 7:30 p.m.\nSunday\, September 20 at 2 p.m.\n\nTickets range from $30 to $35. \nAccessibility at the Granite\nBecause the Granite occupies a historic 19th-century building\, accessibility comes with some limitations. \nThe theater performance space itself is wheelchair accessible\, but the Granite notes that its lobby and restrooms are not fully accessible. \nA small number of accessible parking spaces are available behind the building and need to be reserved. The theater recommends that anyone who needs accessible parking or has mobility concerns call ahead rather than relying on availability when arriving for a performance. \nDetails\nEvent: Almost\, Maine\nPlaywright: John Cariani\nOpening Night: Friday\, September 11\, 2026 at 7:30 p.m.\nRun: September 11–20\, 2026\nEvening Performances: 7:30 p.m.\nSunday Matinees: 2 p.m.\nNumber of Performances: Seven\nGenre: Romantic comedy\nVenue: Granite Theatre\nAddress: 1 Granite Street\, Westerly\, RI 02891\nTickets: $30–$35\nBox Office: 401-596-2341\nAccessibility: Theater space is wheelchair accessible; lobby and restrooms are not fully accessible\nAccessible Parking: Limited spaces are available and should be reserved in advance \nMore information is available at the Event Website link below. \nTo purchase tickets\, click the Event Ticketing link below. \n  \nFeatured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people\, location\, or activities shown.
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/almost-maine-at-the-granite-theatre-2/
LOCATION:The Granite Theater\, 1 Granite Street\, Westerly\, RI\, 02891\, United States
CATEGORIES:The Granite Street Theater
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