New England Events – May 2011
It’s May and officially Spring in New England throughout the entire region! See landscapes of daffodils, azaleas, and rhododendrons. Join the annual Duckling parade in Boston, head to one of the best antiques fairs in the country in Massachusetts, or watch the birds arrive for the season on the coast of Maine.
For more New England events in May, check the individual state web sites at the bottom of the page.
Meriden Daffodil Festival
Through May 1, 2011
Mariden, Connecticut
Outdoor family festival with more than 600,000 daffodils on display (61 different varieties!) in the 1,800-acre historic Hubbard Park. Events include parade, juried crafts show, three stages of entertainment, fireworks, amusement area, and food tent.
Hancock Shaker Village Celebrates Spring with Baby Animals
Through May 8
Pittsfield, Massachusetts
Hancock Shaker Village kicks off its 2011 season with the ninth annual Baby Animals on the Shaker Farm. This spring celebration is one of the most exciting times of the year at the Village, when scores of baby lambs, piglets, calves, goats, ducklings, and chicks arrive at the historic Round Stone Barn. Visitors get to meet and greet the baby animals and participate in farm chores, such as helping to feed the animals and to save seeds. They may also participate in fun Shaker-themed craft activities, including basket weaving, making and decorating seed packets, and weaving on a small loom. The animals represent livestock once kept at the Village by the Shakers, beginning in the 1700s and continuing into the 1960s.
Kinney Azalea Garden
May 1-31, 2011
Kingston, Rhode Island
Wander through six acres featuring over 500 varieties of azaleas and rhododendrons. Flowering typically peaks mid-May through June. The gardens were created by Lorenzo Kinney, Jr. in his retirement; he also developed new varieties of azaleas that would thrive in southern New England. Mr. Kinney died in 1994 at the age of 100, but his daughter, Betty Kinney Faella, continues the family tradition of serving tea when the flowers are in full bloom. This year’s tea is scheduled for May 23. It is free and open to all.
Spring Farm Festival
May 1 & 2, 2011
Billings Farm & Museum – Woodstock, Vermont
Celebrate the start of Billings Farm’s 28th season with an entire weekend of traditional spring farm activities, including the annual shearing of the Southdown flock. Farmers from the region will match plowing skills in the fields with their teams of draft animals: oxen on Saturday; draft horses on Sunday. There will be visitor plowing with the Billings’ teams and the first-ever visitor-plowing competition. Also: horse-drawn wagon rides, programs, and activities. The Teago Volunteer Fire Department will provide lunch.
May 1, 2011
North Kingstown, Rhode Island
Gilbert Stuart was one of 18th century America’s master portrait artists, best known for his unfinished Athenaeum portrait of George Washington which is the image seen on the U.S. one dollar bill. Visit the authentically restored and furnished 1750 home of the Stuart family to learn more and celebrate Spring! This fair features corn grinding, authentic Jonnycakes, demonstrations and activities, and more. Fishing experts will be available with special demonstrations including underwater camera filming herring migration.
In Bloom: Mountain Laurel and the Lyme Art Colony
May 6 – June 26, 2011
Florence Griswold Museum – Old Lyme, Connecticut
Celebrate the motif of mountain laurel in Lyme Art Colony paintings. Artists flocked to Old Lyme each June to record the ephemeral pink and white blossoms, helping to make the subject a signature of the colony. The exhibition coincides with southern Connecticut’s laurel season and a garden festival highlighting the laurel plantings recently reintroduced onto the Museum’s grounds.
Tomaquag Museum Corn Planting Moon Celebration
May 7, 2011
Exeter, Rhode Island
The Tomaquag Museum is Rhode Island’s only museum entirely dedicated to telling the story of the state’s original inhabitants, and the only museum operated by Native people over the last 52 years. Come to the museum in early May to participate in a celebration of corn. Enjoy delicious corn-related foods, ceremonies, song and dance, storytelling and museum tours.
Family Guy’s Rhode Island Bus Tour!
May 7, 2011
Warwick, Rhode Island
This tour will explore the connections between the Fox TV animated series Family Guy and real-life Rhode Island. This tour highlights some of the sites in the Blackstone Valley and state of Rhode Island that may have inspired this Emmy nominated animated television series. Learn where Quahog, Rhode Island, is really located; visit the real-life Drunken Clam bar and Del’s Lemonade, and lose yourself respect at Wes’ Rib House!
New England Tough Mudder
May 7-8, 2011
Mount Snow Resort – West Dover, Vermont
This is the New England event for the worldwide Tough Mudder series. Tough Mudder events put participants through a 9-12 mile obstacle course designed by British Special Forces to test all-round toughness, strength, stamina, fitness, camaraderie and mental grit. At Mount Snow, this event features a 9-mile course that zig-zags up and down and side to side of the entire mountain face. All sponsorship revenues will go to the Wounded Warrior Project.
Lilac Sunday at the Arnold Arboretum
May 8, 2011
Arnold Arboretum – Boston, Massachusetts
The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University is the oldest public arboretum in North America and one of the world’s leading centers for the study of plants. Of the thousands of flowering plants in the Arboretum, only one — the lilac — is singled out each year for a daylong celebration. Come to Lilac Sunday for tours of the lilacs, dance performances, picnicking (allowed on this special day only), and family activities that make for a memorable day. Be a part of this beloved Boston tradition! Street parking along the Arboretum perimeter is limited and visitors are advised to take public transportation.
May 8th, 2011
Boston, Massachusetts
Based on the book Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey, children and their families will retrace the steps of Mr. and Mrs. Mallard and their family of eight ducklings in the heart of Boston. Led by the Harvard University Marching Band, children relive the adventures of Mr. and Mrs. Mallard dressed as one of their favorite characters from the book.
BRIMFIELD ANTIQUE AND FLEA MARKET SHOW
May 10-15, 2011
Brimfield, Massachusetts
The Brimfield Antiques Show is the largest outdoor antiques show in the country, with over 4,500 dealers and 130,000+ visitors during the course of the week. Often referred to as “The Show,” it is actually comprised of 23 fields, owned by “Promoters,” who lease spaces to dealers from all over the world. The Show takes place three times a year. Different fields open on different days, and run for different periods of time. The Show runs about a mile along Route 20, on both sides of the road, extending several hundred yards back from each side of the road. Most dealers opt to show their wares inside large and comfortable tents, and all fields are contiguously located next to each other, so seeing everything is an easy stroll.
Misquamicut Spring Festival at Misquamicut State Beach
May 13-15, 2011
Misquamicut, Rhode Island
This is a grand kick-off event to open the beach season. On Friday night, May 13th, Springfest will open with John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band at 7pm and a world-class fireworks display at 9:30 pm. The weekend entertainment features Music Headliners such as J Geils w/ Jeff Pitchell and Texas Flood, John Ford Coley, and Tommy Cash, games and carnival rides. Food and beverages will be offered at the Beer and Wine Garden and the International Outdoor Food Festival. A wonderful Classic Car Show will entertain young and old alike.
32nd Annual Barrel Tasting Hopkins Vineyard
May 14-15, 2011
Warren, Connecticut
Hopkins Vineyard, located in the scenic Litchfield Hills, has been making wine for 30 years and offers eleven different varieties. Come on May 14th or 15th to taste samples of wine, artisan cheese, paté and fresh fruit. There will be live music. Daily admission is $27 per person at the door, or purchase advance tickets online until May 11th for $22 per person. Children under 12 free, non-alcoholic drinks provided for those under 21.
Moose Mainea
May 14-June 12, 2011
Moosehead Lake, Maine
Each spring the Moosehead Lake Region hosts a month long celebration of the area’s favorite resident – THE MOOSE! The events take place during the time of the year when moose are most likely to be seen. This year’s events include the Moosterpiece Craft Fair, Moose Mainea Kid’s Fun Day, Famous Moose Tales, a Quest Fest, and the Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Moose Photo Contest. On May 28, come for the Moosterpiece Craft Fair and Kid’s Fun Day with plenty of events and kids games. Area crafters will have their annual craft fair in downtown Greenville with lots of moose memorabilia and collectables. The fair takes place in the Katahdin Steamboat parking area in downtown Greenville.
Shelburne Museum Lilac and Gardening Sunday
May 15, 2011
Shelburne, Vermont
Celebrate a new season at the Shelburne Museum. The grounds are in fragrant full bloom with over 400 lilacs in 90 varieties. Lilac tours, gardening tips, demonstrations and live music will be featured. Location: 6000 Shelburne Road. Time: noon – 5 p.m. Cost: adults, $20; youth ages 5 – 18, $10; under 5, free. Information: 802-985-3346 or visit www.shelburnemuseum.org.
Celebration of Peonies – Hildene: The Lincoln Family Home
Mid-to-late May through June 15, 2011
Hildene Estate – Manchester, Vermont
Hildene is a beautiful Georgian Revival mansion built by Robert Todd Lincoln, son of America’s 16th president, Abraham Lincoln. With its beautiful gardens, the hillside estate offers breathtaking views of southern Vermont. Weather depending, the last two weeks of May and the first two weeks of June signal the beginning of the season when the Formal Garden comes to life with thousands of peony blooms; many of them from the original 1907 plants.
Canterbury Shaker Village Opening Day
May 14, 2011
Canterbury, New Hampshire
Canterbury Shaker Village is a historic site and museum celebrating the Shakers, a religious group who came to America to worship freely. Canterbury Shaker Village is one of the most intact and authentic surviving Shaker community sites. Canterbury Shaker Village opens its 2011 season with “Hands to Work, Hearts to God, a Shaker Spirit Day.” Come celebrate spring and step back in time to revisit Shaker traditions of the season. Watch an authentic plow match and enjoy horse-drawn wagon rides by members of the Granite State Draft Horse and Pony Association. See demonstrations in textiles, broom making, oval box making, and letterpress printing.
May 15, 2011
Shelburne, Vermont
Celebrate a new season at the Shelburne Museum. The grounds are in fragrant full bloom with over 400 lilacs in 90 varieties. Lilac tours, gardening tips, demonstrations and live music will be featured. Cost: adults, $20; youth ages 5 – 18, $10; under 5, free.
Coggeshall Farm Museum 5th Annual Rhode Island Wool and Fiber Festival
May 21, 2011
Bristol, Rhode Island
Coggeshall Farm Museum is a living history farm set on 48 acres in Bristol, Rhode Island. The museum depicts Bristol’s agrarian life in the year 1799 through live interpretation, historic structures, and heirloom plants and animals At this festival see craftspeople demonstrate traditional and contemporary fiber arts; purchase your own textile supplies, equipment, and gifts to take home; watch the hand shearing of sheep, and help with eighteenth century textile and farm work.
Season Opening: Fort Adams State Park – Rhode Island
May 21, 2011
Newport, Rhode Island
Come to the seasonal opening of Fort Adams State Park, the largest coastal fortification in the United States. Guided tours depart from the gift shop, weather permitting, every hour on the hour. View the officers’ quarters, explore the underground listening tunnels, and climb the rampart walls for breathtaking views of Newport Harbor.
Cape Cod Rhododendron Festival
May 21-30, 2011
Sandwich, Massachusetts
Visit Heritage Museums & Gardens this May for a celebration of rhododendrons during prime bloom time. This ten-day festival will kick off on Saturday, May 21 with a cooking demonstration by Mary Ann Esposito, host of the PBS series Ciao Italia. Also featured throughout the festival are book signings by renowned chefs, horticultural walking tours, a plant sale, photography and plein air painting workshops, and horticulture lectures.
May 18-22, 2011
Nantucket Island, Massachusetts
Over the past 14 years the Nantucket Wine Festival has blossomed into one of the nation’s most celebrated wine and food events. With the help of Nantucket’s landmark hotel, The White Elephant, most of this year’s festival will be staged entirely in the heart of downtown Nantucket. Events include a harbor gala, wine and food seminars, numerous tastings, several lunch symposia, and a celebrity chef and winemaker auction dinner.
Wings, Waves and Woods Festival
May 20-22, 2011
Deer Isle/Stonington, Maine
This annual bird migration festival celebrates birding and art on Deer Isle. The Festival begins Friday evening with a gallery opening featuring work by over 50 island artists, artisans and sculptors, all inspired by the Island’s natural beauty. Saturday and Sunday are filled with guided birding walks and talks at several of the Island’s conservancies, pelagic boating trips to see nesting puffins, kayak trips, bird identification lectures, eagle spotting, sculpture and painting classes, a local foods supper and many other activities.
May 20-22, 2011
Bar Harbor, Maine
A Taste of Bar Harbor is a food festival featuring local restaurants, cafés, and others who offer the epicurean delights visitors enjoy in Bar Harbor. Begin your experience Friday evening at House Wine with a wine tasting accompanied by Fiore’s olive oil tasting. Saturday morning begins with the hilarious waiter and waitress races in downtown Bar Harbor followed by the “Taste” of Bar Harbor in the Newport Drive parking area above Agamont Park from 11a.m. to 4p.m. One can enjoy a sampling of many tastes and flavors. Catch various demonstrations including ice carving, cooking, napkin folding, flower arranging and more.
35th Annual Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series
May 27-30, 2011
Lime Rock Park – Lakeville, Connecticut
For the second year in a row, Grand-Am’s Daytona Prototypes and GTs, the same cars that race at the famous 24 Hours of Daytona, open the racing season at Lime Rock. The big race is on Monday, Memorial Day, while the Grand Sports and Street Tuner races are Saturday.
Seventh Annual Down East Spring Birding Festival
May 27-30, 2011
Cobscook Bay Area, Maine
The Annual Down East Spring Birding Festival provides a unique experience in “the real Maine” where birders can get out on their own and observe a great variety of birds in diverse natural environments. The festival offers birders various self-guided explorations as well as guided hikes, boat tours, and presentations led by area experts. Over 400 bird species have been sighted in Maine, and almost three-quarters of them have been seen in the Cobscook Bay area. Come and see why the northeast coast of Maine and the waters around Machias Seal Island have been identified as “One of the Important Bird Areas in the US” by the American Bird Conservancy.
Wentworth-Coolidge Lilac Festival
May 28, 2011
Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Join the celebration of the oldest lilacs in the country. This seacoast event features lilac lectures and sales, historic house tours, and an art show and plein air event. Children’s activities include art projects conducted throughout the day, treasure and scavenger hunts, fairy houses, alpacas, and more.
Lakes Region Memorial Day Weekend Craft Festival
May 28, 2011 to May 30, 2011
Meredith, New Hampshire
In the scenic Lakes Region of New Hampshire, the Mill Falls Marketplace in Meredith will once again come alive with color, flavor, and music for the 20th annual Memorial Weekend Craft Festival, featuring over 100 juried craftsmen and women from all over New England with their works. Enjoy craft demonstrations, specialty food sampling, and live music daily.
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Providence, Rhode Island
WaterFire is a highly unique public art experience that has attracted tens of thousands of visitors to Rhode Island’s creative capital city of Providence. The event is based on an original artistic installation of bonfires lit on the three waterways passing through downtown Providence. On select evenings throughout the year, WaterFire creates a magical artistic event celebrating earth, air, fire and water. Amidst the flicking firelight of 100 bonfires, stroll through Waterplace Park and enjoy music and entertainment from around the world.
14th Annual Virtu Art Festival
May 28-29, 2011
Wilcox Park – Westerly, Rhode Island
More than 185 selected artists from New England and beyond participate in this two-day exhibit and sale of artwork and fine crafts. Showcases both visual and performing arts. Food, live entertainment and free children’s activities. Free. Rain or shine.
Paradise City Arts festival
May 28 – 30, 2011
Northampton, Massachusetts
The Paradise City Arts Festival is one of New England’s most exciting shows of fine and functional art. Located on Interstate-91 just 15 minutes north of the Massachusetts Turnpike, Northampton is under an hour from Hartford, the Berkshires and southern Vermont; under two hours from Boston, Albany and southern Connecticut; less than three hours from New York City. Designated ‘The Best Small Art Town in America’ and one of AmericanStyle magazine’s top ‘Art Destinations’, Northampton is a cultural, dining and shopping destination for visitors from all over the Northeast.
26th Annual Lobster Days
May 28-30, 2011
Mystic Seaport, Connecticut
Crack your first lobster claw of the season at the Seaport’s quintessental New England Lobster Days. Lobsters are served in the rough; proceeds are distributed to local charities. Visitors can purchase a combination ticket for food and a museum visit, or purchase food and separate museum ticket (museum hours 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.)
Wildquack Duck River Festival
May 29, 2011
Jackson Village Park – Jackson, New Hampshire
This outdoor action packed day in the White Mountains of New Hampshire brings singles, families, strangers, businesses and guests all together to forget about lifes trials and tribulations if only for a few short hours. Laugh out loud as 3,500 yellow rubber ducks make their way downstream to the finish line.
Cows & Camembert Weekend
May 29 & 30
Billings Farm & Museum – Woodstock, Vermont
Billings Farm & Museum is kicking off National Dairy Month with a celebration of Vermont’s dairy heritage, featuring ice cream and butter making, judging Jerseys with the farm manager, and dairy education programs. Sample cheese varieties provided by a number of Vermont cheese makers, from small artisans to larger producers. There will be cow trivia and making cow pizzas for the children. Admission includes a 25th annual spring commemorative button and children’s art show.
Kennebunkport Festival
May 31, 2011 – June 4, 2011
Kennebunkport, Maine
The Kennebunkport Festival is a multi-day event that kicks-off with intimate, private dinners in area residences. Gracious hosts from Kennebunk and Kennebunkport open their homes to a Chef, Sommelier, and Artist for a special evening of conversation and camaraderie. The Festival has its formal start on Thursday evening with a party for 250 guests to launch the week’s festivities. A juried Art Show of both contemporary Maine and visiting artists opens on Friday and continues through Saturday. On Friday night, the Festival hosts 300 guests at a gala dance party. Saturday is packed with activities. The most prominent: a Brews & Tunes event; a Grand Tasting at the Colony Hotel; and The Chef’s Finale, an evening dinner and dance event. Come for all five days, plan a long weekend escape, or pick and choose the events that intrigue you to create your own Festival experience.
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