Upper Valley Connections

Tonight

The Lebanon Farmers Market is out on Colburn Park from 4-7pm, VINS celebrates the fledging of eagle chick V-2 with a picnic and bluegrass from 5:30, the Nighthawks play a free home game at 6, and Lake Morey's summer concert series brings the blues-heavy Icelandic alt-rock band KALEO to the lakeside stage in Fairlee -- gates and food at 6, music at 8, free.

This weekend, the Colburn Park Trad Music Festival takes over Lebanon with a potluck, contra dance, workshops, and a faculty concert, Northern Stage's summer intensive stages Oklahoma! through Aug 9, Something Rotten: Teen Edition runs at the Lebanon Opera House, and the Latin Dance Party lights up Sawtooth Kitchen Friday night. Later in the week, Lake Morey brings Natasha Bedingfield to the same free stage that hosted KALEO tonight.

Farmers' Markets

All eight markets are running this week -- Lebanon, Hartland, Norwich, Mt Tom, Canaan, the Monday Mini Market at Honey Field Farm, West Hartford Library, and Market on the Green in Woodstock.

This Week in the Upper Valley

Summer Bucket List

August starts next week. Here's what still deserves a spot on the calendar before summer's over.

A swim at your favorite swimming hole -- whichever one you swear by. Go with a friend, bring a picnic. A paddle on the Connecticut River, even a short one -- put in anywhere along Route 5 and drift for an hour.

A maple creemee from whichever stand you've decided is the correct one -- everyone in the Valley has an opinion and none of them are wrong. Fireflies at dusk. Blueberries picked yourself instead of bought -- blueberry picking is still going strong. An afternoon in a hammock with a book and nothing else on the agenda, which is harder to actually schedule than it sounds.

Gile Mountain in Norwich is a short climb with a fire tower and one of the better views around for the effort. Bradford Fair opens Friday, August 7, for three days of rides, animals, and fried everything -- North Haverhill Fair already came and went.

If you only have room for one event this weekend, make it the Colburn Park Trad Music Festival in Lebanon. Upper Valley Music Center's second annual traditional music festival starts Friday with a potluck dinner and jam session at 5pm, then a contra dance with Nils Fredland calling at 7:30. Workshops run Saturday and Sunday, with a faculty concert Saturday and a family dance Sunday.

Mark the calendar for the following weekend too: the Nexus Music and Arts Festival returns to downtown Lebanon August 7-9 for its sixth year -- three days, three stages, free, courtesy of the Lebanon Opera House. Full lineup next Thursday. The Perseids also tend to peak around the same week, so if the sky's clear, it's worth staying up a little later than usual.

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Upper Valley Connections · Serving NH & VT · uppervalleyconnections.com

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