SO MUCH GOOD STUFF, UPPER VALLEY!
Tuesday, July 28
Carlos Ocasio and Frydaddy on the Fairlee Common. Fairlee Community Arts’ summer series continues with the longtime VT-based Puerto Rican rocker and Latin artist. 6:30 pm, in town hall if it rains.
Wednesday, July 29
Jason Roberts reads at Dartmouth. The nonfiction and fiction writer won a Pulitzer in 2025 for Every Living Thing, his double biography of 18th century scientists Carl Linnaeus and Georges-Louis de Buffon; his biography of an 18th/19th century blind world traveler was a finalist for a National Book Critics Circle Award. 4:30 pm in Haldeman 041.
At the Howe Library, “Excavations and Exhibitions: Digging into Archeology and the Art Museum.” The Hood Museum’s curator of collections, Ashley Offill, “will explore the instrumental role of archeology in forming many early museum collections, and the legacies and lessons of archaeological objects in the modern museum.” 6:30 pm in the Mayer Room and online.
Never Too Late at the Enfield Shaker Museum. Singer-songwriter Hilde Ojibway, vocalist Bethany Nafziger, bassist Eric Bronstein, and multi-instrumentalist Adam Sorscher in a free concert outside the Stone Machine Shop at 7 pm (food at 6); inside if it rains.
Max McNown at the Lake Morey Resort. A departure from the usual Thursdays (though there’s one of those, too). The Oregon-based guitarist and singer-songwriter splits the stage with opener and indie folk artist Sam Burchfield. Gates and food at 6, Burchfield at 7, McNown at 8.
Chris Brubeck’s Triple Play in New London. Summer Music Associates brings in three musical veterans for jazz, folk, blues, and classical music: harmonica virtuoso Peter “Madcat” Ruth, folk and classical guitarist Joel Brown, and bassist/trombonist/pianist Chris Brubeck, who cut his teeth with his father Dave and brothers in the New Brubeck Quartet in the ‘70s. 7 pm in the Sawyer Theater at Colby-Sawyer.
At the Hop, Turner & Constable. An “Exhibition on Screen” documentary about Tate Britain’s exhibition of the landscapes of J.M.W. Turner and John Constable. “Turner's blazing sunsets and sublime scenes from his travels and Constable's idealised depictions of beloved places from home whipped the public of the time into a frenzy of enthusiasm,” the Hop writes. 7 pm in Spaulding.
Oklahoma! opens at Northern Stage. The Summer Musical Theater Intensive production of the classic Rodgers and Hammerstein musical takes the stage after five weeks of rehearsal by SMTI’s 12-18-year-old students. “Set in the Oklahoma Territory in 1906, Oklahoma! explores the conflict and opportunity that arose as the country expanded west.” Previews Wednesday at 7:30, runs through Aug. 9.
Thursday, July 30
Shady Rill at Feast and Field in Barnard. Vermonters Patti Casey and Tom MacKenzie join forces for everything from French Canadian dance tunes to Tin Pan Alley, old time country, and originals. Gates and food at 5:30 pm, music at 6.
Fledge Party at VINS. They’re celebrating their nesting eagles Windsor and Dewey and the pair’s fledgling, V-2 with a picnic (or food from Green House Pizza Truck), bluegrass from Well Kept Men, a panel of experts talking about the return of bald eagles to northern New England, and more. 5:30-7:30 pm.
Hop Film brings in the Sundance Shorts Tour. A mix of fiction, documentary, and animated shorts from the 2026 Sundance Festival, from beekeepers in Georgia to the slums of Bangalore. 7 pm in Spaulding.
Something Rotten: Teen Edition at Lebanon Opera House. BroadwayVentures’ production takes us back to the 1590s, and brothers Nick and Nigel Bottom trying to write the world’s very first musical. Thursday and Friday at 7 pm, Saturday at 2 pm.
Kaleo at the Lake Morey Resort. The blues-heavy Icelandic alt-rock band is a growing worldwide phenom: they open regularly for the Rolling Stones; Larkin Poe and Marcus King open for them. They’ll take the Lake Morey stage at 8 pm; gates and food at 6.
Friday, July 31
The Vermont Film Festival gets going in earnest at Billings Farm. Two days of Vermont-focused and made-in-Vermont films starting at noon on Friday, with “CineMixer” events in downtown Woodstock afterward both Friday and Saturday and a comedy show and after-party on Sunday evening.
The Colburn Park Trad Music Festival kicks off in Lebanon. Upper Valley Music Center’s second festival of traditional music begins with a potluck dinner and jam session at 5 pm, then a contra dance with Nils Fredland calling at 7:30. Workshops both Saturday and Sunday, along with performances and a faculty concert Saturday and a family dance Sunday. Here’s UVMC on what you can expect.
AVA Gallery hosts an opening reception for new exhibitions. From the group show Converse with the Crossroads of the Wind to a duo show and a single collection: descriptions at the link. Reception 5-7 pm.
At the Hop, New York Theatre Workshop artist-in-residence salon. The creators of three new works-in-progress talk about what they’re up to, starting at 5 pm. Free, but ticket required.
Zach Nugent’s Dead Set play Pentangle’s Music by the River in Woodstock. Guitarist Nugent and his bandmates bring classic Dead tunes to East End Park, starting at 6 pm.
Contra dance and social in Weathersfield Center. With David Millstone calling and teaching, and an open band led by Naomi Morse, Amy Englesberg, and Emmet McGowan. All dances taught. 6-10 pm, 2579 Weathersfield Center Rd., Perkinsville, VT.
Hop Film screens The Matrix. “In retrospect,” they write, “this 1999 action thriller seems terrifyingly prescient, with its vision of a future where humankind is enslaved by an elaborate digital façade, while a malevolent cyber-intelligence dominates the ‘real’ world.” Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, and Carrie Anne Moss fight back. 7 pm in Spaulding.
Jack and the Giant at the Claremont Opera House. It’s a COH community theater musical, with Jack, his mom, his cow, his chickens, his beans, and, of course, the giant Gogmagog. Friday and Saturday at 7 pm.
Saturday, August 1
The League of NH Craftsmen’s annual fair opens at the Mt. Sunapee Resort in Newbury, NH. It’s the fair’s 93rd annual outing, with nearly 300 master craftsmen and guest artists from across the region displaying their work, interactive demonstrations, music, food, all-around creative bustle, and more. Runs through Aug. 9, 10 am to 5 pm every day.
Repair Fair in Brookfield, VT. A range of local organizations—including Brookfield Community Partnership, the Kimball Public Library in Randolph, Sharon Energy Committee, BALE in S. Royalton—are mustering a group of volunteers to help people fix repairable objects, rather than buying new. 10 am to 2 pm at Brookfield Old Town Hall.
VINS Survivor. “Stranded in the woods of the Nature Center with little more than the clothes on your back,” they write. “You and your tribe of castaways must learn to provide food, fire, shelter and water for yourselves. Learn basic wilderness survival skills such as compass navigation, fire building, shelter building, creating a water filter, and foraging for wild edibles…” For kids 6-13, 11 am to 2:30 pm.
Bruce Sklar and the Sklarkestra at the Ascutney Summer Music Series. The jazz pianist, composer, educator, and W. Windsor resident plays the monthly event hosted by Brownsville Butcher & Pantry. With wood-fired pizza and other mains on offer, Frisky Cow Gelato. 4-8 pm at Ascutney Outdoors in Brownsville, no admission charge.
Public Figure at the Hop. Part of New York Theatre Workshop week: “Public Figure is an immersive solo show about fame, the attention economy and babyccinos—a drink you probably didn't know existed but will soon never be able to forget. Written by Dylan Marron. Performed by Dylan Marron and, potentially, you.” 4 pm in the Bentley Theater.
Jeff Corle plays The Robie Farm in Piermont. Corle first hit national attention when he wrote a song about closing his fourth-generation dairy farm and selling his Guernsey herd. Now the singer-songwriter is on a Barnstorming Tour of America for farmer mental health, hitting states around the Northeast and, next week, the Midwest. There’ll be burgers for sale, games, and Corle. Things start up at 5 pm on the farm at 25 Route 10 in Piermont, with Corle at 6.
Los Feliz at the Hop. Also a New York Theatre Workshop event: “Irene and Emilia quickly connect over common ground: they're both Latina, working mothers, against giving soda to toddlers, and could use a helping hand. When Irene hires Emilia as a live-in nanny, Emilia gains Irene as an ally in her immigration process. Housed under one roof, they become company to each other's needs, wants and dreams.” 7:30 pm in the Daryl Roth Studio Theater.
Sunday, August 2
Antique Tractor Day at Billings Farm. Just what it sounds like—except with tractor parades, a “slow race” in which drivers shift into their lowest gear and put their skills to the test, an obstacle course for pedal tractors, and lots more. 10 am to 5 pm.
At the Hopkins Center, a “live theater capture” of Hadestown. As they write, “Hop Audiences got an early look at [Anaïs Mitchell’s] Hadestown during the New York Theatre Workshop summer residency in 2016, before it went on to win eight Tony Awards.” Now it’s back, on the screen, with original cast members Reeve Carney as Orpheus, André De Shields as Hermes, Amber Gray as Persephone, Eva Noblezada as Eurydice, and Patrick Page as Hades. 4 pm in Spaulding.
Court Street Arts hosts the North Country Chamber Players and Sara Heaton. The soprano joins the Chamber Players for music by legendary composers of film and theater scores, including Ennio Morricone’s theme from ‘Cinema Paradiso’, Bernard Hermann’s frightening shower scene from Hitchcock’s ‘Psycho’, Leonard Bernstein, Wolfgang Korngold, and others. 4 pm in Alumni Hall in Haverhill.
Loch Lyme Lodge’s Summer Sunday Soirée with The Well Kept Men. The Lyme-based band brings straight-up bluegrass to the Upper Valley. 5:30 to 7 pm, reservations required.
Enjoy the week!
Daybreak doesn't get to exist without your support. Help it stick around by hitting the maroon button:
And always, if you’re not a subscriber yet:
Written and published by Rob Gurwitt
And if you think one or more of your friends would like Daybreak, too, please forward this newsletter and tell them to visit daybreak.news to sign up.
Thank you!
