SO MUCH GOOD STUFF, UPPER VALLEY!
Friday
UV Welcome Wagon one-year-anniversary celebration at the Main Street Museum in WRJ. The throwback effort to connect newcomers and longtime locals has gotten a new lease on life thanks to the Green Mountain Economic Development Corporation, and it’ll be marking the milestone with food, a fire pit, piano music by David Fairbanks Ford, and a listening session for flamenco guitarist Tony Strat-Cortez’s new album—plus a raffle to benefit SHARe of VT/NH. 5-8 pm. This was rescheduled from Feb. due to snow.
It’s First Friday in WRJ. And with the White River Indie Festival still in full swing, downtown will no doubt be hopping. Valley Improv will be at the Briggs at 6 pm, followed by a double feature at 7:30 (If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, featuring Rose Byrne, Conan O'Brien, Danielle Macdonald, Christian Slater, and A$AP Rocky) and 9:45 (Our Hero, Balthazar). Plus, of course, plenty going on at restaurants, shops, and galleries.
Ford Sayre masters club final race and “Cabin Fever Reliever” dance party at Oak Hill. It’s the last race/ski of the club’s season, starting at 6 pm and followed by live music by Tom Masterson and the Nordic Norms at 6:30 PM in the new Oak Hill lodge. Open to the public. No link.
Hop Film screens Oscar Shorts: Live Action. Five short fiction films (we’re talking 13-36 minutes): an Arab Israeli working in a supermarket in Tel Aviv is accused of tearing down hostage posters in the break room; a widow's quiet life gets upended after a teenage boy kicks his soccer ball into her garden; Jane Austen's Period Drama plays on the double meaning of the third word; an impromptu barroom sing-off; and intrigue in a department store in a society where kissing is punishable by death. 7 pm.
Woodstock Union HS’s Yoh Theatre Players open Treasure Island. Adapted from the Robert Louis Stevenson classic, Mary Zimmerman’s version follows young Jim Hawkins, Long John Silver, and a roistering cast of pirates on a series of adventures, sword fights, sea shanties, and more. At Woodstock Union High School Friday and Saturday at 7 pm, Sunday at 2 pm.
Newsies opens at Lebanon Opera House. The North Country Community Theater Teens production of the Alan Menken/Jack Feldman/Harvey Fierstein musical, based loosely on the 1899 NYC newsboys’ strikes, tells the story of a charismatic newsboy who rallies a band of “newsies” to fight for fair practices from the titans of newspaper publishing. Friday at 7:30 pm, Saturday at 2 and 7:30 pm, Sunday at 3 pm.
Kalos at Next Stage Arts in Putney, along with If You Must Know. Some of the Upper Valley’s best traditional musicians head down the highway: Accordionist Jeremiah McLane and his compatriots in Kalos, Eric McDonald and Ryan McKasson, with their focus on Celtic, Breton, and other traditions; and harpist Rachel Clemente and piper, flautist, and guitarist Dan Houghton. 7:30 pm.
The Krishna Guthrie Band at Sawtooth Kitchen in Hanover. The musical scion’s VT-based “hard-rockin', folkin' blues band” takes the stage at 9 pm.
Saturday
Norwich Farmers Market. The indoor season doesn’t have much longer to run, but there’s plenty of great food and crafts still on hand. Saturday morning from 10 am to 1 pm in Tracy Hall in Norwich, you’ll find Barry Snyder with Salubre’s baked treats, fresh bread from Straw Brook Bakery, fresh organic veggies and eggs from Luna Bleu Farm, tulip bouquets, organic beef from Flying Dog Farm, raw milk from Kiss the Cow Creamery, plus lots of other local meat, vegetable and dairy options, and a welter of local artists.
HopStop Family Celebration of Holi. The Hindu festival celebrates rebirth and the advent of spring. As part of the festivities, participants will learn and observe the basics of Indian classical dance, with dancer Nithya Ramesh and her students performing and teaching examples of the Bharatanatyam dance form. 11 am, Morris Recital Hal in the Hopkins Center.
The Vermont Symphony Orchestra’s Skylark quartet performs a free community concert at Windsor’s Old South Church. Featuring VSO musicians Jane Kittredge (violin), John Dunlop (cello), Ana Ruesink (viola), and Ben Lively (violin/guitar), they’ll blend classical with contemporary folk influences inspired by Nordic, Celtic, and American traditions in a program that includes works by Bach, Väsen, Fretless, Evan Premo, and original arrangements by Ben Lively and the Danish String Quartet. 2 pm.
Dartmouth’s Rockefeller Center hosts Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear. The southern Democrat and popular governor in a deep red state will most likely be running for president in 2028 (he’s got a book coming out in the fall and he’s traveling around NH this weekend). He’ll sit down to talk with government prof Russ Muirhead and Dartmouth ‘27 Bea Reichman as part of Rocky’s “Law and Democracy” series. 3 pm in Filene Auditorium.
The 4th Annual Quechee Uphill Challenge. Walk, skin, or snowshoe uphill, earn raffle tickets, and stick around for pizza, drinks, music and fireside afterward. Every lap — and every optional donation — supports adaptive ski programs serving athletes across the Upper Valley from Zack’s Place, Upper Valley Hawks Special Olympics and Fall Mountain Special Olympics. No pets, $5 donation, 3-6:30 pm at Quechee Ski Hill. Register at the link.
In Tunbridge, the monthly Shindig! brings in the Adam McMahon Trio. Each November-April since 2007, the Shindigs! have been bringing locals together to visit, dance, and celebrate live music in Tunbridge Town Hall—or as they put it, “the simple joy of a great band filling the old Town Hall with music.” Saturday’s NH-based trio blends classic rock, blues, country, and pop favorites. 7-10 pm, bring your own food/drink and leave no trace.
Upper Valley Music Center faculty showcase. The annual concert supports UVMC’s Tuition Assistance Program, and will feature music by Rachmaninoff, Coleridge-Taylor, and Gilbert & Sullivan as well as traditional Celtic and Appalachian fiddle tunes, musical theater, and folk songs. 7 pm in the First Congregational Church of Lebanon.
Jerron Paxton and Dennis Lichtman at the Chandler. The multi-instrumentalists and singers lead audiences on a romp through acoustic blues, ragtime, Tin Pan Alley pop songs, 1920s jazz, twin fiddle hoe-downs, and original songs and compositions. 7 pm.
Vicki Ferentinos with "Tie My Own Shoes" at Artistree. The Upper Valley comedian, chef, writer, and storyteller dives into “the joys (and indignities) of aging, not always gracefully; her journey as a professional chef; and life with her highly organized, slightly compulsive, and deeply lovable wife.” 7 pm in the Grange Theater. Not many seats left.
The Dartmouth Symphony Orchestra winter concert. With Filippo Ciabatti conducting and Daniel Liu ‘26 on piano, they’ll perform Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3 (with Liu) and Brahms' Symphony No. 2. 7:30 pm in Spaulding Auditorium.
Sunday
Book donations open for the Five Colleges Book Sale. The sale is back this year after some time away, and starting Sunday at noon (and running through April 5) you can drop books off at the former Rite Aid in the Shaw’s Plaza (10 Benning St.) off 12A in West Leb. The sale itself runs April 24-26.
Hop Film screens Oscar Shorts: Animation. Animated films from France, the US, Ireland, and Israel: As the Hop writes, “Traditionally among the year's most creative and surprising work, these gems are also the most difficult to find.” 2 pm in Spaulding.
The Howe Library’s monthly winter film series screens The Right to Read. The documentary focused on childhood literacy follows the NAACP’s Kareem Weaver on a mission to raise low reading scores in his hometown of Oakland, CA. 2:30 pm in the Mayer Room.
Hop Film presents a free advance screening of Project Hail Mary. The new film by Phil Lord and Chris Miller, both Dartmouth grads, is based on Andy Weir’s bestseller, and features Ryan Gosling as a middle school bio teacher who, one day, wakes up on a spaceship far from home with no memory of how he got there—though he slowly pieces it together—and the challenge of figuring out how to keep the sun from dying. Spoiler alert: He gets some unexpected help. 4:30 pm in Spaulding.
Choral Lenten Evensong at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Hanover. This special service features the U.S. premiere of the serene St. Martin’s Service by English composer Lucy Walker, “one of the UK's most exciting emerging voices in choral composition,” with the St. Thomas Choir. 5 pm.
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