Daybreak's Weekend Heads Up 10/29/26

Spooky Sing-Along at the Kilton Library in West Leb. Upper Valley Music Center Children’s Chorus Director Allison Pollard leads a celebration of fun and spooky songs about ghosts, goblins, witches, and haunted houses. 4 pm.

Dead Men Strumming at River Roost Brewery in WRJ. It’s the regular Friday night duo of Dan Weintraub and Corey Unger and their vast storehouse of Dead songs. 5:30-7:30 pm.

“Dvořák, AI & Musical Discovery” at the Hop. As part of the big AI conference, conductor Filippo Ciabatti and computer science prof Nikhil Singh start with Dvořák's New World Symphony, which “emerged from a process of discovery through listening, of encountering unfamiliar musical traditions and hearing possibilities others had overlooked” and move on to how that story “connects to a longer history of technologies that have changed how composers listen, and whether AI, thoughtfully designed, might play a role in that history.” 6:30 pm at the Top of the Hop.

Hop Film screens Time Warp. In Allison Berg’s 2026 documentary, it’s “lights up on Rock Springs, Wyoming—a dusty boomtown in one of the country's most conservative states—where 25-year-old Kenny Starling has done something audacious: opened the first drag and queer theater company in town. Their debut show? A shadow cast of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.” 7 pm in the Loew Auditorium.

Pentangle Arts kicks off its weekend-long Horror Film Festival with Little Shop of Horrors. A flower-shop worker named Seymour, an ever-hungrier flesh-eating plant named Audrey II… what could go wrong? It’s the film’s 40th anniversary, and Pentangle is celebrating anniversaries this weekend: Little Shop at 7 pm, Carrie (50th anniversary) at 10 pm, then four more films Saturday and Sunday. “Costumes are welcome,” they write. “Seasonal concessions will be waiting. Pick your movies, bring somebody brave, and we’ll see you in the dark.” In the Woodstock Town Hall Theatre.

La Dernière Feuille: An Evening of French Melody. It’s an Upper Valley Music Center recital featuring mezzo-soprano Alicia Hodges and soprano Sydney Johnstone, joined by Alex Stewart on piano, with French art songs including music by Fauré, Debussy, Hahn, Chausson, and Duparc. 7 pm at the First Congregational Church of Lebanon.

Lakou Mizik Haitian Halloween Dance Party at the Chandler in Randolph. The Haitian music collective makes a raucous party happen! 7 pm.

MINC at Artistree in S. Pomfret. The eight-piece band of high school musicians is led by Woodstock Union senior Satori Rossi and it includes plenty of All-State players—they’ll be leading a family Halloween celebration with lots of “high-energy live music, festive fun, candy, and maybe even a costume contest.” 7 pm.

Dartmouth Symphony Orchestra fall concert. It’s no coincidence that earlier in the evening Filippo Ciabatti will be talking about Dvořák's New World Symphony: It’s on the concert program. The evening begins with Gershwin's Cuban Overture, “an American composer's response to Cuban rhythms,” followed by Samuel Barber’s quintessentially American Cello Concerto, and finally, by the Dvořák symphony, which he composed as a visitor to the US. 7:30 pm in Spaulding.

JAM’s Halloween-o-thon. It’s a big night in WRJ, starting with JAM’s screenings and awards ceremony for short horror and thriller films on the theme of “Leaf Creepers,” made by teams that managed to sign up before the entry list filled up.

Then it’s on to the whole Gory Daze Parade hoohah. Well, actually, there’s a pre-parade party at the Main Street Museum with Nick Charyk’s Barnyard Band. The big parade itself steps off at 8 pm from the MSM and winds its way through downtown. And then at 9 pm, the after-parade Gutterball kicks off at the Briggs Opera House.

And just a reminder that if for some bizarre reason you haven’t been wearing blaze orange out in the woods yet, this would be a good time to start. And definitely in NH, where muzzleloader season for deer starts up on Saturday.

Sunday
Don’t forget to set your clocks back!

The Dartmouth Glee Club fall concert. A concert “spanning centuries, languages, cultures and spiritual traditions, from early Christian texts and American folk songs to traditional Irish melodies, Indian raga, African American spirituals and more.” Program here. 2 pm in Rollins Chapel.

Hop Film screens My Neighbor Totoro. Hayao Miyazaki’s 1988 animated film about two girls who move into a house to be close to their ailing mother, and who “soon find that the house is inhabited by magical spirits, as is the hollow of a large camphor tree behind their house. As they grow and cope with the absence of their mother, the tree's guardian spirit, gentle and furry Totoro, watches over them and guides them through the challenges of youth.” 4 pm in the Loew.

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Written and published by Rob Gurwitt 

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