SO MUCH GOOD STUFF, UPPER VALLEY!
Friday
Well, yep, it’s Halloween. There are various town-sponsored trick/trunk-or-treat events, which you’ll find town-by-town in the VN’s roundup at the link. In addition:
There’s “Spooky Karaoke” for kids and families at the Wilder Club & Library led by Jakob Breitbach and his Live Band Karaoke mates starting at 5 pm, with Baja-style Mexican food from The Box Food Truck for sale.
The band moves on to The Filling Station (70 Gates Street in WRJ) at 9 pm for a costume party and karaoke night. No cover, but 21+.
The Conniption Fits will be playing Salt Hill in Lebanon for the 23rd Annual Halloween Party from Hell, costumes mandatory and, you guessed it, 21+. Starts up at 9 pm.
Sawtooth Kitchen in Hanover’s got a Halloween Hits dance party with DJ Benny Shreds, free entry with costume, from 9:30 pm to 1 am. 21+
Meanwhile… Hop Film screens Sinners. Director Ryan Coogler and actor Michael B. Jordan team up again in a supernatural suspense movie set in Clarksdale, MS in the 1930s, with twin brothers (both of them played by Jordan) returning to their hometown, wholly unprepared for the vampire story that awaits. 7 pm, Spaulding Auditorium.
Great Expectations at Mascoma Valley Regional High School. The MVRHS Drama Club presents this faithful (if somewhat abridged) adaptation by playwright and screenwriter (Boardwalk Empire) Bathsheba Doran. Friday and Saturday at 7 pm, Sunday at 2 pm.
Gordon Clapp as Robert Frost in This Verse Business at Northern Stage. The celebrated stage and screen actor reprises his role as the famed poet “barding” around to give talks and reciting poetry—and then, at home, letting it all out. Tonight’s opener is sold out, but there are still some tix for Friday at 7:30 pm and Saturday at 2 pm.
Saturday
“Mirage of the Ocean” photography exhibit opening at the Howe Library. Josh Trudell’s photos feature the South Island of New Zealand, “capturing the region’s distinctive landscapes and the ever-changing conditions that define them. With jagged mountains, open plains, and plunging waterfalls, the images offer an invitation to experience the South Island’s beauty and atmosphere.” 1-4 pm.
Hop Film screens The Wizard of Oz. You don’t need any intro, but you don’t often get to see it on a really big screen. 2 pm in Spaulding Auditorium.
Excerpts from Norman and Beatrice in Hanover. Jean Brown and Bill Hammond will read from Barbara Hammond’s play, inspired by her parents’ experience, about a long marriage and caring for a spouse with dementia. The reading will focus on the latter years. Despite what the flyer at the link says, it’s at 3 pm at the Church of Christ at Dartmouth College. Contributions to the Hanover chapter of the international women’s philanthropy, PEO.
At the Tunbridge General Store gallery, an opening for an exhibition of work by Peggy Watson. Watson “captures the world around her into stunning three-dimensional paintings. Her technique is so original that it seems to lift nature and people right off the canvas to the waiting viewer’s eyes and heart,” the store writes. 3-5 pm.
Three Sisters Festival at Dartmouth. The college’s Native American Program is throwing the festival with “culturally significant crafts, games, and food” to celebrate Native American Heritage Month, public welcome. Collis Common Ground, 4-8 pm.
Livestream with mystery writer Louise Penny. The famed creator of Chief Inspector Gamache will be giving a reading at the Opera House portion of the Haskell Free Library and Opera House in Derby Line/Stanstead to mark the publication of The Black Wolf, her 20th in the series. It’s a ticketed virtual event (the in-person version is sold out), with some of the proceeds going to the Haskell. 4 pm. Penny’s not doing her usual US tour for this one: Kevin O’Connor has the backstory in VTDigger.
Dia de los Muertos-themed taco night at Flying Dog Farm in Tunbridge. Meat and vegetarian tacos, beer from Brocklebank, music to dance to, costumes encouraged. 5-9 pm.
JAM’s Halloween-o-thon: Till Death Do Us Part. It’s the screening and awards of JAM’s 2025 Halloween-o-thon short film contest before the Gory Daze parade. Costumes strongly encouraged. 6 pm.
In WRJ, the Gory Daze Parade and more. The Main Street Museum’s annual costume extravaganza starts up at 6:30 pm with a pre-parade concert by Western Terrestrials, then moves on to the parade itself, which sets out from the MSM at 8 pm led by Brass Balagan, and winds up at the Briggs Opera House for The Cornball, featuring not one but two Dracula-named bands and Populace. Just around the corner, the Filling Station will be hosting a dance party and costume contest from 7 to 11 pm, judging at 10.
The VTones in Lebanon. The eight veteran Upper Valley singers perform a range of jazz, pop, folk, classical, spiritual, and religious pieces. They’ll be at the First Congregational Church of Lebanon at 7 pm Saturday, with half the proceeds going to the Haven.
Soul Porpoise at Tunbridge Town Hall. The monthly “Shindig” features Paul Asbell and Dave Grippo with the soul/funk (funk/soul?) band, 7-10 pm.
Sunday
Dartmouth Glee Club concert. Filippo Ciabatti conducts this fall’s program (announced from the stage), with guest pianist and Brown University and New England Conservatory music prof Andrew Jonathan Welch. 2 pm in Rollins Chapel.
At VINS, book talk and signing for The Feather Detective: Mystery, Mayhem, and the Magnificent Life of Roxie Laybourne. Journalist Chris Sweeney’s new book “takes readers deep within the vaunted backrooms of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History to tell the fascinating story of the world’s first forensic ornithologist – Roxie Laybourne. Using nothing more than her microscope and bits of feathers, Roxie helped prosecute murderers, investigate deadly airplane crashes, and break up poaching rings.” 3 pm Sunday.
Artistree hosts “All Hallows' Eve: Spooky tunes, songs and tales from Scotland”. Orkney Islands-raised fiddler Louise Bichan and her band (Conor Hearn on guitar, Brendan Hearn on cello, Ethan Setiawan on mandolins and special guests Hannah Rose Baker (Passim), Katie McNally, and Neil Pearlman) will sing songs and tell stories about trowies, sea serpents, selkies, and more figures from Scottish and Irish folklore. 3 pm.
Solo guitar concert by William Ghezzi in Hanover. With works by Abel, Couperin, Weiss, Telemann, Ponce, Van Eps, & Giuliani. 4 pm at the Church of Christ at Dartmouth College.
Woodstock Rotary’s annual gala. The Sunday event will support the Woodstock Food Shelf as it seeks to replace old and undersized refrigerators and freezers, as well as to maintain its food supply. Food shelf presentation, live auction, and more. 5-7 pm in the Rockefeller Room at the Woodstock Inn.
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