Apple Season Opens -- Eight Orchards Across the Valley
Upper Valley Connections
Issue No. 22 · September 3, 2026
Your weekly guide to life along the Connecticut River
Apple season is officially open around the Valley, and this week we rounded up what's ready at orchards nearby and a little farther out. It's also a good week for local voices, with a Vermont novelist's book launch, a retired Dartmouth professor's debut novel, and a retired Hanover scientist's ice photography all getting their moment. Plus BrewFest returns to Colburn Park, and Monday is Labor Day -- several libraries and offices will be closed.
-- The Upper Valley Connections Team
Upper Valley Connections is a free, independent community newsletter. If you run a local business, add your listing -- it's free to start. Have an event coming up? Submit it to the calendar. Paid tiers help keep this going.
Tonight
Community · Education · Music · Free
Music at the Market! UVMC Open House
Thu Sep 3 · 4:00-7:00 PM · Upper Valley Music Center, Lebanon, NH
An open house at Upper Valley Music Center with live music, tied to the Lebanon Farmers Market next door at Colburn Park. Free.
Community · Outdoors & Nature · Free
Author Talk: 400 Miles Down the Connecticut River
Thu Sep 3 · 6:30-8:00 PM · Norwich Public Library, Norwich, VT
A free talk at Norwich Public Library with Michael Tougias, author of more than a dozen books about New England. Tougias offers a narrated slide presentation covering the length of the Connecticut River, as part of the Vermont Humanities Speakers Bureau series.
Arts & Culture · Literary · Free
Local Book Launch for The Three Graces of Pearl Street by Elizabeth Wellington Rollins
Thu Sep 3 · 7:00-8:00 PM · Woodstock Town Hall Theater, Woodstock, VT
A free local book launch for Elizabeth Wellington Rollins' debut novel, an intergenerational story following three generations of women in an Italian American family in New York's Little Italy. Rollins lives in Vermont.
This Weekend
Arts & Culture · Exhibit · Free
Conversations | Steve Arcone: Icescapes in the Abstract
Fri Sep 4 · 5:30-6:30 PM · AVA Gallery and Art Center, Lebanon, NH
A free artist talk at AVA Gallery with Steve Arcone, a retired research geophysicist from the Cold Regions Research Lab in Hanover, on his exhibit Icescapes in the Abstract. The photographs, taken 2021-2026 on small New Hampshire ponds, apply his background imaging Antarctic and Alaskan snow and ice to the freeze-thaw patterns that form on pond surfaces close to home.
Music · Free
Karaoke Party
Fri Sep 4 · 9:00 PM-1:00 AM · Sawtooth Kitchen, Hanover, NH
Sawtooth's regular Friday karaoke night. No cover.
Community · Food & Drink · Music · $35 advance / $40 at the door
BrewFest 2026
Sat Sep 5 · 12:00-4:00 PM · Colburn Park, Lebanon, NH
Rotary Club of Lebanon's annual craft beer festival returns to Colburn Park with tastings, food, and live music.
Food & Drink · Kids & Family · Free
Kids Drop-In Baking Activity
Sat Sep 5 · 12:00-2:00 PM · King Arthur Baking Company, Norwich, VT
A free drop-in baking activity for kids at King Arthur.
Arts & Culture · Community · Exhibit · Free
Community Through Quilting -- Opening Reception
Sat Sep 5 · 2:00-4:00 PM · Howe Library, Hanover, NH
An opening reception for a new community quilting exhibit at Howe Library. Free.
Arts & Culture · Workshop · Sliding scale
Cyanotypes at Sweetland Farm
Sat Sep 5 · 10:00 AM-3:00 PM · AVA Gallery and Art Center, Lebanon, NH
A hands-on cyanotype printmaking workshop at Sweetland Farm, led by Larissa Burak through AVA Gallery. Participants mix cyanotype chemistry, practice coating techniques, and compose prints using fresh botanicals from the farm's own gardens. Sliding scale pricing available.
Music · $5 cover
DJ Dance Party w/ DJ Cartier and SirBabyGirl
Sat Sep 5 · 9:30 PM-1:00 AM · Sawtooth Kitchen, Hanover, NH
Sawtooth's Saturday night dance party. $5 at the door.
Food & Drink · Music · $36 (half-price under 13)
Sunday Summer Soirees
Sun Sep 6 · 5:30-7:00 PM · Loch Lyme Lodge, Lyme, NH
Loch Lyme Lodge's Sunday dinner-and-music series, with music from Thomas Chapin this week. Reservations required, BYOB.
Education · Workshop · $65-75
Make A Turkey Wing Whisk Broom
Sat Sep 5 · 10:00 AM-4:00 PM · Enfield Shaker Museum, Enfield, NH
A hands-on Shaker-style broom-making workshop at the Enfield Shaker Museum.
Later in the Week
A reminder that Monday, September 7 is Labor Day -- several area libraries and offices will be closed for the day.
Sports · Free/Ticketed
Dartmouth College Men's Soccer vs Stonehill -- Fan Appreciation Day
Mon Sep 7 · 5:00-7:00 PM · Town of Hanover, Hanover, NH
Dartmouth men's soccer hosts Stonehill for Fan Appreciation Day. Visit dartmouthsports.com for ticket information.
Arts & Culture · Kids & Family · Workshop · Free
Drop-In & Craft: Beaded Keychain Bar
Tue Sep 8 · 3:00-4:30 PM · Howe Library, Hanover, NH
A free drop-in beaded keychain craft session at Howe Library.
Community · Music · Free
Music on the Hill Summer Concert Series: Route Five Jive
Wed Sep 9 · 6:30-8:30 PM · ArtisTree Community Arts Center, South Pomfret, VT
ArtisTree's free outdoor concert series continues with Route Five Jive. No food truck on-site this week.
Education · Literary · Free
Ford von Reyn -- Love From Afar: Finland
Wed Sep 9 · 7:00-8:00 PM · Norwich Bookstore, Norwich, VT
A free reading at Norwich Bookstore with Ford von Reyn, a retired Dartmouth medical school professor who lives in Fairlee, for his debut novel. The book follows a married New Hampshire ski salesman whose unexpected connection on a trip to Finland reverberates through the rest of his life.
Community · Education · Free
Reading Nature: What If We Get It Right? Visions of Our Climate Future
Thu Sep 10 · 6:00-7:00 PM · Howe Library, Hanover, NH
A free discussion at Howe Library on visions of a positive climate future.
Community · Food & Drink · Music · $5 pizza slices
Slice of Good: Pizza Dinner
Thu Sep 10 · 4:30-7:00 PM · King Arthur Baking Company, Norwich, VT
A community pizza dinner at King Arthur, with live music and $5 slices. All pizza sales from the evening will be donated to Slice Out Hunger, a nonprofit that fights food insecurity through the power of pizza. Learn more at sliceouthunger.org.
This Week in the Upper Valley
Ladders Against the Trees
Somewhere in the last week of August, without anyone announcing it, apple season started along the river. The orchards around here have been waiting for this since the blossoms opened back in May, and now the ladders are out and the bins are filling.
Riverview Farm in Plainfield sits right on the Connecticut, with more than fifteen pick-your-own apple varieties on the trees -- Honeycrisp is usually the first to draw a crowd. There's a corn maze, weekend horse-drawn wagon rides out to the orchard, and a farm store stocked with fresh doughnuts and pressed cider. Open Wednesday through Sunday. If you're in the area, Mac's Maple just down the road still has maple creemees going. riverviewnh.com
Up the hill in Lebanon, Patch Orchards has been farmed by the same family since 1775. Alongside pick-your-own apples -- Honeycrisp, Fuji, Gala, Paula Red, McIntosh, Macoun, Cortland, and more -- they run a cider donut counter, maple soft serve, and their own corn maze, with sweeping views back down toward the valley. There's also a playground, picnic tables, and a cornhole set, so it's worth packing a picnic lunch and making an afternoon of it. The farmstand is open daily, with picking available from late August into mid-to-late October. patchorchards.com
A few miles away, Poverty Lane Orchards -- home of Farnum Hill Ciders -- has been growing apples on the same land since the 1960s, split between familiar eating varieties and the unusual "Uncommon Apples" they grow specifically for fermenting into Farnum Hill's dry ciders. Picking typically runs from around Labor Day through Halloween, and the orchard is closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays, so it's worth checking hours before heading over. farnumhillciders.com
Two more worth knowing about closer to home: Whitman Brook Orchard in Quechee is a restored heirloom orchard growing more than 140 apple varieties, many hard to find anywhere else -- picking opens Saturday September 12th and runs weekends only (Saturday 10-4, Sunday 10-3) through early November. And Cedar Circle Farm in East Thetford, the certified-organic farm and education center along the river, adds pick-your-own apples to its regular farmstand and cafe, open daily through October.
If you're up for a longer drive, three more are worth it: King Blossom Farm in Grantham grows heirloom Macs and Red Delicious dating back to the 1890s, alongside Cortland, Jonathan, and Rambo; Wellwood Orchards in Springfield, Vermont sends visitors out to the trees by wagon on weekends and starts its cider donuts the Saturday of Labor Day weekend; and Windy Ridge Orchard in North Haverhill, growing eighteen varieties with a cafe, farm winery, and mountain views, usually opens for picking around Labor Day and runs through Columbus Day.
Farmers' Markets
All eight of the season's markets are still running, though note that Friday's Hartland market is the last of the season. Here's the full lineup:
- Lebanon Farmers Market -- Thursdays 4-7pm -- Colburn Park, Lebanon NH
- Hartland Farmers Market -- Fridays 4-6:30pm -- 153 Route 5, Hartland VT -- This Friday, Sep 4, is the final market of the season.
- Norwich Farmers Market -- Saturdays 9am-1pm -- Route 5 South, Norwich VT
- Mt Tom Farmers Market -- Saturdays 9:30am-12:30pm -- Saskadena Six, 247 Suicide Six Road, Woodstock VT
- Canaan Farmers Market -- Sundays 10am-2pm -- Canaan Town Common, Canaan NH
- Monday Mini Market at Honey Field Farm -- Mondays 4-7pm -- 55 Butternut Road, Norwich VT
- West Hartford Library Farmers Market -- Tuesdays 3:30-6:30pm -- West Hartford Library, 2993 VT Route 14, West Hartford VT
- Market on the Green, Woodstock -- Wednesdays 3-6pm -- The Green, Central Street, Woodstock VT
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Upper Valley Connections · Serving NH & VT · uppervalleyconnections.com Details are gathered from event organizers and may change. Please confirm times, prices, and availability directly with the venue before heading out. Sponsorship inquiries: [email protected]