Corn Mazes and Cryptids: Fall fun in the Upper Valley
Upper Valley Connections
Issue No. 23 · September 10, 2026
Your weekly guide to life along the Connecticut River
Corn maze season is underway around the Valley, and this week we found out the mazes themselves have a story worth telling. Plus a full weekend of fall community events -- an apple pie bake-off, a car show, a bluegrass night at Cedar Circle Farm -- and Tunbridge World's Fair opens next Thursday to close things out.
-- 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
Arts & Culture · Food & Drink · Workshop · $50
Bottles & Botanicals: Dahlias
Thu Sep 10 · 6:00-7:30 PM · SILO Distillery, Windsor, VT
A cocktail-and-flowers evening at SILO Distillery: cocktail demonstrations paired with a build-your-own dahlia bouquet. $50.
Community · Film · Free
Movie Night: Man with a Plan (30th Anniversary Screening)
Thu Sep 10 · 7:00-9:00 PM · Fairlee Town Hall, Fairlee, VT
A free 30th-anniversary screening of "Man with a Plan," the 1996 Vermont-made mock documentary starring Tunbridge dairy farmer Fred Tuttle as a retired farmer running for the U.S. House. Two years after the film came out, Tuttle actually won the 1998 Vermont Republican Senate primary as a publicity stunt for the movie, before endorsing his opponent, longtime incumbent Patrick Leahy. Filmmaker John O'Brien will be on hand to talk about the film and take questions.
This Weekend
Community · Music · Free
Anonymous Coffeehouse Season Opener: Folk Fest
Fri Sep 11 · 7:30-9:30 PM · First Congregational Church of Lebanon, Lebanon, NH
A free folk music season opener at the First Congregational Church of Lebanon.
Community · Kids & Family · Music · Free
Apple Fest & Apple Pie Bake Off
Sat Sep 12 · 10:30 AM-2:00 PM · Cornerstone Community Center, Hartford, VT
A free community apple festival at Cornerstone Community Center, with an apple pie bake-off and live music.
Community · Exhibit · Food & Drink · Free
September Celebration Car Show 2026
Sat Sep 12 · 10:00 AM-2:00 PM · Upper Valley Aquatic Center, White River Junction, VT
A free car show at the Upper Valley Aquatic Center. Car wash available for $10 cash.
Community · Kids & Family · Music · Outdoors & Nature
Pickin' Time: Bluegrass, Brews, and Bites
Sat Sep 12 · 4:30-7:00 PM · Cedar Circle Farm & Education Center, East Thetford, VT
An evening of bluegrass music, food, and drink at Cedar Circle Farm.
Food & Drink · Music · Sliding scale $10-25
Bloom & Doom
Sat Sep 12 · 7:00-10:00 PM · Honey Field Farm, Norwich, VT
An evening of food and music at Honey Field Farm. Sliding scale $10-25; no one turned away for lack of funds.
Music · $5 cover
DJ Dance Party w/ DJ V
Sat Sep 12 · 9:30 PM-1:00 AM · Sawtooth Kitchen, Hanover, NH
Sawtooth's Saturday night dance party. $5 at the door.
Community · Food & Drink · Sports · Free
UVTA Tour de Taste 2026 (SOLD OUT)
Sun Sep 13 · 10:00 AM-8:00 PM · Lake Morey, Fairlee, VT
This free cycling and food tour around Fairlee and Lake Morey, hosted by the Upper Valley Trails Alliance, has sold out.
Community · Food & Drink · Kids & Family · Free
West Lebanon Block Party: Celebrate Our West Leb Story
Sun Sep 13 · 1:00-4:00 PM · Kilton Library, West Lebanon, NH
A free community block party at Kilton Library celebrating the history of West Lebanon.
Later in the Week
Community · Farmers Market · Kids & Family · Free
Pepper September Kick Off & Free Watercolor Workshop
Mon Sep 14 · 4:00-7:00 PM · Honey Field Farm, Norwich, VT
A free watercolor workshop at Honey Field Farm's Monday market.
Arts & Culture · Community · Music · Free
Season Kickoff Party
Tue Sep 15 · 5:00-7:00 PM · Top of the Hop, Hanover, NH
A free season-opening party at the Hopkins Center.
Music · Theater · Ticketed
Brian Stokes Mitchell
Tue Sep 15 · 7:30-9:30 PM · Spaulding Auditorium, Hanover, NH
Tony Award-winning performer Brian Stokes Mitchell in concert at Spaulding Auditorium. Tickets required.
Community · Music · Free
Music on the Hill Summer Concert Series: Ben Kogan
Wed Sep 16 · 6:30-8:30 PM · ArtisTree Community Arts Center, South Pomfret, VT
ArtisTree's free outdoor concert series continues with Ben Kogan.
Arts & Culture · Film · Music · Ticketed
Jim Henson's Labyrinth: In Concert
Wed Sep 16 · 7:30-9:30 PM · Lebanon Opera House, Lebanon, NH
A screening of Jim Henson's "Labyrinth" with live orchestral accompaniment at Lebanon Opera House. Tickets limited to six per order.
Community · Music · Free
Interplay Jazz Jam Session: Library After Hours
Thu Sep 17 · 6:00-9:00 PM · Norman Williams Public Library, Woodstock, VT
A free after-hours jazz jam session at Norman Williams Public Library.
Community · Kids & Family · Music
Tunbridge World's Fair
Opens Thu Sep 17 · Tunbridge Fairgrounds, Tunbridge, VT
The Tunbridge World's Fair opens for its four-day run through Sunday, Sep 20. Unlimited ride bracelets are $35 ($30 cash); see tunbridgeworldsfair.com for gate admission pricing.
This Week in the Upper Valley
Written in Corn
Corn maze season has started around the Valley, and if you've only ever thought of a corn maze as a maze, Riverview Farm in Plainfield will change your mind. Every summer, an artist writes, designs, and hand-paints an entirely new maze there -- a real story, with real characters, worked into the corn itself.
For several recent years that artist was Emily Zea, who built a different themed maze annually: apples in 2019 (visitors hunted for fifteen hidden apples, each linked by QR code to a use for that variety), later New England monsters and folklore. This year, Riverview has a new maze designer taking over, building an entirely new cast of painted characters around a story centered on cryptids. Riverview also runs a haunted version of the maze the weekend of Halloween, which doubles as a fundraiser for the Lebanon High and Middle School Nordic ski teams -- all proceeds go directly to the programs.
Down the road in Lebanon, Patch Orchards' maze has its own reputation -- regularly named among the state's most difficult.
If a maze that isn't made of corn appeals more, Path of Life Sculpture Garden in Windsor has a hedge maze open year-round, dawn to dusk. And if you find yourself in Windsor's Artisans Park anyway, SILO Distillery next door is hosting tonight's Bottles & Botanicals event -- cocktail demos and a build-your-own dahlia bouquet, details above.
For a longer drive, three more are worth knowing about. The Great Vermont Corn Maze in Danville is the largest in Vermont and in New England, at roughly 24 to 26 acres, with an indoor blacklight maze and 100 feet of bridges built in. Beech Hill Farm in Hopkinton, NH runs two distinct mazes each year -- this year, one themed around America's 250th anniversary and a second built as an animal-tracking challenge using a bingo card of local wildlife tracks. And Collins Farm in Bath, NH, which markets itself as the state's top corn maze, redesigns its 13-acre maze annually with three difficulty tiers to choose from.
Farmers' Markets
Hartland's market wrapped up for the season last week. Here's what's still running:
- Lebanon Farmers Market -- Thursdays 4-7pm -- Colburn Park, Lebanon NH
- 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
- Royalton Farmers Market -- Sundays 11am-2pm -- 35 S. Windsor Street, South Royalton VT. This is a new one to us, only two dates left this season the 13th and 27th.
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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]