The Upper Valley Is Fashionably Late to Fall
Upper Valley Connections
Issue No. 24 · September 24, 2026
Your weekly guide to life along the Connecticut River
Fall is officially here, though if you look out at the hills right now, you might not believe it -- the Upper Valley itself is still mostly green while higher ground to the north is already turning. This week we get into why, and when to actually expect color here. Plus Dartmouth football, the Shaker Harvest Festival returns to Enfield, and Sweetland Farm's fall festival and benefit 5K in Norwich.
-- 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.
This Weekend
Arts & Culture · Music · Free
Music in the Library: An Afternoon of Nyckelharpa
Fri Sep 25 · 3:30-4:30 PM · Howe Library, Hanover, NH
A free afternoon concert at Howe Library featuring the nyckelharpa, a traditional Swedish keyed fiddle.
Community · Film · Kids & Family · Free
Free Family Movie Night: Fantastic Mr Fox
Fri Sep 25 · 6:30-8:00 PM · Norman Williams Public Library, Woodstock, VT
A free big-screen screening of "Fantastic Mr Fox" at Norman Williams Public Library.
Community · Kids & Family · Sports · Free
Sweetland Farm Fall Farm Festival & Benefit 5K
Sat Sep 26 · 9:30 AM-1:00 PM · Sweetland Farm, Norwich, VT
A free fall festival at Sweetland Farm with a benefit 5K.
Community · Food & Drink · Kids & Family
Shaker Harvest Festival 2026
Sat Sep 26 · 11:00 AM-4:00 PM · Enfield Shaker Museum, Enfield, NH
The Enfield Shaker Museum's annual harvest festival, with horse-drawn hayrides. Tickets sold at the gate.
Community · Music · Free
UV Casineros 3 Year Anniversary: Cuban Dance Workshops & Party
Sat Sep 26 · 12:00-10:00 PM · St Barnabas Church, Norwich, VT
A free all-day celebration of UV Casineros' third anniversary, with Cuban dance workshops and a party to follow.
Community · Kids & Family · Sports · Free/Ticketed
Dartmouth College Football vs Monmouth -- Family Weekend
Sat Sep 26 · 1:00-4:00 PM · Town of Hanover, Hanover, NH
Dartmouth football hosts Monmouth for Family Weekend. Visit dartmouthsports.com for ticket information.
Music · Free
Lynne Hanson Concert at Seven Stars Arts Center
Sat Sep 26 · 7:00-9:00 PM · Seven Stars Art Center, Sharon, VT
A free concert with singer-songwriter Lynne Hanson at Seven Stars Arts Center.
Music · $5 cover
DJ Dance Party w/ DJSUN
Sat Sep 26 · 9:30 PM-1:00 AM · Sawtooth Kitchen, Hanover, NH
Sawtooth's Saturday night dance party. $5 at the door.
Fundraiser · Arts & Culture · $50
Willing Hands Fundraiser: Botanical Printmaking & Collage
Sun Sep 27 · 11:00 AM-2:00 PM · ArtisTree Community Arts Center, South Pomfret, VT
A botanical printmaking and collage workshop benefiting Willing Hands, the local organization that gleans and delivers fresh food to those who need it. $50.
Music · Ticketed
The Smithereens
Sun Sep 27 · 7:30-9:30 PM · Lebanon Opera House, Lebanon, NH
The Smithereens perform at Lebanon Opera House. Tickets required.
Later in the Week
Education · Literary · Outdoors & Nature · Free
Marina Richie -- Feathered Forest
Tue Sep 29 · 7:00-8:00 PM · Norwich Bookstore, Norwich, VT
A free author event at Norwich Bookstore with Marina Richie for "Feathered Forest."
Fitness & Wellness · Free
Introduction to Tai Chi
Wed Sep 30 · 6:00-7:15 PM · Long Wind Farm, Thetford, VT
A free introductory tai chi session at Long Wind Farm.
Workshop · Free
Fall Harvest Card Making Class
Wed Sep 30 · 5:30-7:30 PM · St. Thomas Episcopal Church, Hanover, NH
A free fall-themed card making class at St. Thomas Episcopal Church.
Community · Kids & Family · Music · $20 suggested donation
Insun Park & Generals
Wed Sep 30 · 6:30-8:30 PM · Lebanon Opera House, Lebanon, NH
A family-friendly concert at Lebanon Opera House. $20 suggested donation.
Education · Outdoors & Nature · Science & Technology · Free
Is One Tree As Good As Another? The Incipient Extirpation of Ash Trees From New England Forests
Thu Oct 1 · 6:30-7:30 PM · Howe Library, Hanover, NH
A free talk at Howe Library on the decline of ash trees across New England forests -- a good companion to this week's feature on what's actually happening in the tree canopy right now.
Arts & Culture · Literary · Free
James Gage and Marjorie Ryerson -- True If Not Destroyed: The Views from Mount Hunger
Thu Oct 1 · 7:00-8:00 PM · Norwich Bookstore, Norwich, VT
A free author event at Norwich Bookstore for "True If Not Destroyed: The Views from Mount Hunger."
Arts & Culture · Theater · Ticketed
Teatro La Plaza's "Hamlet"
Thu Oct 1 · 7:30-9:30 PM · Hopkins Center for the Arts, Hanover, NH
Teatro La Plaza performs "Hamlet" at the Hopkins Center. Tickets required.
This Week in the Upper Valley
The Upper Valley Is Fashionably Late to Fall
Look out at the hills around the Upper Valley right now and you'll see mostly green, maybe a maple or two starting to blush at the edges. That's not the season running late -- it's that this part of the Valley sits near the back of the line, and there's a real, physical reason why.
The color itself isn't new growth -- it was there all along. As days shorten and nights cool, trees stop producing chlorophyll, the pigment that makes leaves green and that's been masking the yellows and oranges (carotenoids) underneath all summer. Reds work differently: they're actively produced, and only show up strongly when a run of sunny days pairs with cool, frost-free nights. That combination is what makes some falls brilliant and others muddy and brown -- it's not really about calendar timing, it's about the weather in the weeks right before.
Elevation does most of the remaining work. Color moves down a mountain at roughly a day and a half per hundred meters, which means a ridge and the valley floor below it can be two weeks apart even in the same town. That's why the Northeast Kingdom and the higher elevations of the White Mountains -- the Kancamagus, Franconia Notch -- are already showing real color right now, while Connecticut River valley towns like Norwich, Hanover, and Woodstock, sitting at just a few hundred feet, are still mostly green.
So when does it actually arrive here? One forecasting model puts peak color at Woodstock's Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park around October 12, and statewide Vermont peak is centered around October 5, with valley towns typically running toward the later end of that window. On the New Hampshire side, the state's own tracker estimates peak lands around October 11 across most of the state, ranging from early October in the higher country to mid-October in the lower Merrimack and Connecticut valleys.
Both states run their own trackers through the season if you want to keep watching as the weeks go on: Vermont's Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation publishes a weekly report written by actual foresters, and New Hampshire's VisitNH runs an interactive Foliage Tracker updated twice a week. Neither is a guess dressed up as certainty -- both get corrected against real ground reports as the season moves.
If the mechanics of what's happening in the canopy interest you, Howe Library in Hanover has a free talk next Thursday on a related and more sobering piece of the same story: the decline of ash trees across New England forests, and what it means for the tree diversity that gives fall its range of color in the first place.
West Hartford Library Farmers Market wrapped up its season in mid-September. 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
- Royalton Farmers Market -- Sundays 11am-2pm -- 35 S. Windsor Street, South Royalton VT
- Monday Mini Market at Honey Field Farm -- Mondays 4-7pm -- 55 Butternut Road, Norwich 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]