Upper Valley Connections Weekly Digest - Issue #17
Upper Valley Connections
Issue No. 17 - July 16, 2026
Your weekly guide to life along the Connecticut River
The Junction Dance Festival's Main Showcase takes the stage at the Briggs Opera House this Saturday, closing out ten days of free dance across the Valley. This week we're also saying goodbye to strawberry season and hello to pick-your-own blueberries, plus Larkin Poe at Lake Morey tonight.
-- The Upper Valley Connections Team
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Happening Tonight
Larkin Poe plays the Lake Morey Summer Concert Series tonight -- free, gates at 6. King Arthur's hosts Community Pizza Nights bringing build-your-own pizza ($10) and live music to their courtyard, and the Lebanon Farmers Market has its own live music tonight from Pitchfork.
The Junction Dance Festival
The festival's centerpiece, the Main Showcase, hits the Briggs Opera House this Saturday, July 18, with performances at 2 and 7pm. The lineup pulls dance artists from across Vermont and New England: Garet&Co, rhythm tap artist Michael Dascomb, UVM professor and choreographer Paul Besaw, Chloe A. Schafer, Ann Bosse, and Caitlin Morgan among them. A free community meal runs between the two shows. Tickets are $15 -- well worth building your Saturday around.
Before the Showcase, the festival's free workshop series wraps up at two venues: Friday at the Hopkins Center (Beginning Tap at 1pm, Floor Work at 2:30, Whack/Punk/Pose at 4), and Saturday morning right at the Briggs Opera House (Morning Movement at 10, Intro to Traditional Indian Dance at 11:30). Every one of these is free and open to all levels. The festival closes out Sunday with Ruth Childs performing delicate people at Lyman Point Park, free by donation. All info and registration at thejunctiondancefestival.org.
Details on the Main Showcase ->
This Weekend
Arts & Culture · Free
Dance Festival Workshops at the Hopkins Center
Fri Jul 17 · 1:00 PM · Hopkins Center for the Arts, Hanover, NH
Three free Junction Dance Festival workshops back to back -- Beginning Tap at 1, Floor Work at 2:30, Whack/Punk/Pose at 4. Open to all levels.
Music · Ticketed
Opera North: The Ballad of Baby Doe
Fri Jul 17 · 7:30 PM · Blow-Me-Down Farm, Cornish, NH
Opera North's outdoor summer staging continues, and the setting alone is worth the drive. See operanorthnh.org for pricing.
Arts & Culture · No studio fee, cost by piece
Celebrate WRJ Pride at Tip Top Pottery
Sat Jul 18 · 10:00 AM · 85 N Main St, White River Junction, VT
No studio fee, just pick a piece and paint it -- a relaxed, family-friendly way to mark WRJ Pride.
Kids & Family · Free
Howe At Storrs Pond: Dinosaurs with Dinoman
Sat Jul 18 · 6:00 PM · Storrs Pond, Hanover, NH
A traveling dinosaur show at Storrs Pond, courtesy of Howe Library. Good timing if you're already out there for the water.
Community · $5
DJ Dance Party
EDM Festival Vibes w/DJ Benny Shreds
Sat Jul 18 · 9:30 PM · Sawtooth Kitchen, Hanover, NH
DJ Benny Shreds keeps the summer vibes rolling with another thrilling dance party and laser show. Free glow sticks for all! Details ->
Outdoors & Nature · $15 ($12 VINS members)
Moth Ball
Sat Jul 18 · 9:00 PM · VINS Nature Center, Quechee, VT
Exactly what it sounds like -- a nighttime gathering built around moths and other night-flying insects, blacklights included. A genuinely different way to end a Saturday, and our pick for most unusual event of the week.
Food & Drink · Free
Vermont Specialty Food Association Market
Sun Jul 19 · 11:00 AM · King Arthur Baking Company, Norwich, VT
Vermont food producers set up shop at King Arthur for the morning. Worth a wander even if you weren't planning to buy anything.
Music · Ticketed
Rhiannon Giddens
Sun Jul 19 · 7:30 PM · Spaulding Auditorium, Hanover, NH
The Grammy winner and MacArthur fellow closes out the weekend at the Hop -- a genuine don't-miss if you can get a ticket.
Later in the Week
Sports · Free
Nighthawks vs. North Shore Navigators
Mon Jul 20 · 6:00 PM · Maxfield Sports Complex, White River Junction, VT
Free admission, another home game under the lights.
Literary · Free
Deep Cuts Book Club -- Oreo
Tue Jul 21 · 6:00 PM · Norwich Bookstore, Norwich, VT
This month's pick is 20% off through the 21st if you need a copy first.
Music · Free
Hartford Summer Concert Series: Radio Kingston
Wed Jul 22 · 6:30 PM · Lyman Point Park Performance Stage, White River Junction, VT
Free music at the same park where the Dance Festival closed out its run three days earlier.
Theater · Free, ticketed
Celebrating 35 Years of NYTW at Dartmouth
Wed Jul 22 · 7:00 PM · Hopkins Center for the Arts, Hanover, NH
New York Theatre Workshop marks 35 years with a celebration at the Hop. Free, but registration is recommended.
Food & Drink · $10 per pizza
Community Pizza Nights
Thu Jul 23 · 4:30 PM · King Arthur Baking Company, Norwich, VT
Week three of five. Bring your own toppings, live music in the courtyard.
Music · Free
Lake Morey Summer Concert Series: Trampled by Turtles
Thu Jul 23 · 8:00 PM · Lake Morey Resort, Fairlee, VT
Free, gates at 6 -- the run of big names at Lake Morey shows no sign of slowing down.
This Week in the Upper Valley
Blueberries for Sal (and the Rest of Us)
Strawberry season is over, but don't fret -- the blueberries are ripening as you read this. My kids loved Blueberries for Sal when they were young, and it turned every picking trip into a small adventure, everybody keeping an eye out for a bear cub of their own. Robert McCloskey's classic -- a girl, her mother, and a bear cub, all picking blueberries on a Maine hillside -- has been getting kids excited about a berry bucket for over 75 years now. Norwich Bookstore has a few copies in stock (three paperback, one hardcover) -- check availability here -- plus two copies of a Blueberries for Sal cookbook if you want to take the theme further.
Kingland Farms in Lyme has all four varieties ripe and ready this week -- Jersey, Bluecrop, Patriots, and Dukes -- according to the farm's own report. kinglandfarms.com
Cedar Circle Farm in East Thetford opens its organic PYO patch for the season today, July 16. It's certified organic, $5.25 a pint, and once you've picked your fill, the farm's own Hello Cafe is right there for an iced coffee or a pastry before the drive home. cedarcirclefarm.org
Clay Hill Corners in Hartland has been open since July 12, a small ten-acre farm run by Carol Stedman and Marty Banak, daily 9am to 7pm. clayhillcorners.com
Willing to drive a bit further? Bartlett's Blueberry Farm in Newport goes back to Tom Calkin, who spent the 1970s patiently planting blueberry bushes on land near Mount Sunapee. About a decade later, Bill and Heidi Bartlett bought the farm, inheriting 5,000 mature bushes planted in rows 300 feet long, eight feet apart, 60 plants to a row. Pete Bartlett and Courtney Hazleton took over from Bill and Heidi in December 2023, keeping it in the family. bartlettsblueberryfarm.com Just down the road, Bascom Road Blueberry Farm started in 2011 with a chainsaw, a four-wheeler, and 64 bushes -- Keith cleared the fields himself before his wife Kristy joined the operation in 2018. It's since grown into roughly 2,000 bushes across 14 varieties and four fields, and many of them are handicap accessible. bascomroadblueberryfarm.com
If picking isn't your speed, Edgewater Farm's blueberries are available at the farmstand and the Hanover Coop, no fieldwork required. And if you're patient, Riverview Farm's blueberries come in around the second weekend of August, followed by raspberries and elderberries in September -- something to look forward to once this round winds down.
Whatever you come home with, blueberries don't ask for much -- pancakes, a buckle, a pie, a spoonful of jam, or just dropped straight into yogurt, oatmeal, or a scoop of vanilla ice cream, which is a favorite in my house.
Farmers' Markets
All eight markets are running this week:
- Lebanon Farmers Market -- Thursdays 4-7pm -- Colburn Park, Lebanon NH
- Hartland Farmers Market -- Fridays 4-6:30pm -- 153 Route 5, Hartland VT
- Norwich Farmers Market -- Saturdays 9am-1pm -- Route 5 South, Norwich VT
- Mt Tom Farmers Market -- Saturdays 9:30am-12:30pm -- Saskadena Six, 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, West Hartford VT
- Market on the Green, Woodstock -- Wednesdays 3-6pm -- The Green, Woodstock VT
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