This is just a sampling of the many exciting and unique events hosted in New Hampshire each year. For a complete list of events, please view our complete Online Events Calendar.
January: New Hampshire Sanctioned & Jackson Invitational Snow Sculpting Event
Watch amateur and professional snow sculptors create works of art at the 21st annual event. Sculptors come from all over the Northeast to participate in this event, which begins Friday afternoon. Work will continue throughout the weekend with judging taking place Sunday afternoon. Spectators are welcome to watch throughout the weekend. Bring the whole family as their will be a scavenger hunt for kids and other activities planned throughout the course of the event.
Date: January 28, 2022 – January 30, 2022
Location: Black Mountain, Jackson, NH 03846
Website: www.jacksonnh.com/event/snow-sculpting-competition
February/March: Keene Ice and Snow Festival
Taking place in Central Square and the Downtown area of Keene, NH, this event features a day of outdoor family fun including ice carving, snow sculpting, snowboard rail jam, Snowman Central (crafts for kids), horse drawn wagon rides, refreshments and more!
Date: February 5, 2022
Location: Downtown Keene Keene, NH 03431
Website: www.keenechamber.com
March: Maple Sugaring in New Hampshire
Usher in spring with a month long celebration of pure NH Maple Syrup! During the month of March, sugarhouses across the Granite State open their doors to visitors. This is the time when you can take a tour of maple orchards, and step inside a sugar shack to see firsthand how this sweet treat is made. Taste free samples of maple products and fill up on pancake breakfasts.
Date: March 2022
Location: Various sugarhouses statewide
Website: www.nhmapleproducers.com
May: New Hampshire Restaurant Week
Restaurant Week in New Hampshire is the ultimate foodie event for residents and visitors to New Hampshire! Take part in this delicious celebration of cuisine by dining at one of the many enticing eateries, then staying overnight at one of our participating lodging properties. Participating restaurants statewide offer 3-course prix fixe menus for lunch and/or dinner.
Location:
Locations Statewide
Phone: 603-228-9585
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.restaurantweeknh.com
June: Fields of Lupine Festival
Paying homage to the annual blossoming of this captivating wildflower, the Fields of Lupine Festival is a time honored regional event. The brilliant spikes of the lupine flower carpet local fields and pastures in a rolling sea of vibrant purples, pinks, blues and whites. The long-lasting blossoms attract equally dazzling butterflies and create a breathtaking floral display against the majestic backdrop of the Franconia, Presidential, and Kinsman Mountain ranges. Every visitor is guaranteed abundant photo and recreational opportunities in the Northeast's most spectacular mountain region.
Location:
Franconia, Sugar Hill and Easton, NH
Phone: 603-823-5661
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.franconianotch.org/events/celebration-lupines-throughout-june-copy-2/
June: Laconia Motorcycle Week
The nation’s oldest motorcycle rally brings thousands of enthusiasts to New Hampshire each year. “America’s Original Riding Rally” welcomes guests from around the country to this hotbed of riding heritage every June. Bikers can look forward to breathtaking motorcycle rides through winding roads, stunning lake vistas and riding on historic roads like the Kancamagus Highway. There will be headlining bands and concerts all through the Lakes Region so you can quench your thirst for some good music.
Location:
Laconia, NH
Phone: 603-366-2000
Website: www.laconiamcweek.com
July: Prescott Park Arts Festival
The New Hampshire Art Association and Prescott Park Arts Festival hold a juried exhibition of original artwork by NHAA members and Seacoast Area artists, including a fantastic variety of sculpture, painting, pastels, collage, and photography are on exhibit throughout the summer.
Location:
Prescott Park
Portsmouth, NH
Phone: 603-436-2848
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.prescottpark.org
July: Hillsborough Balloon Fest & Fair
The Hillsborough Balloon Festival and Fair is a four day event with activities and fun for all! The thrills of the weekend are the Hot Air Balloons piloted and crewed by regional balloon enthusiasts. Balloon flights over New Hampshire's beautiful Monadnock Region are available to the general public along with tethered flights for the more cautious. Other highlights of the festival weekend include an Artist's Fair, a hometown parade and 5k Road Race. And the Saturday night fireworks extravaganza is one of the premier fireworks displays in all of New Hampshire!
Location:
Grimes Field
Hillsborough, NH 03244
Phone: 603-464-0377
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.balloonfestival.org
August: North Country Moose Festival
It would be wrong if the North Country Chamber of Commerce didn't pay homage to one of the great creatures in our forests - the moose. Each year, the North Country Moose Festival draws hundreds of people to the weekend-long events, including the classic car show and moose calling contest. And of course, no Moose Festival would be complete without "moose burgers!"
Location:
Colebrook, Columbia, Pittsburg, NH
Phone: 800-698-8939
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.northcountrychamber.org/About-our-Chamber/Moose-Festival/default.aspx
August: Hampton Beach Children's Festival
The Annual Hampton Beach Children's Festival is the family fun event of the summer, kicking off with a magic show and building up to a Giant Costume Parade that marches almost the length of Hampton Beach. Every child gets a prize just for being in it! Each day will be a blockbuster, filled with non-stop activity and entertainment, including mini-golf and sand castle building competitions, a Ronald McDonald show, talent show, free ice cream, dancing, story tellers, balloons, and more. There's even a kids' bumper sticker contest.
Location:
Hampton Beach - Seashell Stage Area
Hampton Beach, NH
Phone: 603-926-8717
Website: http://www.hamptonbeach.org/event-listing/childrens-festival/
September: Hampton Beach Seafood Festival
Come celebrate the 32nd anniversary of the Hampton Beach Seafood Festival this September! More than 50 of the Seacoast’s top restaurants serving a bounty of mouthwatering seafood delicacies await you, along with vendors offering locally made products, sidewalk sales along Ocean Boulevard, chef demonstrations and two stages featuring continuous live entertainment. There’s a reason this festival has been rated as one of the top 100 Events in North America by the American Bus Association, so don’t miss out on this year’s festivities.
Date: September 10 - 12, 2021
Location: Hampton Beach, NH
Website: https://www.seafoodfestivalnh.com
September: New Hampshire Highland Games
The 46th annual New Hampshire Highland Games & Festival returns to Loon Mountain this fall with favorite features such as pipes and drums, athletic feats of strength and endurance, Celtic Bands, sheep dog trials, highland dancers, vendors and much more. This year though, there will be a limit on capacity and will include onsite parking only for all ticket holders. Attendees must purchase a ticket in advance as no tickets will be sold onsite.
Date: September 17-19, 2021
Location: Loon Mountain, Lincoln
Website: https://nhscot.org/
October: Annual Art Walk Weekend
Nashua is a community dedicated to supporting the arts, creative expression, local business, and having fun. ArtWalk celebrates all of those things! Downtown Nashua will be filled with over 100 local and area artists, musical entertainment, and activities for adults and children. With so much to do and see, visitors should plan on dining at some of downtown Nashua’s fine restaurants
Location: Downtown Nashua, Nashua, NH 03061
Website: http://www.cityartsnashua.org/
October: Return of the Pumpkin People
Perched all over Jackson and North Conway the Pumpkin People are celebrating their 37th year. This is a self-guided tour and you can pick up a map at participating businesses. It’s anticipated there will be more than 80 displays to view and you can expect to see the Pumpkin People doing just about anything! Make time to come and see these works of art this season.
Date: September 30 - October 31
Location: Jackson and North Conway
Website: www.jacksonnh.com/event/return-of-the-pumpkin-people/
October: Riverfire
It’s the perfect way to celebrate the brisk fall days. The city of Berlin heats things up with their RiverFire festival! Head to the city that trees built for a full day of family friendly activites including hay rides, a costume parade, live music, pumpkins on the bridge, food and it’s all capped off with dramatic fires on the river at night.
Location: Rotary Park & Northern Forest Heritage Park Berlin
NH Email: [email protected]
Website: https://www.androscogginvalleychamber.com/riverfire-festival
December: Vintage Christmas, Candlelight Stroll
A month long event hosted by the entire community that transforms the historic downtown Portsmouth into a holiday wonderland. The event features professional holiday theatre at the Music Hall and Strawbery Banke’s historic houses from four centuries decorated in period regalia, hundreds of candles lighting the lanes and landscape a gingerbread house contest and display, live music and holiday entertainment for all ages, horse-drawn carriage rides, holiday decoration demonstrations, traditional barrel making demonstrations, 18th century holiday hearth cooking, tinsmith demonstrations, a romantic outdoor ice skating rink, and more..
Date: December, various
Location: Downtown Portsmouth, the Music Hall Theatre, and Strawberry Banke, Portsmouth, NH
Website: https://vintagechristmasnh.org/