Ask Me About Sturbridge!

 

Sturbridge loves festivals and fairs!  We have many events to welcome and celebrate the signs and symbols of each season.  In addition, the towns that surround Sturbridge also offer a wide range of seasonal and holiday festivals, so there is no lack of fun to be had.  Let's take a look at the festivities that occur within each season.

 

 

 

 

Little League Opening Day:  Baseball season kicks off in Sturbridge at the Opening Day event, held in April or May.  The teams in the league hold a parade, which is followed by food, fun and games.  

 

Brimfield Antique Show:  The largest festival in the area, the Brimfield Antique Show occurs three times a year, in May, July, and September.  The May show opens the season.  See www.brimfield.org or www.brimfield.com or www.brimfield50.com for more details.

 

The Great Tomato Giveaway and Fair:  2009 marks the first (hopefully annual) Great Tomato Fair.  Held on the Sturbridge Common, the fair includes free tomato plants given to attendees, live music, and plenty of other farm fun.

 

 

Brimfield Antique Show:   The July show draws summer vacationers and campers into town.  See www.brimfield.org or www.brimfield.com or www.brimfield50.com for more details.

 

Brooklyn Fair in Brooklyn, CT:  Held at the end of August, this is a good time agricultural fair with a midway and live music.  See www.brooklynfair.org for detailed info.

 

Concerts on the Common:  On Thursday evenings in  the summer, the Sturbridge Common is the place to be.  Pack a picnic and spend the evening visiting with friends while  the kids scamper about the lawn.  A different musical group plays each week.

 

Feast & Fire:  Area merchants and restaurants get together to hold a festive event on the Common.  For 2010, there will also be a bonfire behind the Publick House.  Held July 3, 2010, 2 to 10 pm.

 

Socks for Siberia:  An annual festival at Hyland Orchard.

 

Brimfield Antique Show:  The September show closes the antiques festival season and marks the beginning of fall.  See www.brimfield.org  or www.brimfield.com or www.brimfield50.com for more details.

Mass Motion Outdoor Dance Festival:  Mass Motion introduced its first of what they plan to be an annual event: the Outdoor Dance Festival.  Held Sept. 13, 2009, this event offers dance performances and demo classes to the community.

 

Fiskdale Fest:  New for 2009, the Copper Stallion and the Sturbridge Country Inn hold their first Fiskdale Fest Sept. 18-20.  Food, horse and carriage rides, kids activities - lots to do.

 

Harvest Festival:  Perhaps because of its roots in farming, Sturbridge enthusiastically embraces autumn.  The excitement about Harvest Festival begins to build when the Publick House announces the opening of entries for the annual Scarecrow Contest.  In the weeks that follow, odd and interesting scarecrows fill the front lawn of the Publick House.  On Harvest Festival weekend, the public enjoys food and crafts, and places votes for favorite scarecrow entries.   

 

Things that go Bump in the Night:  This annual Haloween event at Old Sturbridge Village features a haunted village and trick-or-treating.  The Village is lighted with hand-carved pumpkins.

 

Horribles Parade:  After trick-or-treat on Halloween night, children assemble at the Town Common to march in the Horribles Parade.  Prizes are given for the best costumes.

 

Orchard Festivals at Hyland Orchards:  Throughout the season, Hyland Orchards in Sturbridge holds fruit pickin' festivals.  These fun family events usually feature live music under the tent, hay rides, bouncy houses, and of course, fresh baked fruit pies, and of course beer brewed right on site.

 

Spencer Fair in Spencer, MA:  Locals flock to this small agricultural fair in Spencer, MA, on Labor Day weekend.

 

Woodstock Fair in Woodstock, CT:  Annual agricultural fair in wonderful Woodstock, CT.

 

Graveyard Tales:  Nichols College hosts an annual ghost-storytelling event each fall.  For ages 13 and up.