Each September, Loon Mountain Resort transforms into a corner of the Scottish Highlands for one of the largest and most diverse Highland Games in North America. The 2026 festival runs September 18 to 20, landing right at the start of New England's fall foliage season. Over three days you can take in heavy athletics competitions, Highland dancing, sheep dog trials, massed pipe bands, and pageantry, then wander Vendor Village or sit in on a seminar covering everything from Scottish cooking to genealogy. There are hands-on Try-It classes in stone lifting and street curling, special kids programming, and plenty of food and drink, making it a genuine all-ages experience whether or not you have Scottish roots.

Our recommendation: This is a marquee regional event, so buy tickets in advance at nhscot.org and plan for a full day. Parking is in Lincoln and Woodstock with free shuttles to the resort, so leave the car and ride in. Going for the athletics? The heavy events and massed bands are the showstoppers. Pair it with a foliage drive and you have a perfect early-fall weekend.

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Ten finalist short films screen simultaneously in cinemas across six continents, and every ticket holder gets a ballot to vote for Best Film and Best Actor. All four screenings show the identical lineup: Friday at 7:30 PM, Saturday at 2:00 PM and 7:30 PM, and Sunday at 5:30 PM. Tickets run $10 to $13, and the box office only opens 30 minutes before showtime, so grab seats online first.

Four days in what Waterville Valley calls New Hampshire's fall foliage capital. Town Square fills with tent sales, live music, and family activities, while the Adventure Center runs bike rentals and Corcoran Pond has boats out daily. Sunday is the big one: footraces at 9 AM with a 10-mile trail race, a 5K, and a 1.6K family fun run, then Schwendi Fest takes over Mt. Tecumseh from noon with scenic chairlift rides, a bonfire, a scavenger hunt, games, and food. Monday closes things out with a live animal show from the Squam Lake Natural Science Center.

Each September, Loon Mountain Resort transforms into a corner of the Scottish Highlands for one of the largest and most diverse Highland Games in North America. The 2026 festival runs September 18 to 20, landing right at the start of New England's fall foliage season. Over three days you can take in heavy athletics competitions, Highland dancing, sheep dog trials, massed pipe bands, and pageantry, then wander Vendor Village or sit in on a seminar covering everything from Scottish cooking to genealogy. There are hands-on Try-It classes in stone lifting and street curling, special kids programming, and plenty of food and drink, making it a genuine all-ages experience whether or not you have Scottish roots.

Our recommendation: This is a marquee regional event, so buy tickets in advance at nhscot.org and plan for a full day. Parking is in Lincoln and Woodstock with free shuttles to the resort, so leave the car and ride in. Going for the athletics? The heavy events and massed bands are the showstoppers. Pair it with a foliage drive and you have a perfect early-fall weekend.

Click here to learn more!

A six-time Grammy winner playing a 400-seat room ten minutes down the hill. Sarah Jarosz marks a decade of her album Undercurrent with a night at the Colonial, drawing on seven solo records plus her work with I'm With Her alongside Sara Watkins and Aoife O'Donovan. She's appeared three times on Austin City Limits and played the Grand Ole Opry. Jefferson Hamer opens, bringing his own catalog and collaborations with Anaïs Mitchell and The Murphy Beds. Tickets $62 to $74.

First day of the season on this 1,400-acre historic estate. Cut your own balsam or Fraser fir, browse handmade wreaths, and shop a craft fair inside the Carriage Barn from 10 AM to 4 PM. Complimentary horse-drawn wagon rides run all day, with a fire pit to warm up by and s'mores kits and hot cocoa in the gift shop. Gift shop stays open until 4 PM.

Littleton's Main Street parade rolls at noon the day after Thanksgiving, and the whole town turns out. The day fills in around it with a community center open house, Santa at the Historical Museum, a holiday craft fair at the Opera House, and a family movie at the cinema. The best single day of the year to be in downtown Littleton.

Local makers fill the Opera House on parade day. Easy to fold into a morning downtown, and a good place to knock out holiday shopping while you're waiting for the parade.

Seventeen straight days of cut-your-own on a farm that's been growing trees here for over 35 years. Pick your balsam or Fraser fir, take a saw to it, and warm up at the fire pit afterward with hot chocolate from the gift shop. Weekends bring free horse-drawn wagon rides and an indoor kids' activity center. Gift shop open until 4 PM daily. Note that all trees are cut-your-own this season and trailers can't be accommodated on busy weekends.

Twenty years on, this one has become a holiday tradition for people all over the country. Part country music revue, part vintage variety show, part full-room sing-along, with Zara Bode and Emily Miller leading carols, country Christmas favorites, forgotten seasonal oddities, holiday trivia, and prizes of questionable value. Everyone gets a songbook. Expect vintage finery, ribbon curls, and a room full of strangers singing in harmony by the end of it. Tickets $20 to $25.