As beach days and camping weekends peter off, locals need something else to set their sights on. Luckily, the upcoming fall season is already shaping up to be jam-packed. Grab your calendar and a pencil; it’s bound to be a busy fall.
For Movie Buffs 🎬🎥🎞
Mourners of the now defunct Bridgewater Cineplex can take comfort in other local offerings, such as the Lunenburg Doc Fest (September 18th – 24th). What better way to spend a foggy September evening than taking in a fascinating film at the Lunenburg Opera House? Chester Playhouse will also continue to show a variety of films; in the past, the venue has shown classic films, family movies, and indie flicks. The beautiful, recently-refurbished theater is an excellent destination for a weekend outing.
For Theatre Geeks 💃 🎭 🤺
The Old Confidence Lodge will be presenting the absolutely iconic The Rocky Horror Show (October 31st and November 1st). It’s hard to imagine a more perfect Halloween night than going to this delightfully unhinged musical. South Shore Players gets the chance to show off their brand new Bridgewater venue with their presentation of Locally Yours (September 20th – 29th), five short plays all written, directed, and performed by local talent. You’ll see everything from the rantings of an incompetent news team to two older ladies behaving somewhat impolitely at a funeral to a group of bickering teenagers breaking into the Lunenburg Town Hall. Chester Playhouse presents a roster of intriguing performances, which you can read about on their website once their line-up is officially released (August 14th). Forged in Fable will premier its talent-packed original folk-opera A Song for Hephaestus at Chester Playhouse (August 24th).
For Bookworms 🤓 📖 🐛
If you haven’t already visited Good Dog Books in Bridgewater, it’s a must. The new shop has an excellent selection of new and used books and is staffed by the friendly faces from Lunenburg Bound. Also, you’re fairly likely to encounter a cute dog while you’re there, which is reason enough to visit. Lunenburg Lit Festival has new “hurricane proofed” festival dates (November 7th – 9th) to break their years-long curse of having events canceled by our very consistent annual hurricane. Their list of visiting authors is not yet released, but last year boasted events led by writers Shauntay Grant, Jesse Thistle, and Donna Morrissey, among others.
For Earworms 🐛 🎶 🎹
The recently opened Old Confidence Lodge will hit the ground running with a fall concert series. Chester Playhouse will present a concert by Cape Breton crooner Lucy MacNeil (September 29th). For classical music aficionados, Musique Royale has already released dates for multiple performances in September. Folk Harbour will host its fall concert series at the Opera House, featuring a stellar line-up including Lennie Gallant (October 6th) and David Myles (November 9th).
For General Joy and Friend-Making 👋 ❤️ 🥰
The Mahone Bay Scarecrow Festival will welcome its legions of creepy pals to the streets of this small, seaside town (September 27th – October 14th). Residents will remember the fake snow and decorations draped all over town in June for the filming of a Christmas romcom. Now, watch the town slowly transform itself into the set of a horror movie (someone please call Hallmark; they need to get down here to film a scarecrow-themed romcom). Lunenburg Pride will continue hosting Queer Connections events at local businesses such as The Hungry Traveller (August 11th) and Rosefinch Mercantile (September 20th). Bluenose Lodge will host an event that’s sure to be a blast called Glitter Drag Bingo (September 7th). The Broad Cove Fun Run (September 14th) is a great way to support your community and get some jogging in. For those who simply are in search of a good laugh, comedian James Mullinger will hit the Chester Playhouse stage (October 4th).
Fall Events Overview
