Before we get into the full-size Summer Guide in a few pages, we thought we’d provide you with a quick glance at some of Concord’s marquee events coming up this summer. The full guide can be pretty overwhelming, and since many of you reading this do, in fact, live right here in Concord, we thought this piece would be a handy reference for you to use when planning out your summer in the city.
Market Days
Market Days is one of the bigger community events in the city, and it’s always a crowd-pleaser.
This year’s festival will run June 21-23, and this Market Days figures to be bigger and better than ever. Intown Concord, the nonprofit organization that coordinates and puts on the street festival, has added 50(!) new vendors this year, as though the roughly 200 from last year weren’t enough. They’ve also invited New Hampshire Motor Speedway to bring some race cars and other memorabilia down for folks to get up-close looks at them.
Also new this year will be slacklining. For $89 a person, you can test your balance as you walk on a slackline – essentially a tightrope – high above Main Street. You will really be walking at roof level, but you’ll be harnessed, so don’t worry – you won’t fall.
The rest of Market Days will feature everything you’ve grown to love about it – tons of food, lots of activities for the whole family, live music, dancing, Touch-a-Truck and so much more.
For more info, go to intownconcord.org.
Capital City Classic 10K
Back for a third year is the Runner’s Alley Capital City Classic 10K, a road race that coincides with Market Days. This year’s race will be June 23, the Saturday of Market Days, at 8 a.m. starting in front of the State House.
The course will start in front of the State House and take you for a tour of the capital city. It’s the sixth race in the Capital Area Race Series, so if you are already registered for the full series, you do not have to register separately for this one.
Registration fees are $25 for people 19 and under and $35 for adults 20 and over through June 20. After June 20 the fee will be $40 and must be paid in cash or check in person during Market Days. The first 500 registrants will get a uniquely designed T-shirt.
There will be prize money for the top three male and female runners ($150, $100, $75) combined with other gifts, as well as prizes for the top three in every age group.
There’s also a Capital City Kids Run, open to anyone ages 2 to 8. The race will start at 9 a.m. at the front steps of the State House. Kids ages 2 and 3 will run one loop (about 200 yards), 4- to 6-year-olds will run two loops (400 yards) and 7- to 8-year-olds will do three loops (600 yards). All participants will receive a finisher’s medal and other goodies.
As in previous years, 100 percent of the race proceeds will go to benefit The Friends Program and Intown Concord.
To register, go to runnersalley.com/ccc10k.
Fireworks
You can’t have summer without the Fourth of July, and you can’t have the Fourth of July without fireworks. Luckily, Concord will once again put on a fireworks show to remember at Memorial Field on July 4.
The fireworks will get going once it’s nice and dark, and in the meantime, the Nevers’ Second Regiment Band will provide the soundtrack. If it rains on the 4th, everything will be pushed back a day.
N.H. Brewers Festival
The New Hampshire Brewers Association’s 5th Annual N.H. Brewers Festival, to be held July 14 in the Everett Arena parking lot, will feature the largest collection of Granite State craft breweries at any brewfest in the state.
This “For the Brewers, By the Brewers” event is run by and in support of the New Hampshire craft beer industry, and will bring together more than 40 brewers showcasing 100-plus N.H. craft beers. Food will also be available from a number of vendors.
The event will run from 1 to 4 p.m. on July 14, with a VIP session starting at noon. Tickets are $40 for general admission if you order online ($50 at the door) and $60 for the VIP package. Designated drivers can get in for $20.
For tickets or more info, go to granitestatebrewersassociation.org.
Rock On Fest
The Rock On Fest will take over downtown Concord on Aug. 10 and 11, filling Main Street with basketball courts, live music and lots of fun.
What began as a project by Concord natives Luke and Matt Bonner – maybe you’ve heard of them – to bring some live music and a bit of basketball to the capital city has turned into a two-day festival featuring even more music, more basketball and an outdoor movie night. What was once a one-day-only event held within the cozy – if isolated – confines of White Park is now an out-in-the-open downtown staple event.
Aug. 10, a Friday, will feature youth 3-on-3 hoops, a game between the Concord police and fire departments and another featuring Merrimack Valley High School versus Concord High School Unified Hoops. That night, an outdoor movie screening will be held at Eagle Square featuring Coco.
On Saturday, it’s all about the music. The Merrimack County Savings Bank Stage will feature Mr. Aaron, Badfellows, Babylawns, Honeysuckle, Damn Tall Buildings and Overcoats, while the Eagle Square stage will have a youth recital, Hoonah, Steven Chagnon, Alan Getto and Ethyric. The Saturday schedule also includes the Midsummer High School Hoops Classic hosted by the Frank Monahan Foundation.
And the whole thing is free, so all you have to do is wander downtown and check it out.
For more info, go to rockonfoundation.org/#events.
