Local insights · The Militello Team
There is almost always something good happening on the North Shore, from clam bakes to candlelit streets. These guides round up the festivals, fairs, and events worth your weekend.
17 stories
Weekend Events · November 12, 2026 · 11 min read
The Salem Literary Festival, Big Head Todd and the Monsters at The Cabot, the Galapagos at Shalin Liu in Rockport, and two nights of live music at Salisbury Beach, town by town with admission, parking, and MBTA notes. Kathleen Militello's November 13-15, 2026 weekend guide.
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Weekend Events · November 5, 2026 · 10 min read
November has turned the Coastal North Shore toward the holidays, and this weekend kicks off the season in style: the NSAA Holiday Market in Gloucester is the weekend centerpiece, with Roomful of Blues, Marty Stuart at The Cabot, comedy, jazz, and theater up and down the coast. Kathleen Militello, Realtor®, shares her picks for November 6-8.
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Weekend Events · November 4, 2026 · 8 min read
Thanksgiving week on Boston's Coastal North Shore is the calmest stretch of the year: farms finishing their season, pies and takeout turkeys on order, beaches empty and beautiful, and the first tree lightings within days of the holiday. Here is a day-by-day plan, town by town, from Cape Ann to the northern coast, written by Kathleen Militello, Realtor®.
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Weekend Events · October 30, 2026 · 8 min read
Salem closes Haunted Happenings with a 400-drone finale, Beverly's lantern trail ends Friday, and towns from Newburyport to Manchester-by-the-Sea post their trick-or-treat hours. Kathleen Militello's Halloween weekend guide, October 30-November 1, 2026.
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Weekend Events · October 22, 2026 · 9 min read
Halloween season is in full swing from Salisbury to Lynn. The 41st Essex ClamFest, Salem's Night Faire at Pioneer Village, Newburyport's Trick or Treat and Witches' Night Out, and Marini Farm's harvest weekend, all in one guide.
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Weekend Events · October 15, 2026 · 9 min read
Saturday October 17 and Sunday October 18, 2026 land in the heart of fall on Boston's Coastal North Shore, with Salem's Haunted Happenings in full swing, Ipswich Illumination back for its final weekend, and Newburyport's Maudslay is Haunted running both days. This guide covers the weekend town by town across Salem, Beverly, Lynn, Ipswich, Rowley, Newbury, Newburyport, and Salisbury, and notes the Friday-night kickoffs that start things a day early.
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North Shore Events · October 8, 2026 · 8 min read
This Indigenous Peoples' Day weekend is one of the busiest and most beautiful of the fall season across the Coastal North Shore. Between the first weekend of Ipswich Illumination, Cape Ann's legendary open-studio tour, Newburyport's Autumn Fest, and Salem's Haunted Happenings in full swing, there is something for every household. Here is the weekend schedule to plan around.
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Local Living · October 3, 2026 · 7 min read
Every fall, the Ipswich River becomes the backdrop for one of the North Shore's most original traditions: the Ipswich Illumination. What began in 2009 as a single evening of community art and fire has grown into a town-wide, multi-weekend celebration that lights up the riverwalk and downtown each October. This is the story of how it started, what it looks like this year, and what it says about living in a town that gathers outdoors in October for art and fire.
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Local Living · October 3, 2026 · 7 min read
Foliage forecasters currently expect peak color in much of Massachusetts around the middle of October, with forecasts as of early October pointing to roughly October 9-21 for much of the state, and coastal Massachusetts often reaching peak a bit later into the month. For Boston households, that makes the North Shore the natural October weekend: an easy drive or commuter-rail ride from the city, with quiet beaches, harbor light, and small-town pace the city cannot offer.
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Local / Fall Events · October 2, 2026 · 4 min read
Fall on the North Shore means apple picking, and the region has some of the best orchards in Massachusetts, from Cider Hill Farm in Amesbury to Russell Orchards in Ipswich. Here is where to go, what each place is known for, and why the orchard you pick says a lot about the town you might want to live in.
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Things to Do · October 2, 2026 · 4 min read
Today the North Shore got one of those October days people move here for: clear skies, warm sun, and seawater that felt like summer. This is Kathleen's short, grateful note on a perfect fall afternoon at Crane Beach in Ipswich, and why a sunny October day at the beach is a reminder to enjoy where we live.
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Local / Fall Events · October 1, 2026 · 9 min read
The Topsfield Fair 2026 runs October 2-12 at the fairgrounds in Topsfield, Massachusetts. A day-by-day guide to the giant pumpkin weigh-off, the Grand Parade, the rodeo, the Flying Wallendas, headlining concerts, and more, from Kathleen Militello, Realtor®.
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Weekend Happenings · October 1, 2026 · 9 min read
October 2-4, 2026 on the North Shore: the Topsfield Fair opens with the 42nd Giant Pumpkin Weigh Off, Salem's Haunted Happenings runs its first full weekend with the Haunted Biz Baz Street Fair and a Zombie Walk, Cape Ann Plein Air launches across Gloucester and Rockport, and the Rockport Farmers' Market holds one of its last Saturdays.
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Things to Do · September 28, 2026 · 7 min read
Topsfield Fair 2026 (October 2-12), Salem Haunted Happenings 2026, and the best things to do on the North Shore in October: a seasonal guide from Kathleen Militello, Realtor®.
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Weekend Events · September 26, 2026 · 5 min read
Fall is the North Shore's showcase season: orchards, harbor towns, and historic sites at their best. A seasonal guide to harvest days, coastal weekends, and planning that works.
Read the note Weekend Events · September 24, 2026 · 8 min read
September 26-27, 2026 on the North Shore: the Newburyport Documentary Film Festival, Oysterfest in the Port, the opening of Salem's Haunted Happenings Marketplace, blues at The Cut in Gloucester, and the Rockport Farmers Market, town by town with admission, parking, and MBTA notes.
Read the noteThings to Do · September 24, 2026 · 8 min read
Plan fall 2026 on Boston's North Shore: the best foliage drives on Routes 127, 1A, and 113, peak color dates, apple picking, Salem in October, and the coastal events of the season.
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