Around this area of the state, there are lots of day-long events that you don’t want to miss.
And a pair of them – Aerospacefest at the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center and Canterbury Shaker Village’s opening day – rank right up there with the best of the best.
It just so happens that both are taking place on the same day as Capital Arts Fest, which means you can add them to the list of stops on your tour of Concord – and beyond.
Aerospacefest
For space enthusiasts, Aerospacefest is kind of like Christmas, summer vacation and diet cheat day all rolled into one.
The festivities run from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., and there’s lots going on.
Space Shuttle commander and Portsmouth native Rick Searfoss returns to the Granite State as the keynote speaker for Aerospacefest.
This year’s festival will be filled with science and engineering adventures, with STEM activity stations throughout the center hosted by New Hampshire science center educators and scientists, aerospace specialists, pilots – and kids who love engineering.
Special guest presenters include Mad Science’s Marvels of Motion and the Mount Washington Observatory.
Aerospacefest will also be when the Discovery Center premieres its newest planetarium show, Take Flight.
The N.H. Astronomical Society will be on the lawn with telescopes, observing the sun and Concord skyline (pending clear skies).
The 2017 winners of the Alex Higgins Memorial Space Camp Scholarship awards will be announced, where three students are chosen for simulated astronaut training at the U.S. Space & Rocketry Center in Huntsville, Ala.
The all-inclusive cost for AerospaceFest is $15 for adults, $13 for students and seniors, $10 for children ages 3 to 12, and free for Discovery Center members and children 2 and under.
For more info, visit starhop.com.
Shaker Village
We don’t typically cover events in Canterbury, but we’ll make an exception this one time – it is, after all, a part of the Capital Arts Fest.
And opening day at Shaker Village is kind of a big deal, from what we’ve heard.
Celebrate the return of spring with a parade of the heifers to their first spring grass at 11 a.m.
There will also be lots of Heifer Parade activities from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
You can take part in Maypole dancing and outdoor barn dancing, and there will be a place to make your own head wreaths, and lots of food.
Self-guided exhibits are open, and guided tours are available for $10 per person at 11 a.m., 1 and 3 p.m.
Admission is free, with Shaker Village open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
For more info, visit shakers.org.
Insider staff
