Ultimate Summer Festivals

Please note: Although this article originally published in 2016, we have updated it with 2017 dates and times. Have fun this summer!


Getting dirty is encouraged at the Jericho ATV Festival at Jericho Mountain State Park. Photo courtesy of the Androscoggin Valley Chamber of Commerce.

You could spend every single weekend (well, almost) at a fair or festival in New Hampshire, but there are a few that rise above the fray and offer experiences you can only find here. For the muddiest motorized fun, check out the Jericho ATV Festival at Jericho Mountain State Park in Berlin from August 4-5.

There are more good times to be had North of the Notch in August. From Aug. 25-26, celebrate that iconic NH creature — the moose — at the 26th anniversary of the North Country Moose Festival that’s too big for one town. Events take place in Colebrook, Pittsburg and Canaan, VT.

One of the best summer arts and music festivals around, the Prescott Park Arts Festival, lasts all season long and offers fun for the entire family from June through October. Don't miss excellent theater, great music and a slew of special events including a chowder chowder cook-off, road race, fairy house tour, outdoor evening movies, brewfest and much more.

Nikki Hill at the 2015’s White Mountain Boogie N’ Blues Festival. Photo courtesy of the festival.

This August 18-20, the largest outdoor blues festival in New England, the White Mountain Boogie N’ Blues Festival, celebrates its 21st anniversary. It’s held in the heart of the White Mountains, and the stage is in a natural amphitheater located on a 72-acre pasture in the Pemigewasset River Valley. Camping is welcome, though other lodging is available.


The Atlas PyroVision Festival of Fireworks is an explosive end to the summer. Photo courtesy of Atlas PyroVision.

Didn’t get your fill of explosions on the Fourth of July? Don’t worry, Atlas PyroVision has you covered at its annual Festival of Fireworks on August 19 at the Silver Ranch Airpark in Jaffrey. It’s fireworks overload in the best way possible. Speaking of Independence Day, we recommend the Best of NH Award-winning celebration in New Boston, a classic small-town Fourth of July experience, or go the historical route with An American Celebration at the Strawbery Banke Museum in Portsmouth on July 1, 3 and 4, which is modeled around an old-fashioned field day and includes costumed role-players, military re-enactors, antique cars, historical dances, craft demonstrations and more.