Things to Do in New Hampshire This Weekend: October 9-11, 2026

This is peak New Hampshire fall insanity in the best possible way. We’ve got the Warner Fall Foliage Festival, the Sandwich Fair, pumpkins being subjected to activities they never consented to in Somersworth, Oktoberfest at Loon and foliage getting seriously good in the mountains.

Basically, this is the weekend when every road in New Hampshire leads to foliage, fried dough or both.

Credit: Warner Fall Festival via Facebook

NEW HAMPSHIRE WEEKEND EVENTS: October 9-11, 2026

Warner Fall Foliage Festival — Warner | Friday–Sunday

The 79th annual Warner Fall Foliage Festival takes over downtown Warner October 9–11, with food, artisans, demonstrations, live music and activities throughout the village. The festival has been a community tradition since 1947, and proceeds are poured back into local organizations and community projects. Warner Fall Foliage Festival
And you're doing all of this while Warner is surrounded by October foliage.

If you're new here, like me, this is the New Hampshire fall starter pack: foliage, fried food, crafts and somebody casually demonstrating a skill I didn't know people still had.

Sandwich Fair — Sandwich | Friday–Monday

If you want the old-school New England fair experience, this is it.

The Sandwich Fair runs Columbus Day weekend with a Friday-night kickoff from 4–9 p.m., followed by full fair days Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m.–6 p.m., plus Monday. Expect livestock, agricultural exhibits, ox pulls, midway rides, fair food and the kind of small-town New England atmosphere that looks like someone built it specifically for a Hallmark movie.

I want to see enormous vegetables, an ox pull and then eat something fried that requires six napkins. That's my fall wellness plan. Don't tell my doctor i'm going to visit next week.

Somersworth Pumpkin Festival — Somersworth | Saturday

I'm including this one partly because it's right in our backyard and partly because of the list of things they're doing to pumpkins.

The Somersworth Pumpkin Festival happens Saturday from 10 a.m.–3 p.m. at Somersworth Plaza on Main Street.

There will be pumpkin painting, carving, throwing, bowling and golfing. Apparently simply displaying a pumpkin was considered insufficient.

“Pumpkin bowling AND pumpkin golf? At some point the pumpkins need to organize and demand better working conditions.”

NEW HAMPSHIRE LIVE MUSIC EVENTS: October 9-11, 2026

Caitlin Piper + The Stray Horses Perform Tapestry — Portsmouth | Saturday

Caitlin Piper and The Stray Horses take over The Press Room Saturday at 7 p.m. to perform Carole King's landmark Tapestry. Portsmouth NH Tickets

“This is my sophisticated Portsmouth Saturday-night pick... right up until I start singing every word louder than the actual band.”

Amani Burnham — Portsmouth | Saturday

If you want to discover somebody rather than see the usual names, check out Amani Burnham Saturday at The Music Hall Lounge.

The 20-year-old guitarist mixes blues-rock, soulful vocals and Ethiopian roots, with music from his debut album Roots & Wings.

“Every once in a while the best show is the artist you barely knew walking in and can't stop talking about afterward.”

NEW HAMPSHIRE OUTDOOR ADVENTURES: October 9-11, 2026

Mount Willard — Crawford Notch

If you're going to hike Mount Willard this year, this is the kind of weekend you do it.

The White Mountains typically hit their most colorful stretch during the first two weeks of October, and the state's foliage tracker is now updating conditions twice each week. Visit NH

Mount Willard gives you that huge view straight through Crawford Notch without committing your entire life to a 4,000-footer.

It's one of those hikes where the view makes your phone pictures look fake. Unfortunately, the uphill portion is very real.”

Before heading north, check the official New Hampshire foliage tracker for current conditions.

Sunfox Farm Corn & Sunflower Mazes — Concord, New Hampshire

Gully Hill Rd , Concord, New Hampshire

I'm stretching the definition of outdoor adventure this week because getting lost in six acres of corn absolutely counts.

Sunfox Farm has its Columbus Day festival weekend Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m.–6 p.m., featuring its six-acre corn maze, sunflower maze, pick-your-own pumpkins, live local music, artisan vendors, food trucks and games. General admission to the farm is free; you pay separately for maze wristbands, pumpkins and food. Kids 10 and younger get free maze admission with an accompanying adult.Sunfox Farm corn maze and festival details

I'm thinking... nothing strengthens a relationship quite like getting lost in a corn maze and immediately discovering neither one of you should be in charge.

NEW HAMPSHIRE HIDDEN GEM: October 9-11, 2026

The Local — Warner, New Hampshire

15 E Main St, Warner, New Hampshire

Since I'm already sending you to Warner, I'm giving you somewhere to eat. I know, I'm a giver.

The Local is right on Main Street in Warner and has exactly the kind of cozy, small-town tavern vibe I want after walking around a foliage festival. The menu leans into casual American food, with burgers made from an American Wagyu blend sourced from Bohannan Farm in nearby Contoocook, plus a rotating craft-beer selection.
Garret line: “Local beef, a burger and a beer after walking around looking at leaves? I'm not sure we need to overcomplicate this.”

NEW HAMPSHIRE ROAD TRIP: October 9-11, 2026

White Mountains Covered Bridge Tour

Instead of sending everybody onto the Kanc again, I'm getting you off the most obvious route.

New Hampshire's official fall road-trip guide has a White Mountains covered-bridge route that takes you toward Durgin Bridge in Sandwich, Whittier Bridge over the Bearcamp River, Jackson's covered bridge and Blair Bridge in Campton, with stops around Lake Chocorua and the mountain villages along the way.

And the timing couldn't be much better: the White Mountains typically reach peak color during the first two weeks of October.

My version:
Lake Chocorua → Sandwich → Durgin Bridge → Jackson → covered bridge → find lunch → keep driving until you run out of daylight.

“At this point New England has convinced us that driving three hours to photograph a wooden bridge surrounded by orange trees is completely normal behavior. And you know what? They're right.”

Official White Mountains Covered Bridge fall route

If I Only Had One Day... here's the Garret plan

I'm going to Warner Saturday. Coffee early. Head west before everybody else has the same idea.

Spend the morning at the Warner Fall Foliage Festival, walk Main Street, eat something irresponsible and check out the vendors.

Grab lunch at The Local.

Then take the 40-mile Currier & Ives Scenic Byway, which actually runs through Warner along with Henniker, Hopkinton, Webster and Salisbury. All the New England things... you get farmland, stone walls, historic villages, covered bridges and views toward Mount Kearsarge and Pats Peak.

Festival → burger → foliage drive.

That's an aggressively New Hampshire Saturday, and I mean that as the highest compliment possible.