Things to Do in Hopkinton NH This October: A 2026 Guide

"It was like the one thing missing in the village, having a really nice neighborhood gathering place," Brian Cressy told the Concord Monitor in fall 2025, when his Cedar & Main Tavern opened in the old Covered Bridge Restaurant building in Contoocook. It opened on September 26, 2025, with 90 seats inside and 90 on a patio above the Contoocook River, facing the covered bridge. A year later, the tavern is the last stop on a fall schedule that nobody planned as a single itinerary but that works like one.

Hopkinton's October 2026 is split between its two villages. The Historical Society's events happen on Main Street in Hopkinton village. The Recreation Department, the Town Library and the PTA hold theirs at the Houston Park Complex in Contoocook. On Saturday, October 17, the start times are far enough apart that one afternoon can include both villages, in a fixed order.

Saturday, October 17, in the order the clock sets

The pumpkin drop-off is the easiest part to miss. The Recreation Department wants carved jack-o'-lanterns brought to the Slusser Center between 1 and 2:30 p.m. with a battery-operated tea light inside. Entry is free. People vote on the pumpkins during Spooky Tooky, and prizes go to the top adult and kids entries. Results go up on the Rec Department's Facebook page the next day. Winners collect gift cards at the Slusser Center on Monday between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.

That leaves the 2 p.m. Cemetery Walk at Old Hopkinton Cemetery as the middle stop. The Historical Society has staged nine of these walks over 17 years. Actors tell the stories of people buried in the cemetery as first-person narratives. The series won a national history award from the American Association for State and Local History in 2019. It runs rain or shine. Tickets are $10 for Society members and $15 for everyone else, sold in advance online, at the Society, or at the gate. A second show is Sunday, October 18, also at 2 p.m., if Saturday is already full.

After the walk, it's back to Contoocook for Spooky Tooky, 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. The Hopkinton Recreation Committee, the Hopkinton Town Library and the Hopkinton PTA put it on together. This year's costume theme is magic. The event runs inside and outside, with crafts, games and food for sale in the Library Community Room and the Slusser parking area. There's also touch-a-truck with town vehicles, trunk-or-treat, the PTA Haunted Trail, and the jack-o'-lantern judging. Food sales are cash only. Interact volunteers will direct parking onto the grass in front of the library, and the back of the library is set aside for pedestrians and the trucks. Admission is free.

The sponsor list for Spooky Tooky includes a lot of local businesses: Witching Hour Coffee & Provisions, J&M Towing/89 Automotive, Contoocook Stoneworks, Apple Tree Animal Hospital and the Hopkinton Town Library Fellowship. Raffle and prize donations come from Tooky Village Barber Shop, Henniker Massage, YAYA Organics, Contoocook Creamery and Witching Hour.

Cedar & Main closes the evening. On Saturdays the tavern is open from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., and the kitchen stops taking orders at 9.

The costume for that Saturday can come from Main Street

Witching Hour is on the Spooky Tooky sponsor list, and its own Halloween project feeds into the same afternoon. The shop is running a free costume swap. Its current page, which doesn't print a year, says donations are accepted through October 23, and anyone can take a costume home through October 31. You don't have to donate to take one, and you don't have to live in Hopkinton. Donated costumes should be clean, in good condition and suitable for all ages, with children's sizes preferred. Accessories are welcome but wigs are not. Drop costumes off during store hours, not outside the door.

Because the pickup window opens before October 17, a family can find a magic-themed costume at the swap the week before Spooky Tooky.

The shop itself is a fairly new part of Main Street. In May 2025 the Concord Monitor reported that Maple Street Mercantile was closing and that Witching Hour's owners would take over the space for coffee and a community-focused store with refills. Witching Hour now lists 902 Main St. as its address, with a coffee roastery, bakery, espresso and tea menu, an eco-store and a refill station. The town's online business directory still shows the older layout, so go by the shop's own address. Hours are Monday through Friday 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. and weekends 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., so weekend drop-offs are a morning errand. The shop says it will be closed Saturday, October 17, and Sunday, October 18, so a costume for Spooky Tooky needs to be picked up by Friday the 16th.

Two weekends earlier, the crowd is at the fairgrounds

The State Fair is over, but the Hopkinton State Fairgrounds at 392 Kearsarge Ave. fill up again on October 3 and 4 for Brimfield North, a weekend of antiques, flea market tables and food trucks. Admission is $6, a weekend pass is $10, and early-bird entry is $20. Children 17 and under get in free, and parking is free. Hours are Saturday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., with early birds admitted from 7 to 9 a.m., and Sunday 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Musical ventriloquist Kevin Driscoll will walk the grounds performing on Saturday from noon to 2 p.m.

That weekend also has a second stop up on Gould Hill:

1. Contoocook Cider Company's tasting room is open weekends from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., with live music from 1 to 4 p.m. The cider company's schedule lists David Cron for Saturday and Alex Cohen for Sunday. Since those listings don't include a year, check before you go. The restaurant serves handmade pizzas, charcuterie and hot pretzels, along with hard ciders made from Gould Hill Farm apples.
2. Gould Hill Farm at 656 Gould Hill Rd. has pick-your-own apples now. The store is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and picking ends at 5. Apples are sold by the bag: quarter peck, half peck, peck and half bushel. On Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, ice cream is sold downstairs in the barn's tasting room after the store closes.
3. The Town Library's Spooky Season Stitching cross-stitch workshop runs October 3 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Registration is full, and the library is keeping a waitlist.

The deadlines underneath both weekends

The two big Saturdays are easy to remember. The smaller dates around them are easier to miss, and some of them close for good:

• October 1. OverDrive and Libby logins at the Town Library start requiring a PIN or password. If you never set one, it defaults to the main phone number on your library account.
• October 10. Last day of "Crossing Thresholds" at the Two Villages Art Society, 846 Main St., Contoocook. The show features photographers John Hoglund and Sher Kamman and painter Ann Saunderson, and it's open Thursday through Sunday, noon to 4 p.m.
• Columbus Day weekend. Gould Hill says apple picking usually runs from Labor Day weekend to Columbus Day, depending on weather and the crop. Columbus Day falls on Monday, October 12 this year.
• October 14, 5:30 p.m. Sienna Larson speaks at the Town Library about her exhibit "Handmade: Telling America's Story Through Decorative Needlework," on display in October and November.
• October 2026. Drawing for the Historical Society's hand-appliquéd, hand-quilted quilt raffle. Tickets are $2 each or 3 for $5 at the Society.
• October 23. Last day to donate costumes at Witching Hour.
• October 31. Last day to pick up a costume from the swap, and the library's Halloween Take & Make from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 61 Houston Drive.
• November 3, 6 to 8 p.m. The library's Contookuleles ukulele group meets, with beginners welcome.

The Historical Society's own hours stay the same into December: Thursdays and Fridays 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Saturdays 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The library is open Tuesday through Thursday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Friday 10 to 5, Saturday 10 to 3 and Sunday 1 to 5, and closed Mondays.

What's already closed for the season, and what isn't

Elm Brook Park isn't part of an October weekend this year. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' 2026 schedule closed it for the season on Sunday, August 31. The Hopkinton-Everett Lakes OHRV trails stay open through Sunday, November 22, but riders can only get on them from the parking lot in Dunbarton.

The Corps is also revising the 1978 master plan for Hopkinton-Everett Lakes. The revision covers proposed land-use classes, recreation facility needs and resource management goals. The 30-day public comment period started August 25 and ended September 25, 2026.

The rest of the fall calendar is in the villages. The fairgrounds and Gould Hill carry the first weekend of the month. Main Street in Hopkinton village and the Houston Park Complex in Contoocook share the 17th. A table on the river at Cedar & Main is open all month, Tuesday through Sunday, with the kitchen open until 9 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and until 8 p.m. on the other open nights.

If October 17 has you thinking about which Hopkinton village fits your weekends, or if family is weighing a move closer to Main Street, Darcy Mantel is happy to talk through how each part of town works in a regular week. Let's Connect.