Good morning from the shoreline.
The dog days are winding down. The sun is setting before 8pm, and tonight's Summer Soundwaves at Esker Point is the last one of the season. We’re turning a corner on summer, and I'm treating the next few weeks accordingly: the beach chair stays in the trunk, and anything that can happen outside, does.
Before the weekend rundown, I want your help with something. I'm going to start interviewing and featuring people around here worth celebrating: artists, makers, and neighbors who've held a corner of this place together for years or are sparking up something new. Reply to this email with their name and a sentence on why.
Here’s what I’ve surfaced this week.
In today’s issue: The Northeast’s oldest juried art show takes over Mystic · Matisyahu plays a North Stonington vineyard · Waterford Day brings a parade down Rope Ferry Road · an indie fest at the Hygienic · movies on the sand in Misquamicut
Heads up: Gmail sometimes cuts this email short. Read the full issue online →
START HERE
The weekend in 30 seconds
THE MARQUEE
The 68th Mystic Outdoor Art Festival
Saturday & Sunday · 10am–6pm Sat, 10am–5pm Sun · Mystic
More than a mile of artists along both sides of the river, the oldest juried art show in the Northeast, free both days.
BIG SATURDAY NIGHT
Saturday · 7pm · North Stonington
A national name on a vineyard lawn twenty minutes from the drawbridge. 21+, ticketed.
FOR FAMILIES
Saturday · parade at 11am · Waterford
Free festivities at Jordan Park Green from 8am, then the parade down Rope Ferry Road at 11. Bring chairs.
SLOW SUNDAY
Sunday · market 12pm, festival until 5pm · Mystic
Produce on the Homestead grounds, then walk the art fest at Sunday pace.
SPONSORED EVENT — PLAN AHEAD!
Vintage Bazaar New England
Saturday–Sunday, August 15–16 · 10am–5pm · Mystic Seaport Museum · Mystic
Next weekend, August 15–16, more than 100 vintage dealers, artists, makers, designers, and small businesses are gathering at Mystic Seaport Museum for Vintage Bazaar New England. Spend the day browsing antiques, handmade jewelry, art, clothing, apothecary goods, architectural salvage, coastal décor, and one-of-a-kind finds from across the Northeast. Live music, lawn games, and the Museum’s waterfront setting make this feel more like a summer festival than a traditional market. The Bazaar is included with Museum admission; members attend free and get Saturday access beginning at 9am.
EDITOR’S PICKS
The Digest
SATURDAY & SUNDAY, AUGUST 8–9 · 10AM–6PM SAT, 10AM–5PM SUN
Downtown Mystic Becomes One Long Gallery This Weekend
Downtown Mystic · Free
The 68th Mystic Outdoor Art Festival lines both sides of the river with close to 270 artists, plus a Children’s Art Park and a performing-arts stage in Mystic River Park. The Chamber bills it as the oldest juried art show in the Northeast, it is free, and it runs both days.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 8 · 7PM · 21+
Matisyahu Plays a Vineyard Saturday Night
Jonathan Edwards Winery · North Stonington
Jonathan Edwards has been booking a few national acts all summer, and Saturday it’s Matisyahu. Tickets through the winery; bring a lawn chair.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 8 · PARADE 11AM
Waterford Day Parade
Rope Ferry Road · Waterford
Waterford Day starts with free family festivities at Jordan Park Green at 8am, then the parade steps off down Rope Ferry Road at 11 sharp. Show up, wave at people you know, and eat something off a grill.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 8 · DOORS 6PM · $10 SUGGESTED
The Hygienic Packs Six Local Bands Into One Night
Hygienic Art Park · New London
The Hygienic Indie Music Fest puts Delicate Crush, Roosevelt Drive, Ruby Grove, The Whales, Pure Joy, and All In, All Out on one bill in the art park on Bank Street. All ages, $10 suggested donation, and a great way to support the local art scene in New London.
THE FULL RUNDOWN
This week’s events
Thursday, August 6
Plant Swap
3pm · Public Library of New London · bring plants, seeds, or supplies; take some home · NEW LONDON
Summer Evening Sailing
5:30pm · Mystic Seaport Sailing Center · MYSTIC
Thirsty Thursdays at Deans Mill Farm
5:30pm · Deans Mill Farm · weekly beer garden: live music, food trucks, free and family-friendly · STONINGTON
Preston Summer Carnival
4–10pm · Preston Community Park · through Saturday; free admission; fireworks Friday 9pm, car cruise Saturday · PRESTON
Debra Curtis Author Talk & Signing
6pm · Bank Square Books · debut novel picked for Jenna Bush Hager’s imprint · MYSTIC
Summer Nights Sip & Paint
6pm · Hygienic Art Park · NEW LONDON
Summer Beats: The Fake Experience
6pm · Charter Oak Summer Beats series · NEW LONDON
Don’t Tell Lisa
6pm · Esker Point Beach · free; the last Summer Soundwaves of the season · GROTON (NOANK)
MISFIT Karaoke
7:30pm · The Misfit Club · MYSTIC
Mystic Dead LIVE at the Drive-In
8pm · Wuskenau Beach Pondside · $10–30; a Dead show on the sand · WESTERLY
Friday, August 7
Preston Summer Carnival
4–10pm · Preston Community Park · through Saturday; free admission; fireworks Friday 9pm, car cruise Saturday · PRESTON
Museum After Hours with James Harris
4:30–7:30pm · Mystic Seaport lawn · Museum entry free from 5pm through the North Entrance · MYSTIC
Sip ’n’ Spin Pottery Social (21+)
6pm · Stonington COMO · BYO wine, throw a pot · STONINGTON
An Evening with Paul Cauthen
8pm · UNITED Theatre · see the Music cards below · WESTERLY
Misquamicut Drive-In: The Breakfast Club
8:30pm · Wuskenau Beach Pondside · $25 per carload; The Lion King Saturday, Moana Sunday, both 8:30pm · WESTERLY
Saturday, August 8
Waterford Day Parade & Festivities
festivities 8am, parade 11am · Rope Ferry Road · see the Digest · WATERFORD
68th Mystic Outdoor Art Festival
10am–6pm · Downtown Mystic · runs Sunday too, 10am–5pm; see the Digest · MYSTIC
CT Kids & Baby Expo: Back to School Edition
11am–2pm · Mystic Hilton · MYSTIC
Preston Summer Carnival
4–10pm · Preston Community Park · through Saturday; free admission; fireworks Friday 9pm, car cruise Saturday · PRESTON
Hygienic Indie Music Fest
6pm · Hygienic Art Park · see the Digest · NEW LONDON
Matisyahu
7pm · Jonathan Edwards Winery · 21+; see the Digest · NORTH STONINGTON
Dance Saturday at The Misfit Club
7:30pm · The Misfit Club · MYSTIC
The 502s
8pm · UNITED Theatre · see the Music cards below · WESTERLY
Sunday, August 9
Mystic Outdoor Art Festival, day two
10am–5pm · Downtown Mystic · MYSTIC
Summer by the Sea: Architecture, Interiors & Photography on the RI Coast
4pm · UNITED Theatre Gallery · WESTERLY
Painting on Stained Glass: A Sacred Art Workshop
4:30pm · Enders Island · week-long workshop begins Sunday; registration required · MYSTIC
An Evening of Poetry with Carla Panciera
Stonington Free Library · STONINGTON
Christina’s 2nd Sunday Open Mic
6pm · Hygienic Art Park · NEW LONDON
Food, drink & music
FRIDAY NIGHT
Learn to Make a Proper Old Fashioned
Kitch in Mystic runs a Mastering Craft Mixology class Friday night, 6–8pm: a craft Old Fashioned, a classic daiquiri, and an espresso martini, built by you, plus 15% off the shop after class. $65, and these classes fill. Details →
THURSDAY NIGHT
Saltwater Farm - BBQ, tunes, and raw bar
Tonight at the vineyard in Stonington: Nick Bosse plays at 5, South County BBQ cooks, J&R Seafood runs a raw bar, and Owl’s Brew pours a spiked-pop tasting. That’s a full evening for the price of whatever you eat. Details →
LIVE MUSIC · FRIDAY
Paul Cauthen at the UNITED
The Texas country and Americana singer plays the Black Box in Westerly at 8pm. Details →
LIVE MUSIC · SATURDAY
The 502s at the UNITED
Indie-folk out of Orlando, billed as “the happiest band on Earth,” in the Black Box at 8pm the next night. Ticketed. Details →
Full live-music list at wailingcity.com →
If you miss the lineup, reply and let me know!
SHIP’S LOG
68 Summers of Art in the Street
The story behind this weekend’s Outdoor Art Festival.
Mystic has been a painters’ town for over a century. Charles Harold Davis and a handful of fellow artists founded the Mystic Art Association in 1913, and the gallery they built on Water Street is still open today as the Mystic Museum of Art (renamed in 2016). The Outdoor Art Festival came later, in 1957, when locals borrowed the idea from New York’s Washington Square outdoor exhibit. That first year, artists showed their paintings right in the shop fronts along the street.
The Greater Mystic Chamber now bills it as the oldest juried art show in the Northeast, and this weekend it returns for year 68: around 270 artists lining Cottrell, Holmes, and Bay streets, Saturday 10 to 6 and Sunday 10 to 5. There’s a Children’s Art Park down at the Seaport shipyard too. Admission is free.
Photo of the Week
This week’s photo is from Sarah Lawhorne (@slawhornephotography). She’ll be showcasing her new floral collection tomorrow, August 7th, in her studio in Westerly.
SAVE THE DATE
On the horizon
MONDAY, AUGUST 10
School Supplies Swap at the Public Library of New London, 3pm: drop off supplies your kids never used, take what yours need. Free, no questions asked.
MONDAY, AUGUST 10
Sabino Music Cruises head downriver from the Seaport at 5:30pm with live music and a cash bar on the water. An easy Monday reset.
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 12
Jenn Bouchard at Bank Square Books: the author talks her novel Palms on the Cape at 6pm in Mystic.
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 12
Two free town concerts at 6pm: East Lyme’s Summer Concert Series and Waterford’s at Waterford Beach Park. Then Jaws plays the Misquamicut Drive-In at 8:30 if you want to make a night of it.
THURSDAY, AUGUST 13
We Met at Grossinger’s warms up the Garde’s centennial season at the Garde Arts Center in New London.
SATURDAY–SUNDAY, AUGUST 15–16
FarmFest at Highland Homestead: a weekend of farm-country fun on the Stonington side of the river, in Pawcatuck. Mark the calendar now.
COASTAL WEATHER
The weekend outlook
FRIDAY
86°
Partly Cloudy
SATURDAY
85°
Partly Cloudy
SUNDAY
86°
Partly Cloudy
That’s your weekend!
Pick one thing off the list and get out the door.
As always, if you are enjoying the newsletter or have any critiques, please reply and let me know! I’m always looking for ways to improve or for encouragement.
Talk Thursday.
Reach shoreline locals every Thursday
Presenting partnerships, featured events, Crew Corner campaigns, and local notices are available.
