Garret’s Granite State Weekend Guide: Apples, Foliage & Fall Chaos
Okay, THIS is the New Hampshire fall weekend we’ve been waiting for.
Apple Harvest Day takes over downtown Dover, the Deerfield Fair is back, Exeter is serving enough chili to require stretchy pants, the White Mountains are lighting up with foliage, and apparently we can squeeze Sophie B. Hawkins and a Michael Jackson tribute into all of that.
Basically, if you stay home this weekend, I need a note explaining why.
NEW HAMPSHIRE WEEKEND EVENTS: October 2-4, 2026
Apple Harvest Day — Dover | Saturday
This is the big one for us.
Apple Harvest Day takes over downtown Dover Saturday, October 3, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., with nearly 350 vendors, food, live entertainment and family activities. The Greater Dover Chamber says the event now attracts more than 60,000 people. Admission is free.
The morning starts with the Apple Harvest Day 5K at 8:30, and yes, WOKQ is getting involved too: we're holding our WOKQ Apple Pie Contest in Henry Law Park, with pies due by 11 a.m. You can enter the Apple Pie Contest HERE
Parking warning: don't just drive downtown at 11 and hope the universe provides. There's a free shuttle from the Brady Sullivan campus at 100 Liberty Way to Washington Street from 9 a.m.–5 p.m. There is construction around Henry Law Park. Dover can learn a thing or two about timing.
"Sixty thousand people are coming to Dover to celebrate apples. Meanwhile I'm judging apple pie. I've apparently reached my final New England form."
Deerfield Fair — Deerfield | Thursday–Sunday
The Deerfield Fair runs October 1–4, bringing livestock shows, horse and ox pulling, giant vegetables, crafts, midway rides and all the fair food you can reasonably consume before regretting your decisions on the Tilt-A-Whirl.
And this isn't some little pop-up fair. The tradition dates all the way back to 1876.
“My strategy is simple: look at enormous pumpkins, eat something deep-fried that had no business being deep-fried, eat a turkey leg, then immediately get on a ride that spins in circles. Flawless.”
Powder Keg Beer & Chili Festival — Exeter | Saturday
This may be the most dangerous sentence in this week's guide:
Unlimited samples and chili.
The 14th annual Powder Keg Beer & Chili Festival hits Swasey Parkway Saturday from noon–4 p.m. VIP entry begins at noon and general admission at 1. The lineup includes local breweries plus chili from restaurants including Exeter Brewing Co., Las Olas, Muddy River Smokehouse, OTTO Exeter, The Railpenny Tavern, Thirsty Moose and more.
“An afternoon where we're competitively judging chili? Finally, an athletic event I've been training for my entire life.”
NEW HAMPSHIRE LIVE MUSIC EVENTS: October 2-4, 2026
Sophie B. Hawkins — Portsmouth | Friday
Here's your Friday date-night pick.
Sophie B. Hawkins plays Friday at 8 p.m. Tickets are listed at $44 advance, $49 day-of and $54 premium.
And yes, this is the woman who gave us “Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover.”
If that sentence immediately put the chorus in your head, congratulations: you're coming with me.
“Nothing makes you confront the passage of time quite like realizing the songs from your youth are now part of a sophisticated night out in Portsmouth.”
INVINCIBLE: A Michael Jackson Tribute — Portsmouth | Saturday
Saturday night, the Historic Theater at goes full Michael Jackson with INVINCIBLE, a theatrical concert built around his career and music.
“This is where I discover that the moonwalk I perfected in my kitchen looks considerably less impressive in public.”
NEW HAMPSHIRE OUTDOOR ADVENTURES: October 2-4, 2026
Red Hill Fall Foliage Hike — Moultonborough | Saturday
If you're ready to earn those cider donuts, the Squam Lakes Association is leading a free 5.1-mile fall-foliage hike up Red Hill Saturday from 10 a.m.–2 p.m.
It's a moderate hike at a leisurely pace, with a longer break at the summit for lunch, foliage and views from the fire tower. Registration is required. Learn more HERE
“The fire-tower view is your reward for the climb. The cheeseburger afterward is your reward for surviving the climb.”
Fall Foliage Chairlift — Plymouth | Saturday & Sunday
Prefer seeing foliage without making your legs participate?
I respect that.
Tenney Mountain's scenic chairlift is running this weekend, with rides listed at $18 and huge elevated views over the changing Lakes Region and mountain landscape. Learn more HERE
“All the mountain views with considerably less wheezing. Technology really is incredible.”
NEW HAMPSHIRE HIDDEN GEM: October 2-4, 2026
Wicked Fresh Craft Burgers — North Conway
19 Barnes Road in North Conway
Did you see the picture of that cheeseburger right above? Are you kidding me? Gimme the cheeseburger!!!!!!
Since I'm sending you north for foliage this weekend, I'm also giving you somewhere to eat.
Wicked Fresh is a locally owned, family-run burger joint doing made-to-order craft burgers, hand-cut fries, house sauces and shakes.
This is exactly what I want after spending several hours driving through the mountains pretending I'm a professional foliage photographer.
“If I've spent four hours looking at leaves, I have earned a burger large enough to require structural engineering.”
NEW HAMPSHIRE FAMILY PICK: October 2-4, 2026
Happy Hauntings at Story Land — Glen
Story Land has transformed weekends through October 25 into Happy Hauntings, with trick-or-treating, pumpkin painting, rides, shows, characters, bubble dance parties, scream contests and a Halloween hay maze.
This is Halloween for little kids without immediately traumatizing them.
“Trick-or-treating, rides and pumpkin painting. The children will sleep for approximately 11 hours afterward. You're welcome, parents.”
NEW HAMPSHIRE ROAD TRIP: October 2-4, 2026
The Kanc. It's Time.
I've been trying not to send you across the every single fall weekend.
I can no longer resist.
The Kanc stretches 34.5 miles through the White Mountain National Forest, climbing to nearly 3,000 feet and passing the Swift River, Rocky Gorge, Lower Falls, Sabbaday Falls and some of the best mountain overlooks in New England.
And timing matters this week. The NH foliage tracker is now publishing live reports twice weekly, while the traditional peak window along the Kanc falls in the first two weeks of October.
My route:
Lincoln → Kancamagus Highway → Sabbaday Falls → North Conway → burger.
LEAVE EARLY. This is not the weekend to casually roll onto the Kanc at 1:30 in the afternoon and wonder why every other human in New England had the same idea.
“We're about to voluntarily sit in traffic because the trees changed colors. New England is a very strange place and apparently I completely belong here now.”
If I Only Had One Day This Weekend...
This week is easy.
I'm staying in Dover Saturday.
Start downtown early. Watch the Apple Harvest Day 5K. Get coffee. Walk Apple Harvest Day before the biggest crowds arrive.
Then I'm heading over to Henry Law Park because WOKQ has apple pie business to attend to.
And since I'll be eating all of the Apple Pie, there's an extremely good possibility that by noon I will have eaten enough pie to require medical supervision.
Spend the afternoon wandering the vendors, listening to live music and eating something that isn't pie purely for nutritional diversity.
Then, if I still have anything left in the tank, head toward Portsmouth Saturday night.
Apple Harvest Day → apple pie → downtown Dover → Portsmouth.
That's about as Seacoast-fall as one Saturday can possibly get.
