North of Boston

Deck the Halls at Hammond Castle Museum
2025-12-11 09:00 - 15:30, 2025-12-10 09:00 - 15:30, 2025-12-09 09:00 - 15:30, 2025-12-08 09:00 - 15:30, 2025-12-07 09:00 - 15:30 (America/New_York) | Hammond Castle Museum, 80 Hesperus Avenue, Gloucester, MA, 01930, United States
Join us for the 2025 Holiday Season as we proudly present our 7th annual “Deck The Halls” holiday celebration!
Travel back in time to a castle filled with lush, opulent textures inspired by the great medieval and Renaissance castles of Europe. Wander through rooms adorned with White Birch and Christmas trees, sparkling fairy lights, hydrangea-lace garlands, and elegant bows, each space transformed with its own unique holiday theme. From nature’s bounty of fruits and greenery to the warm glow of candlelight, every detail creates a true feast for the senses. Along the way, you will encounter a royal guard of nutcrackers standing watch over a gingerbread house replica of the castle. Keep an eye out for playful elves and gnomes who are up to mischief—great fun for little ones! This year, the celebration will also shine with the glow of two menorahs on display, honoring the traditions of Hanukkah within the Museum’s holiday splendor.
For the first time, we are pleased to feature design elements created in partnership with Elaine Quinn Interiors, a boutique residential interior design firm based in Manchester-by-the-Sea, MA, bringing fresh inspiration and artistry to this year’s holiday presentation.
In addition to the holiday installation, guests will also have the opportunity to experience the Hammond in Italy temporary exhibition, which highlights John Hays Hammond Jr.’s time abroad and the profound influence Italian art and architecture had on his vision for the castle.
For an even more enchanting experience, join us for Deck the Halls by Candlelight on Thursday evenings throughout December. These extended-hour tours invite guests to explore the Museum after dark, when the holiday décor glows with flickering candlelight and twinkling lights, creating a truly magical atmosphere.
Guests should plan for approximately 60 minutes in total to take in the full holiday grandeur.

THE GLASS MENAGERIE by Tennessee Williams
2025-12-10 19:30 - 21:30 | Gloucester Stage Company, East Main Street 267, Gloucester, M, 01930, United States
Through Tom’s cinematic eyes, his family’s life isn’t the dream he imagined. In a rundown St. Louis apartment the matriarch, Amanda Wingfield, is desperately clinging to a past of parties and endless callers. Her adult children, Tom and Laura, become victims of her delusions as she pushes for Tom to provide for the struggling family and Laura to find a husband. The two seek solace in ways of escaping their mother and their own misery until a visit from a gentleman caller presents the possibility of new opportunities.
Renowned playwright Tennessee Williams opens the 2025 Season with this classic drama, directed by Doug Lockwood. Running from June 5 to 28, all performances are at Gloucester Stage’s Theater 267 East Main Street, Gloucester. Showtimes are Wednesdays & Thursdays at 7:30pm, Fridays & Saturdays at 8:00pm, and matinees Saturdays & Sunday at 3:00pm.

Cape Ann Shakespeare Troupe presents One Act Wonders
2025-12-10 19:30 - 21:30, 2025-12-09 19:30 - 21:30, 2025-12-08 19:30 - 21:30, 2025-12-07 19:30 - 21:30 | Gloucester Stage, 267 East Main St., Gloucester, MA, 01930, United States
Cape Ann Shakespeare Troupe presents “One-Act Wonders”, a program of four modern one-act plays exploring boundaries, loyalties, and the absurdities of life. The program will run for four performances only, at Gloucester Stage Theater, April 17th (7:30pm) 18th (7:30pm), and 19th (3pm + 7:30pm). Tickets are $28.

Jingle Bar: Holiday Pop-Up Bar
2025-12-10 18:00 - 21:00 | MA
Jingle all the way to the harbor as our Holiday Pop-Up Bar returns this season on December 3rd, 10th, 17th, and 22nd from 6:00PM-9:00PM. Enjoy champagne, seasonal cocktails, light bites, festive décor, and live music in our oceanfront Grand Ballroom and Pavilion Rooms, with General Admission starting at $15 and upgraded premier seating available.

A Christmas Carol
2025-12-10 14:00 - 16:00, 2025-12-07 14:00 - 16:00 | North Shore Music Theatre, Dunham Road 54, Beverly, MA, 01915, United States
New England’s brightest holiday tradition! An original adaptation based on Charles Dickens’ classic novella, A CHRISTMAS CAROL is a musical ghost story following the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge through a series of strange and magical journeys, where he ultimately discovers the true spirit of the holiday season. Featuring dazzling special effects and traditional songs this award-winning production has been seen by more than one million people since its debut in 1989.

Newburyport Art presents Hometown Stories Exhibition
2025-12-10 11:00 - 17:00, 2025-12-09 11:00 - 17:00, 2025-12-07 11:00 - 17:00 | Newburyport Art Association, 65 Water St, Newburyport, MA, 01950, United States
Newburyport Art (NAA) concludes its year of exhibitions with Members’ Hometown Stories and Great Marsh Meditations, a featured artist show by C. Max Schenk. Both exhibits run concurrently from December 5th to December 21st.
Hometown Stories asked artists to submit work inspired by their hometown, whether a place where they grew up or currently reside. Hometown Stories features work inspired by houses, landscapes, businesses, objects, abstractions, bodies of water, people, and more! The exhibition is on view in the first-floor Sargent Gallery.
Nationally recognized for his work in environmental conservation, education and advocacy,
C. Max Schenk’s worldview and photography are imbued with an appreciation of nature’s cyclical resonance in all things. His Great Marsh Meditations show is the expansion of two portfolios created in 2024, each image is exactly that – a meditation – and features scenes familiar to all who have wandered and marveled at the beauty of our coastal home – its broad gestures of landscape and the ephemeral tableaus created by wind, tide, and time. Great Marsh Meditations is possible through the generous support of the Dr. Kathleen Van Demark Fund for Great Marsh Artists. His show can be viewed in the first floor Hills Gallery.
Opening reception for both shows will be Saturday, December 6th from 4-6pm. The public is welcome to attend, meet some of the exhibiting artists, and enjoy light refreshments.
Additionally, NAA will be hosting free invitation night events! Join us on December 5th for Voices of Newburyport, December 12th for an indoor arts market and December 19th for canvas and ornament decorating! Thank you to the Institution for Savings for sponsoring the Voices of Newburyport.
Founded in 1948, Newburyport Art is dedicated to promoting and exhibiting members’ work and to providing art education and access to the visual arts for the entire community. The galleries are free and open to the public Tuesday through Saturday from 11:00am–5:00pm, Sunday from 1:00pm–5:00pm and is handicap accessible. All works are for sale. More information, as well as an online gallery is available at newburyportart.org.

Mistletoe Madness
2025-12-10 10:00 - 17:00, 2025-12-09 10:00 - 17:00, 2025-12-08 10:00 - 17:00, 2025-12-07 10:00 - 17:00 | Downtown Rockport, 15 Dock Square, Rockport, 01966, United States
Mistletoe Madness is back for a second season! This year, all shoppers participating in Mistletoe Madness will be entered into one Grand Prize Drawing. From December 6 through December 31, 2025, shop at participating Rockport retailers, restaurants, theatres, and recreation spots for your chance to win big in our New Year’s Eve drawing for hundreds of dollars worth of local gift certificates.

Sawyer Free Library Launches Monthly Artist Program with Volume One Exhibition
2025-12-10 10:00 - 17:00, 2025-12-09 10:00 - 17:00, 2025-12-08 10:00 - 17:00 | MA

Hammers on Stone: The Granite Industry on Cape Ann
2025-12-10 10:00 - 17:00, 2025-12-07 10:00 - 17:00 | Cape Ann Museum Green, 13 Poplar Street, Gloucester, MA, 01930, United States
For over a century, the granite industry played a vital role in Cape Ann’s economy, providing work for men from across New England and around the world, generating profits for those fortunate enough to share in ownership of the region’s many quarries, and contributing to the unique and authentic sense of place that characterizes Cape Ann today. On a broader scale, the industry contributed significantly to building and transportation projects across our nation during a sustained period of growth and expansion.
Drawing on the Cape Ann Museum’s extensive holdings of objects and archival materials related to the industry, most of which were gifted to the Cape Ann Museum by historian Barbara Erkkila (1918-2013), Hammers on Stone will explore the history of the granite trade and its impact on the community. The exhibition will examine methods of harvesting, cutting, and finishing stone, as well as how granite was transported from quarry to wharf and further afield. The exhibit will also explore the lives of those involved in quarrying and consider how the industry helped shape Cape Ann’s artistic landscape, inspiring generations of artists to the present day.
Image: Samuel Lewis Pullman (1900-1961), Quarryman Joe Boston, 1930, oil on canvas. Collection of the Cape Ann Museum, Gloucester, MA. Gift of Abner and Miriam (Pullman) Diamond, 1994. (1994.036.001).

Bonsai Workshop at Granite Coast Brewing Company
2025-12-07 14:00 - 16:00 | Granite Coast Brewing Company, 77B Main St, Peabody, M, 01960, United States
Beginner workshops are perfect for you to grab your friends, grab a drink and come make tiny trees! We’re bringing the awesome art of bonsai out of the hedged in gardens and into the streets! Or at least into your favorite bars/breweries/pubs. Bonsai Bar is a night of fun you don’t want to miss. Learn the fundamental skills and techniques behind the art of bonsai while enjoying a night out with friends! Our teachers will introduce core concepts and guide your experience as you pot, prune, and design your very own bonsai tree! Our Guarantee: These tiny trees are so hardy we guarantee you can keep yours alive, or we’ll replace it.
This workshop will be hosted at Granite Coast Brewing Company. Granite Coast Brewing Company looks to provided innovative, creative, historical, and collaborative beer. It is at the heart of they we are and they look forward to serving you for years to come.
Under 21 policy: Please contact Granite Coast Brewing Company for details regarding underage entry
For more about Bonsai Bar and what to expect at our classes, visit our website at: https://bonsaibar.com/products/granite-coast-brewing-company

Dr. Seuss' The Grinch
2025-12-07 13:00 - 15:00 | Shalin Liu Performance Center, 37 Main Street, Rockport, MA, 01966, United States
In Whoville, the grumpy Grinch plots to steal Christmas—until young Cindy Lou’s kindness sparks a change of heart. After swiping every gift and decoration, he learns the holiday’s true meaning, returns the loot, and joins the Whos in a joyful feast, trading solitude for friendship.

2nd Annual Festival of Wreaths at Salisbury Beach Carousel
2025-12-07 12:00 - 17:00 | Salisbury Beach Carousel, 7 Broadway, Salisbury, MA, 01952, United States
A fundraiser for the Non-Profit Salisbury beach Carousel.

Dozens of incredibly decorated donated wreaths on display and available to win.
Expanded weekend hours for the public and available Monday through Thursday night for private parties only.
The Carousel will be decorated beautifully for the holiday season, offering the perfect backdrop for your corporate or family party.
There will be dozens of beautifully decorated wreaths. We will be selling raffle tickets to be placed in a box in front of wreath of the buyer’s choice. On the 14th of December 5pm at the conclusion of the Festival we will pull winning tickets and notify the winner by cell phone. The winners can pick up their wreaths on Monday from 4-8 or Friday, Saturday or Sunday when we are open to the public.
Sunday December 7th we will be holding a toy drive to support Santa’s helper. Santa will be in the house from 2-4 for photos and will give every person that brings in an unwrapped toy a token to ride the Carousel. Our very own TOYS FOR TOKENS!

Rocky Neck Art Colony Member Showcase
2025-12-07 12:00 - 17:00 | The Cultural Center at Rocky Neck, 6 Wonson Street, Gloucester, M, 01930, United States
Member Showcase is Rocky Neck Art Colony’s final exhibition of the season featuring seven distinctive bodies of work by RNAC members – John Bassett, Michelle Champion, Eser Costanza, Joanne Hurd, Patricia Scialo, Brian Murphy, R. D. Murphy – selected by juror Shana Dumont Garr. This is exhibit is on display at the Cultural Center at Rocky Neck through December 7. Gallery hours are Friday to Sunday, from 12pm to 5pm.
Dumont Garr selected works that “possess remarkable vibrancy of color, composition, and method. Some of this vibrancy emerges through palette and medium; others through a sense of whimsy or the handmade.” This exhibition celebrates artistic excellence and innovation across a wide range of media and subjects. By featuring more work from fewer artists, Member Showcase invites viewers to engage more deeply with each artist’s vision and process.

Newburyport Art offers Spoon Carving with Eric Goodson
2025-12-07 10:00 - 16:00 | Newburyport Art Association, 65 Water St, Newburyport, MA, 01950, United States
Intro to Spoon Carving with Eric Goodson
Sunday, December 7th, 10:00am–4:00pm | Upstairs Hartson Gallery
$75 for NAA members / $95 non-members
Spoons are central tools in the human experience; they may very well be the first and last tools we use in this life. They also make great projects for beginner carvers, with their convex and concave surfaces and changing grain direction. In this course, students will learn about wood selection, grain orientation, spoon design and ergonomics, and a wide variety of special knife grips (for both slöjd and hook knives) that make carving fast, efficient, and safe. Attention will also be paid to stretches and massage that help relieve hand fatigue. Finally, students will also discuss finishing oils, paints, and decorative techniques like chip carving and kolrosing. Loaner tools will be available, though if students have their own carving tools, they should bring them. Slöjd knives (Mora 106, 120, and 164) will also be for sale. All students will receive a spoon template that they can take home to make more! No experience necessary, and as long as you can easily open a jar of spaghetti sauce, you have sufficient hand strength.
