31 Best Spring Things to Do in New England | 2026 Travel Guide

Discover the best spring things to do in New England with our updated 2026 guide — from flower festivals and outdoor adventures to seasonal events across all six states. Plan your perfect spring getaway!

Best Spring Things to Do in Connecticut

Cherry Blossom Celebration | New Haven
April 19, 2026

Back in 1973, New Haven’s parks department planted 72 Japanese flowering cherry trees in Wooster Square Park. The trees’ bounty of pale-pink blossoms emerges over the course of two weeks in April, an abundance marked by the Historic Wooster Square Association’s annual community event featuring music and food vendors.

ColorBlends House & Spring Garden | Bridgeport

A 1903 Colonial Revival mansion in the city’s historic Stratfield district is the backdrop for a half-acre garden featuring nearly 100,000 bulbs: tulips, daffodils, crocuses, narcissus, and many more spring-flowering favorites. The garden, created by Dutch floral landscaper Jacqueline van der Kloet, was designed to inspire home gardeners, who are invited to stroll the property and tour the house and art gallery when blooms appear in early April.

Denison Homestead Daffodil Day | Mystic
Early April 2026

Mystic’s 1654 Denison Homestead hosts this celebration of the surrounding nature center’s thousands of daffodils. Look for tours of the 1717 Pequotsepos Manor and its gardens, demonstrations of open-hearth cooking, and children’s activities including crafts and a scavenger hunt.

Flamig Farm | Simsbury

April marks a new season at the family-owned Flamig Farm and its petting zoo, where kids can meet critters ranging from the familiar—horses, cows, sheep, etc.—to exotics such as peacocks and emus. On weekends, the farm’s ponies are saddled up for rides. Want to linger? Reserve a couple of nights at Flamig’s Airbnb accommodations, and join in the life of the farm.

Greenfield Hill Dogwood Festival | Fairfield
May 9-10, 2026

The gorgeous dogwood blossoms gracing the grounds of Greenfield Hill Congregational Church have inspired a spring festival since 1936. Highlights include live music, craft vendors, baked goods, plant sales, a history walking tour, and of course the festival’s inspiration, once described by Eleanor Roosevelt after a 1938 visit as “an avenue of pink and white dogwood such as I have never seen anywhere else in this country.”

May Market at Hill-Stead Museum | Farmington
Early May 2026

During the rest of the year, the main attraction at Hill-Stead is its renowned collection of Impressionist paintings. But in springtime, art competes with the museum’s 152 acres of flowers, blossoming shrubs, and natural woodlands. May Market, held on the first weekend of the month, is the perfect time to enjoy the grounds and browse the offerings of more than 40 vendors plus Mother’s Day plants and cut flowers.

Best Spring Things to Do in Maine

Aroostook County Fiddlehead Festival | Presque Isle
May 16, 2026

Fiddleheads—those tightly curled, bright green ferns freshly popped up from the damp spring earth—are a popular foragers’ quarry in Aroostook County. They’re also the centerpiece of this annual festival featuring a fiddlehead cooking contest for both amateurs and professionals, a craft fair, live music, and fiddlehead picking at a designated spot where the tasty morsels grow.

Down East Birding Festival | Trescott
May 22-25, 2026

Migrating birds visit the diverse habitats of the Cobscook Bay region in late May, giving birders the chance to observe and identify some 300 species. Participants at the Cobscook Institute event comb fresh and saltwater environments for great cormorants, spruce grouse, kittiwakes, and the Atlantic puffins who frequent nearby Machias Seal Island. Feeling up to a real identification challenge? About two dozen species of warblers are springtime visitors.

Maine Maple Sunday Weekend | Statewide
March 21-22, 2026

As spring arrives, the Pine Tree State becomes the Maple Tree State. On the weekend of the fourth Sunday in March, nearly 100 of Maine’s maple producers hold open houses to show how sap is boiled down into syrup—and to offer tastes of their sweet elixir on ice cream, as candies, and in baked goods. Many sugarhouses also have hayrides, face painting, and other activities for kids.

May Day Festival | Kennebunk
May 2, 2026

The Puritans disapproved of May Day and its dancing around the Maypole, but modern New Englanders have loosened up. For proof, head to Kennebunk on the first Saturday in May for the seaside town’s festival featuring a Maypole dance, a parade, a farmers’ market, live music, basketmaking and other crafts workshops … and a lobster toss (not sure what the Puritans would have made of that).

McLaughlin Garden and Homestead | South Paris

With more than 125 varieties of lilacs and gorgeous displays of phlox, daylilies, hostas, irises, primroses, and other spring-blooming favorites, one of Maine’s best-loved gardens was the vision of Bernard McLaughlin, “the dean of Maine gardeners.” Mother’s Day weekend marks the beginning of lilac season and the opening of the garden’s two acres of colorful plantings and its pond, rock, and pollinator gardens. Perennials and wildflowers are on sale from then through October.

Best Spring Things to Do in Massachusetts

Cider Hill Farm Tulip Fest | Amesbury
May 2-3 & 9-10, 2026

There’s almost always something going on at Cider Hill, but this is a special time because Tulip Fest is a participatory event. That’s right: When tulips are in bloom, from late April to mid-May, farm visitors are invited to pick and purchase their own blossoms. It’s the kickoff to a spring and summer of pick-your-own strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and flowers galore.

Daffodil and Tulip Festival | Stockbridge

The imposing shingle-style mansion at Naumkeag, the former Joseph Choate estate, is a secondary attraction in April and May, when more than 75,000 daffodils and tulips take center stage at the Trustees of Reservations property. The blooms cover eight acres, and visitors can buy bouquets and container plants at a shop alongside the greenhouse. The first floor of the mansion will be open for self-guided tours. Advance ticket purchases are strongly recommended.

Duckling Day | Boston
May 10, 2026

Move over, Mom, and make way for Duckling Day, Boston’s celebration of Robert McCloskey’s beloved children’s book, held every year on Mother’s Day. Children dress like ducklings and parade through city parks, with the premier event taking place at the ducklings’ literary home, the Public Garden lagoon. The procession to the famed duckling sculptures begins with games, music, and performers on Boston Common.

Maple Days at Old Sturbridge Village | Sturbridge
Wednesday – Sunday, February 18 – March 15, 2026

In late February and early March, Old Sturbridge Village demonstrates the entire maple sugaring process—from tapping trees to “sugaring off”—as it was done in rural New England in the early 19th century. Learn how techniques have evolved over time, from traditional Native American methods to today, and check out all the maple goodies to taste and purchase.

Nantucket Daffodil Festival | Nantucket
April 24-26, 2026

Nantucket goes daffy on the last weekend in April, when the island’s Garden Club celebrates warm days with a daffodil show at the Bartlett’s Farm greenhouses. The four-day event also features an antique car parade, a tailgate picnic in ’Sconset, and Saturday fun at Children’s Beach, where kids are invited to join in a Daffodil Hat Parade. And to add some traditional flavor to the season, Morris dancers perform at locations throughout Nantucket.

Swan Boats’ Opening Day, Boston
April 18, 2026

It all started with Richard Wagner’s opera Lohengrin, and its scene in which the title character rides a swan-drawn boat to a damsel’s rescue. That gave Robert Paget the idea of launching pedal-powered boats featuring stern-mounted swans on Boston’s Public Garden lagoon. Nearly 150 years later, Paget’s descendants still operate the boats, which commence their 15-minute cruises on the second weekend in April, when the gardens are full of spring blooms.

Best Spring Things to Do in New Hampshire

Charmingfare Farm | Candia

The Manchester area’s biggest petting zoo and animal experience opens in May, with farm animals including dairy cows, sheep, draft horses, oxen and more ready to greet visitors. Pony rides and horse-drawn carriage rides are part of the fun, and a wildlife area (no petting!) is home to bears and a camel, a wolf, a bobcat, and a coyote.

Springfest at Strawbery Banke | Portsmouth
May 9-10, 2026

Portsmouth’s living history museum tells four centuries of stories through its remarkable collection of historic homes. Celebrate spring at Strawbery Banke with heritage-breed baby animals, heirloom gardens, and live demonstrations like oxen at work, sheep shearing, and a honey extraction. Discover the connection between animals, horticulture, and New England’s history, plus enjoy hands-on activities and take home a piece of history from the plant sale.

New Hampshire Maple Experience | Bethlehem

March is Maple Month in New Hampshire, with sugarmakers welcoming visitors throughout the state. One of the most enjoyable events is held at The Rocks estate in Bethlehem on weekends starting in mid-March. Learn the sap-to-syrup process from tapping to collecting to boiling, and wrap up the day with pancakes and syrup.

TulipFete at the farm at Wolf Pine Hollow | Hancock
TBA May 2026

Apples, grapes, strawberries, even kiwis—they all abound at Wolf Pine Hollow. But the springtime stars are tulips. Starting in late April, TulipFete brings color-starved winter survivors to the farm and what’s been called its “never-ending tulip field.” Tulips are available for sale at the farm store, or in the cutting gardens. Don’t forget to bring the kids to meet the farm’s lambs, piglets, and baby goats.

Best Spring Things to Do in Rhode Island

Daffodil Days at Blithewold | Bristol
April 2026

Blithewold, the former Van Wickle estate spread across 33 acres on the shores of Narragansett Bay, splendidly preserves the extensive gardens created by landscape architect John DeWolf at the turn of the 20th century. One of the gardens’ greatest glories is their array of more than 50,000 daffodils, in bloom during most of April. Take a casual stroll through the grounds, or reserve a spot for an afternoon tea worthy of the Gilded Age.

Fairy Garden Days | Providence
Late April 2026

Visitors to the Roger Williams Park Botanical Center greenhouses might be forgiven for believing that those photos of garden fairies, “taken” a century ago, might not have been a hoax after all. During the last two weeks of April, the greenhouses are dotted with tiny “fairy homes” made from natural materials found in the park—shelters, furnishings, and even little fairy place settings. Along with marveling at the wee folks’ lodgings, kids can enjoy scavenger hunts, story times, and more.

La Gondola | Providence

In Venice, gondolas operate all year. But in Providence, it’s spring that brings these romantic boats out onto the water. Authentically attired gondoliers pilot their crafts along the Providence and Woonasquatucket rivers on 40-minute trips; the price includes an ice bucket, glasses, and Italian wine biscuits to accompany passengers’ bottles. Yes, the gondoliers sing (if desired), and for a few dollars extra a musician will ride along.

Sheep Shearing Day at Watson Farm | Jamestown

Spread across 265 acres on scenic Conanicut Island, Historic New England’s Watson Farm has been cultivated since 1657. On Sheep Shearing Day, visitors are welcome to stroll pathways along Narragansett Bay, wander fields where livestock graze, and learn about time-honored agricultural methods still practiced by the resident farmers.

Wicked Tulips Flower Farm | Exeter, RI; Johnston, RI; Preston, CT

Take your pick of Wicked Tulips’ three scenic outposts—which open for farm visits only a few weeks each year—when their hundreds of thousands of bulbs burst into bloom. Mother Nature determines the dates for this glorious pick-your-own event, so keep an eye on the website for updates, as well as ticket sales.

Best Spring Things to Do in Vermont

Baby Farm Animal Celebration | Woodstock
April 25-26, 2026

The kids can meet the kids—not just baby goats but also lambs, chicks, ducklings, piglets, calves, and bunnies—at what’s heralded as the “cutest event of the year” at Billings Farm & Museum. Food trucks will be on hand, and the Farmhouse Scoop Shop opens for the season, too.

Pond Skim | Killington
April 11, 2026

It’ll probably never be an Olympic event, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth watching 100 bizarrely attired skiers and snowboarders rush downhill at Killington Resort, hoping they’ve built up enough momentum to plane across a frigid pond. There are awards for best skim and biggest splash—and spectators eager to see both.

Spring Maple Open House Weekend | Statewide
March 21-22, 2026

The next-to-last weekend in March is when Vermont’s sugarmakers open their doors to maple mavens—and to anyone curious about how the spring sap flow boils down into the state’s signature product. There’ll be syrup to sample, and many producers will offer sugar on snow, a taffylike maple treat created when warm syrup touches winter’s cold remnants. And, yes, it’s traditionally served with pickles … or doughnuts, for the less adventurous.

Vermont Maple Festival | St. Albans
April 24-26, 2026

At this beloved three-day celebration of sugar season, food vendors’ offerings have a maple flavor, and tastings provide a chance to sample different grades. A maple-oriented “sappy” art show, a maple cooking contest, and pancake breakfasts extend the theme, as do Saturday night’s maple banquet and Sunday’s big parade. Live music, entertainment for kids, and craft, youth talent, and fiddlers’ shows round out the program.

World Migratory Bird Day at the Vermont Institute of Natural Science | Quechee
May 9, 2026

Join in a day of learning, crafts, and activities at the Vermont Institute of Natural Science (VINS) as it celebrates the long-distance fliers of the avian world. Take a tour of the songbird aviary, attend a live-raptor show, and get a bird’s-eye view of the landscape from the elevated Forest Canopy Walk.

Let us know your favorite spring things to do in New England in the comments below.

This post was first published in 2025 and has been updated.

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