31 Best Spring Things to Do This Spring in New England

Best Spring Events in Connecticut

Cherry Blossom Celebration,New Haven. 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. 4/14; historicwoostersquare.org

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. Check website for details; colorblendsspringgarden.com

Denison Homestead Daffodil Day,Mystic. 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. Check website for details; denisonhomestead.org

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. Reopening date 4/1 (weather permitting);flamigfarm.com

Greenfield Hill Dogwood Festival,Fairfield. 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.” 5/11–5/12; greenfieldhillchurch.com 

May Market at Hill-Stead Museum,Farmington. 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. Dates 5/4–5/5; hillstead.org

Best Spring Events in Maine

Aroostook County Fiddlehead Festival,Presque Isle. 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. 5/18;visitaroostook.com

Down East Birding Festival,Trescott. 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. 5/24–5/27;cobscookinstitute.org

Maine Maple Sunday Weekend,statewide. 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. 3/23–3/24;mainemapleproducers.com

May Day Festival,Kennebunk. 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). 5/4; kennebunkmaine.us

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. mclaughlingarden.org

Best Spring Events in Massachusetts

Cider Hill Farm Tulip Fest,Amesbury. 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. 5/4–5/5 and 5/11–5/12; ciderhill.com

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. Check website for details;thetrustees.org

Duckling Day,Boston. 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. 5/12;friendsofthepublicgarden.org

Maple Days at Old Sturbridge Village, Sturbridge. 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. Friday–Sunday, 2/23–3/17; osv.org

Nantucket Daffodil Festival,Nantucket. 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. 4/25–4/28;daffodilfestival.com

Swan Boats’ Opening Day,Boston. 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. Opens 4/13;swanboats.com

Best Spring Events 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. Opens 5/4; weekend horse-drawn “Maple Express” tours 3/8–3/17; visitthefarm.com

Heritage Breed Baby Animals at Strawbery Banke,Portsmouth. Portsmouth’s living history museum tells four centuries of stories through its remarkable collection of historic homes, but in springtime, it’s the animals’ turn. See heritage livestock breeds common on New England farms from colonial times to the present, including lambs, piglets, calves, and poultry, with breeders’ presentations for children and adults. 4/27–5/5; strawberybanke.org

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. 3/16–4/6 (check website for specific dates);forestsociety.org/the-rocks

TulipFete at the farm at Wolf Pine Hollow, Hancock. 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. Check website for details; wolfpinehollow.com

Best Spring Events in Rhode Island

Daffodil Days at Blithewold,Bristol. 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. Check website for details;blithewold.org

Fairy Garden Days,Providence. 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. Check website for details; providenceri.gov

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. Check website for dates and reservations; gondolari.com

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. (If you can’t make that weekend, good news: Bristol’s Coggeshall Farm has more shearing action on offer May 18 at the Sheep and Wool Festival.) 5/4; historicnewengland.org

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. wickedtulips.com

Best Spring Events in Vermont

Baby Farm Animal Celebration,Woodstock. 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. 4/27–4/28; billingsfarm.org

Pond Skim,Killington. 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. 4/13; killington.com

Spring Maple Open House Weekend,statewide. 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. 3/23–3/24;vermontmaple.org

Vermont Maple Festival, St. Albans. 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. 4/26–4/28;vtmaplefestival.org

World Migratory Bird Day,Quechee. 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. 5/11; vinsweb.org