ESSEX, CT — Halloween arrives early along the lower Connecticut River, with the Ivoryton Pumpkin Festival on Saturday, the closing weekend of "A Piece of My Heart" at the Ivoryton Playhouse, a Rotary Octoberfest in Deep River and Halloween fun at Little House Brewing in Chester, from Thursday, Oct. 22, through Sunday, Oct. 25.
This Weekend's Arts & Entertainment
- "A Piece of My Heart" — Thursday, Oct. 22, 2 and 7:30 p.m.; Friday, Oct. 23, 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, Oct. 24, 2 and 7:30 p.m.; Sunday, Oct. 25, 2 p.m. This is the final weekend for Shirley Lauro's play with music, based on interviews with women who served in the Vietnam War as nurses, volunteers and entertainers. Tickets are $60, $55 for seniors and $25 for students, plus a fee, and $30 tickets for Thursday night's show go on sale at the box office at 6 p.m. Ivoryton Playhouse, 103 Main Street, Ivoryton
- Ivoryton Pumpkin Festival — Saturday, Oct. 24. The village's festival day includes pumpkin carving, a costume parade, trunk-or-treat and a Trek-or-Treat family hike. The hike, from the Essex and Ivoryton libraries and the Essex Land Trust, starts at 11:30 a.m. at the Millrace Preserve on Ivory Street; it is a free, 15- to 20-minute self-guided walk with Halloween riddles along the path, a treat and a take-home craft kit, and it will not be held in the rain. Ivoryton Playhouse, Millrace Preserve, Ivory Street, Ivoryton
- "Glitz and Glamour: The Gilded Age in Southeastern Connecticut" — Thursday, Oct. 22, 6 p.m. Journalist and author Gail B. MacDonald, a retired UConn journalism professor, talks about the wealthy families who summered in New London and Groton from the 1870s to the 1910s; the program is free. Essex Library, 33 West Avenue, Essex
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This Weekend's Restaurants & Bars
- Live music in the Tap Room — "Cocktail Piano" with Ray, Thursday and Friday, Oct. 22-23, 4 p.m.; The Cherry Pie Band, Thursday, 8 p.m.; "Cocktail Piano" with Francine, Saturday, Oct. 24, 4 p.m.; Local Honey Acoustic, with singer-songwriter Erin Smith, formerly of the Dizzy River Band, Saturday, 8 p.m.; Mike Clifford, Sunday, Oct. 25, 4 p.m.; and the Martin Kelly Acoustic Trio, Sunday, 7 p.m. The Griswold Inn, 36 Main Street, Essex
- Halloween at Little House Brewing — Thursday through Sunday, Oct. 22-25. Halloween candy and beer flights are poured Friday through Sunday while supplies last; the free annual pumpkin carving contest starts at 5 p.m. Friday in the upper beer garden, with judging at 7 (bring your own carving tools); tarot reader Jessie James gives 15-minute readings for $20 cash Friday and Saturday from 5 p.m.; and acoustic sets run 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. from Ken Stroebel on Thursday, Steve Jack on Friday and Ralph Marcario on Saturday. The brewery notes that Main Street will be closed to traffic Friday, from about 4 to 8:30 p.m., for Chester's Halloweentown event and parade. Little House Brewing Company, 16 Main Street, Chester
- Deep River Rotary Octoberfest — Saturday, Oct. 24, 5 to 8 p.m. Music, German food, a drink ticket, raffle prizes and a cash bar; tickets are $40 per person. Rotary Club of Deep River, Landing & Main, 77 Main Street, Deep River
Carve pumpkins in Chester Friday, spend Saturday at the Ivoryton Pumpkin Festival before raising a stein at the Deep River Octoberfest, catch the last performances of "A Piece of My Heart" and settle into the Griswold Inn's Tap Room for Sunday's music.
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