Litchfield has many marquee annual events beloved by residents and visitors alike, and the most prominent are listed here. See our Events Calendar for daily and weekly events taking place in town.
Possum Queen
This strange but magnificent tradition started in 1989 by raising about $2,000 for a Litchfield family needing help with medical bills through New Year’s Day event in which guests dress up in crazy costumes and bid on auction items that include a can of “possum stew.” It’s a riff on the popularity of possum as a dinner staple in the old show “The Beverly Hillbillies.” However that sounds, the Possum Queen Foundation raised more than $100,000 in 2018, $150,000 in 2019, and $130,000 in January 2020 alone to help individuals and families in dire straits. See the website to learn more. While the event was begun and is based in Litchfield, in recent years it has been held out of town.
Litchfield Restaurant Week
Litchfield Restaurant Week, featuring special 3-course menus from 20+ venues ranging from gourmet shops and delis to fine dining havens, takes place at the end of March each year — March 21 to 28 this year. See the 2025 Restaurant Week page for menus, phone numbers and links.
Laurel Ridge Daffodils
Every spring, the magnificent fields of daffodils at Laurel Ridge draw hundreds, even thousands, of admirers. This beloved display, created and presented for public enjoyment by the Morosani family, is located along Wigwam Road, off Route 254. Please tread lightly and park carefully. The display tends to reach its peak in late April or early May. See our blog post on the 2023 display and follow the Visit Litchfield CT Facebook page for updates on the status of the display. Click here to view on Google Maps.
Litchfield Hills Road Race
Established in 1977, the Litchfield Hills Road Race is a great Litchfield tradition that attracts elite runners from around the world. It’s held the second Sunday in June, and in years not affected by extenuating circumstances, it includes children’s races and other festivities that make race weekend an exciting time for visitors and spectators to be in Litchfield. See the LHRR website for more information, and see our story about all the events taking place during Road Race Weekend 2025.
Fourth of July Events & Fireworks
Litchfield has a terrific Independence Day fireworks display at Litchfield High School, as part of Fourth of July celebrations that also focus on the town’s rich Revolutionary War-era history. This year’s fireworks festival is June 29 parking passes are available on the Litchfield Park & Recreation website.
The Litchfield Historical Society offers a Heroes of the Revolution Walking Tour (July 3 this year), as well as the popular July 4th Pet Parade in the Tapping Reeve Meadow on the afternoon of Independence Day.
Meanwhile, the First Litchfield Artillery fires its cannon 13 times at the All Wars Memorial in Bantam on Independence Day to pay tribute to the original 13 colonies, and the Mary Floyd Tallmadge Chapter DAR begins the Independence Day celebration with tributes at the burial sites of Gov. Oliver Wolcott Sr. and Col. Benjamin Tallmadge in East Cemetery.
See our 2024 blog post for more events and links.
Litchfield Wellness Festival
The Litchfield Wellness Festival will take place July 5 at Litchfield Community Field and July 6 at the White Memorial Conservation Center and other locations. The festival will host featured presenters, classes, and vendors in wellness categories including physical and mental health, yoga, movement and fitness, holistic healing, nutrition, herbalism, healthy living, and natural beauty.
In addition to Prima Wellness and Litchfield Park & Recreation, some of the participants and sponsors signed up include Charym Yoga, NKYV Rituals, Kula Collective, Sanctuary Power Yoga, Ageless by Nature, ACE Hardware, Litchfield Health & Wellness Resources, and Litchfield Magazine. See the Litchfield Wellness Festival website to learn more and for updates.
Top Dog (Dog Days of Summer) Best Hot Dog Contest
Concerts on the Green
The Park & Recreation department sponsors a series of free Wednesday evening concerts on the Green featuring popular regional bands. The concerts from June into early August. The 2025 line-up is posted here. Follow the Park & Rec Facebook feed for announcements. The Litchfield Community Center also has a free summer concert series. See the graphic here for this year’s lineup.
Goshen Fair
The Goshen Fair is held each Labor Day weekend. A classic country fair, it features animals, including draft horses, dairy cows, pigs, chickens, goats, ducks sheep, rabbits, llamas, horses, and beef cows—along with draught animal pulls, garden tractor pulls, tractor pulls, truck pulls, wood chopping, a petting zoo photography, vegetables, needlework, flowers, arts and crafts, and much more, There’s always rides, lots of great fair food, and entertainment for all ages. Other events take place at the fairgrounds throughout the year. Watch the website as the fair approaches for all the details.
Family Nature Day at White Memorial
Family Nature Day each September is a highlight of a calendar packed with great outdoor and nature-oriented activities at the White Memorial Conservation Center, the heart of the larger White Memorial Foundation with 4,000 acres of preserved land and 40 miles of trails. The 43rd annual Family Nature Day takes place Sept. 27. Details are here.
Harvest Bounty Brewfest
The Litchfield Community Center hosts a Harvest Bounty Brewfest each October, featuring more than 25 Connecticut craft brewers, as well as wine and spirits, from around the state, along with live bands, lots of great food, lawn games and fire pits. The listing is published on the website as each event approaches.
Plein Air Litchfield
Topsmead State Forest Cottage Tours
Free tours of Miss Edith Morton Chase’s historic Tudor style cottage at Topsmead State Forest are offered from noon to 4:30 p.m. on the second and fourth weekends of each month from mid-June through October. The tours are led by Friends of Topsmead State Forest and run every half-hour. Guests meet at the front door for the free 30-minute tours. Watch for announcements on the Friends’ Facebook page.
In 1917, according to the Friends of Topsmead State Forest, Miss Chase received from her father approximately 16 acres on Jefferson Hill in Litchfield. Here she built a rustic cabin, which was replaced with a more substantial summer home in 1923. She hired noted architect Richard Henry Dana, Jr. to help her design and build the English Tudor style house which was completed in 1925. The exterior woodwork is of cypress, the downspouts are lead, the walls of brick and stucco, and the roof is slate. The interior woodwork is oak, as is most of the flooring. The foyer, hallway and dining room floors are of polished terra cotta tile. Most of the interior walls are of the same type of stucco as is found on the exterior. Fine craftsmanship, an eye for detail and understated wealth are evident throughout the house, which is tastefully and simply furnished with 17th and 18th century English country antiques. See the Friends’ website to learn more.
Scarecrows in the Meadow
Oliver Wolcott Library Festival of Trees
It’s the most wonderful time of the year at Oliver Wolcott Library. Join the library November 29 from 5:00–8:30 for a magical evening full of celebration, all in support of the library.
- Full open bar.
- Lavish hors d’oeuvres.
- Wreaths and trees. A
- nd so much more.
All proceeds directly benefit library services, materials, and programs. 2025 tickets are here.
Holiday Stroll & Holiday Tree Lighting
Litchfield’s annual Holiday Stroll & Tree Lighting event will add a ‘Holiday Parade of Lights’ this year!
The festive and fun-filled afternoon on Sunday, Dec. 7 (from 3 to 5 p.m.) will feature the classic elements families love:
🎅 and Mrs. Claus will be hearing the wishes of children on the “nice” list outside the front entrance of The Abner hotel beginning at 3 p.m.
❆ A marshmallow booth will be located in front of the information booth on the Green.
The Boy Scouts will be serving hot cocoa at Union Savings Bank.
🎼 There will be live holiday music & a cookie table outside the Belden House & Mews.
🎄 More things are still being planned, possibly including a holiday ornament station .
Then, about 4:15, children and others who want to walk in the ‘Holiday Parade of Lights’ head down to Wolcott and Meadow streets to join all the vehicles decorated with holiday lights – including fire trucks from the Litchfield fire companies, the Litchfield Volunteer Ambulance, residents’ vehicles, and even bikes. This glittering procession with escort Santa and Mrs. Claus back to the Green for the official holiday tree lighting at approximately 5 p.m.
(Vehicles participating in the ‘Holiday Parade of Lights’ will initially gather at Litchfield Public Works at 4 p.m. to begin lining up for the parade. Anyone interested in or participating in should contact Park and Recreation Director Michael Lyn Cappello at (860) 567-7569 to reserve a spot.)
Watch the Park & Rec Facebook page for updates: https://www.facebook.com/litchfieldctparkandrec