Hanover and the Upper Valley are wellsprings of the performing and visual arts. In addition to a myriad of offerings at Dartmouth College, the area has a wealth of entertainment options, including shows at the Lebanon Opera House with performances by Opera North and the Northern Stage theatrical company, which has staged more than 100 productions since taking up residency in White River Junction in 1997.
Check the Hanover Area Chamber of Commerce website, www.hanoverchamber.org, or local newspaper listings and chances are you’ll find a contra dance at a local church, a noted speaker or author at a nearby bookstore or an area band or open mic night at a local restaurant. To give you a small picture of what you might find, if you’re planning a visit in the summer, consider the Old Fashioned Fourth of July on the Dartmouth Green or a sidewalk sale in town. In December, be sure to catch Celebrate the Season, an annual family night in town, a performance by the Christmas Revels or the Christmas Mystery at Rollins Chapel.
The area is rich with galleries, museums and local venues for visual and performing arts, including Dartmouth College’s Black Family Visual Arts Center and Hood Museum of Art and the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen and area restaurants hosting local art and musicians. Nearby Lebanon features the Alliance for the Visual Arts Gallery and Art Center that exhibits the works of more than 150 area artists. If Hanover’s Nugget Theater or the Loew Auditorium at the Hopkins Center for Performing Arts isn’t showing a movie to your taste, a short drive will bring you to other options.
If sports are your thing, catch the action on the Dartmouth campus where opponents such as Harvard, Princeton and Yale are regular visitors, and Boston College, Notre Dame and Stanford occasionally dot the schedule.