Festivals and Adventures

The most beautiful ride in New England celebrates its 20th anniversary. The Buzzards Bay Watershed Ride winds through coastal scenery, cranberry bogs, farm country, and along streams and forests. This ride supports the Buzzards Bay Coalition’s mission of supporting clean water for everyone. There are three courses offered for different experience levels: a 20-mile, a 41-mile, and a 100-mile course. Register to ride and protect our watershed today. The ride takes place on a Sunday, so we recommend arriving a day or two early to explore the city and region. Book your stay in New Bedford at one of our hotels.

Make the most of a crisp autumn day by getting out on one of the last New Bedford Harbor Tours of the year. Learn about the number one fishing port in the United States from its history to current operations. Book your tour today.

New Bedford’s Oktoberfest turns twenty on Saturday, October 3. The South Coast Business Alliance organizes this annual event, with proceeds benefiting at-risk youth and educational-based charities around the region. Over twenty regional and national beverage retailers are on site, as well as local food trucks. Enjoy live music and lawn games under the tent at Pope’s Island Marina from 3 PM to 12 AM. Purchase tickets in advance for the best price.

Food Truck Festivals of America returns to Fort Taber Park for a special Halloween extravaganza. Choose from a lineup of regional food trucks and craft beverage vendors. Spooky decor, live music, games, and a costume contest with a cash prize are some of the fun in store on October 31. Learn more and get your tickets now.

Halloween-Themed and Autumn Guide

Nothing sets the tone for Halloween quite like a glowing jack-o-lantern display, especially one set in the gardens of the Rotch-Jones-Duff House & Garden Museum. On October 9 from 4 to 7 PM explore the display in the gardens while enjoying refreshments and tunes from Cool Banana Wig and their homemade instruments. Children can embark on a scavenger hunt inside the museum. Learn more about The Great Pumpkins Parade.

Something witchy this way comes at the Witches’ Ball at the First Unitarian Church on October 24 from 7 to 11 PM. Browse vendors, have your tarot read, dance to live music, enjoy refreshments and more. Costumes are encouraged. Get your tickets now.

A cult classic tradition takes the stage at The Zeiterion on Halloween, October 31 at 7:30 PM. The Rocky Horror Picture Show returns with the RKO Army performing a live shadow cast while the movie screens. Costumes and audience participation are enthusiastically encouraged. A prop bag will be provided as outside props are not permitted in order to preserve the historically renovated theater. Get your tickets today!

Literature Lovers

Learn about a fishing community on a tiny island off the coast of Maine whose story offers perspective of the impact of industrialized fishing at a larger scope. Janna Malamud Smith talks about her book, When the Island Had Fish: The Remarkable Story of a Maine Fishing Community, and environmental sustainability on October 29 starting at noon. This is a free virtual program presented by the New Bedford Whaling Museum. Learn more and register here.

Books over the years have come in many physical forms: journals, scrapbooks, logbooks, art books, and more. A new exhibit opening at the New Bedford Whaling Museum on October 16 examines bookmaking as a form of art, exploring the many forms in the Museum’s collection of over 20,000 books. Boundless: The Book as Art will be on display in the Wattles Family Gallery until February 15, 2027.

Arts and Culture

Probe into the intersection of art and ecology with the overlap of two exhibits on display at the New Bedford Art Museum. Don’t miss your last chance to see the New Bedford Art Museum’s Vanishing Ecologies: Speculative Futures, which closes October 11. This exhibition examines the Anthropocene, a possible future period where human impact has causes irreparable damage to the planet. In tandem, explore work from farmers who are also artists in collaboration with the Southeastern Massachusetts Agricultural Partnership. This exhibit, agriCultural: A Biennial Exhibition is on display until November 29.

Take a stroll along New Bedford’s working waterfront and catch the Seaport Art Walk, which is up until October 31. This year’s theme, Good Trouble, honors those who speak truth to power in a city characterized by resistance, change makers, and activists. Make it a full night of artistic exploration by exploring on AHA! Night, whose October theme is tunes, treats, and creative streets. AHA! Night takes place on the second Thursday of each month, with October’s date falling on October 8. Stay tuned as activities are added to the AHA! calendar.