Live music, festivals and live music at festivals take summer leisure to another level.
Monday, August 3
As of this writing, it looks like the rain should clear up just in time for a steelpan-leavened tiki experience from 5 to 8 p.m. at Riva in West Haven.
Tuesday, August 4
New Haven favorite Big Green Truck Pizza pops up at Massaro Community Farm in Woodbridge from 3 to 6 p.m.
Wednesday, August 5
From 10 to 4 at Hamden’s Lockwood Farm, the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station holds its 116th Plant Science Day, featuring “barn displays, field plots and exhibits, technical demonstrations” and much more, including kids’ activities and farm tours.
At 8 p.m. in Hamden’s Space Ballroom, Jammy Buffett takes Jimmy’s hedonistic tropical cocktail and adds a tart and tangy jam-band twist.
Thursday, August 6
Branford’s 2026 Jazz on the Green series proceeds with a 6 p.m. concert by the Sean Nelson Jazz Orchestra.
Farther up the coast, the Grassy Strip Music Series at the Madison Beach Hotel boasts a great get: John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band, whose claims to fame include Rocky IV anthem “Hearts on Fire” and the triple-platinum soundtrack for the cult film Eddie and the Cruisers (1983). The hotel’s beach bar and grill open at 6, with the music starting at 7:30.
Friday, August 7
Opening at 1 p.m. today and closing at 5 p.m. Sunday, Connecticut’s biggest comic convention, Terrificon, returns to Mohegan Sun, convening a huge number of comic creators, screen actors, vendors, panels, special events and fellow fans, many cosplaying as their favorite characters.
Starting at 5 and also lasting all weekend, the 24th Annual North Branford Potato & Corn Festival’s attractions grow deep and high: carnival rides, helicopter rides, a Beatles tribute band, a “medieval show” and some kind of jet ski circus act—and that’s just Friday.
Meanwhile, on the New Haven Green, the 2026 New Haven Puerto Rican Festival opens at 6 with a concert headlined by Lisette Melendez, then resumes Saturday at 1 for a day of activities, vendors and live music headlined by La India, a.k.a. Linda Bell Viera Caballero, a.k.a. “The Princess of Salsa,” whose Spotify streams alone round up to a billion.
Saturday, August 8
With registration at 10:30 a.m., judging at 2 p.m. and awards at 3, the Milford Arts Council’s 49th Annual Sand Sculpture Contest invites anyone with a will to head to Walnut Beach and “be as creative as you’d like.”
At Best Video in Hamden, Best Music Fest, from which I’d humbly suggest organizers drop the middle word, features 10 local acts.
Back in Milford, another 10-act music fest, organized and headlined by local pop punk band Scooped Up, takes over AJJ Memorial Skate Park starting at noon, fleshing out the show with “food, vendors, trick contests and free prizes and giveaways!”
Sunday, August 9
It’s back to basics at Stella Blues, where DJs Luna Rouge, Emily Pupstar and Meszenjah start pumping out “pop EDM goodness” at 8 p.m.
Written by Dan Mims. Image, featuring an aerial view of a past PoCo, sourced from @NorthBranfordPoCoFest. Readers are encouraged to verify times, locations, prices and other details before attending events.
