Trivia nights, country fairs, bookish affairs, park fests, sonic trips and not-so-silent films usher us busily toward fall.
Monday, September 15
It feels like only yesterday that Breaking Bad was captivating a nation with its lovingly told story of a high school chemistry teacher-turned-meth kingpin. In fact, the show’s been off the air for nearly 12 years, but maybe you still remember enough to compete during a 6:30 Breaking Bad trivia night at New England Brewing in Woodbridge.
Tuesday, September 16
At 5 p.m. on Yale’s Cross Campus, a “food truck welcome” offering “an evening of free food and atmospheric music as we greet our extraordinary 2025 prize recipients” opens this year’s Windham Campbell Prizes Literary Festival. Administered by Yale’s Beinecke Library, the festival, which annually awards eight unrestricted grants of $175,000 “to call attention to literary achievement and provide writers with the opportunity to focus on their work independent of financial concerns,” includes a keynote address and prize ceremony tomorrow followed by two full days of eclectic events.
It feels rare for the solo project of a member of a noted band to creatively outshine the original. But I think Brooks Nielsen, coming to Hamden’s Space Ballroom for an 8 p.m. show, has done it. Where the band he fronted, The Growlers, offered lo-fi surf/psych/garage rock that tended to sound like a twangy Strokes or Arctic Monkeys ripoff on too much couch weed, Nielsen is exploring a sound he calls Beach Goth, though I’m not sure it fits. The vocal vibe is requisitely depressive, but it’s also filled with longing rather than resignation, and the sound is too lush, with instrumentation and progressions too midcentury, to register as Goth.
Wednesday, September 17
At 6:30, East Rock Brewing holds a contest readers of Daily Nutmeg may be especially prepared to win: a New Haven-themed trivia night. “From pizza wars, to Yale lore, to famous former residents, we're putting your local knowledge to the test.”
Thursday, September 18
The Sleeping Giant Reading Series, where “writers of every kind gather to hear professional readings, raise a glass, network, and support one another’s work,” returns to Hamden’s Best Video from 7 to 9 p.m. The readers this time are Sheila Dietz, a prize-winning poet who used to work for the New Haven Free Public Library, and Nalini Jones, an award-winning fiction writer who teaches at Fairfield University. “All are welcome, whether you’re a scribbler who hasn’t yet dared to call yourself a ‘writer’ or an experienced published author.”
Friday, September 19
The 2025 Guilford Fair starts at 4 p.m. today and ends at 7 p.m. on Sunday. In-between, expect fair food, a circus troupe, live music, animals from ponies to pigs, a tractor pull, a spelling bee and more.
From 5 to 7 both tonight and Sunday, North Haven’s Two Meadow Farm hosts Dinner in the Dahlias, “a magical evening of flowers, food and community” among fields of blooming dahlias. Each ticket includes “unlimited pizza + salad + dessert + 2 drink tickets,” the latter exchangeable for “local brews.” A note for families: Kids ages 11 through 18 enjoy a hefty discount, while kids 10 and under dine for free.
From 5 to 11 tonight and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. tomorrow, Milford’s Irish Festival 2025 at Fowler Field convenes food trucks, live music, cultural performances and an “Irish marketplace.”
At 7:30, “a night of dynamic jazz” is on offer at Yale’s Morse Recital Hall, where a quartet led by “Grammy-nominated pianist and hometown favorite” Christian Sands will be “reimagining classics” with “signature warmth and finesse.”
With showtimes at 8:30 and 10, the second night of Firehouse 12’s weekly 2025 Fall Jazz Series features Joe Fielder Trio 2.0. Their recent album, Dragon Suite, which was recorded in the studio at Firehouse 12 and is the primary focus of tonight’s shows, exhibits an experimental bent that’s frequently humorous and fun, among other charismatic traits, and is something I think even people who might normally skip experimental jazz can sink their teeth into.
Saturday, September 20
The 2025 Orange Country Fair starts bright and early at 8 a.m. today and tomorrow and lasts all day, featuring pancake breakfasts, tractor pulls, hand saw contests, skillet tosses, homing pigeon releases, maple syrup demos, master gardener presentations and more.
At noon at the Bowl, the Yale football team opens their 2025 season against Holy Cross. Meanwhile, starting an hour later at Jess Dow Field, Southern Connecticut State’s team plays their 2025 home opener (and second game of the season) against American International College.
With doors opening at 5 p.m., Lost in New Haven, an immersive local history museum-slash-event space filled with eye-catching artifacts and dramatic installations, presents a live-scored film screening with a heavy twist starting at 7. “Experience Fritz Lang’s 1927 science fiction masterpiece Metropolis like never before, reimagined with a blistering live metal score by The Silent Light. This cinematic ritual of chaos and sound will be performed one night only… Tickets include a pass to the museum as well as the screening.”
Sunday, September 21
From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at French Memorial Park, this year’s Seymour Pumpkin Festival ventures well outside the patch. Nearly 200 vendors will be selling their wares, while the schedule of activities includes pumpkin decorating along with live music, light saber training, a scavenger hunt and a costume contest.
From 11 to 3, Edgerton Park on the New Haven-Hamden line holds its annual Sunday in the Park, “an outdoor celebration under the trees with food trucks, music, [a] scavenger hunt, children’s games, carriage rides, [a] dog parade, pony rides, owls, [a] book sale and more!”
Promising musical accompaniment from preeminent live-scorer Donald Sosin, the Yale Film Archive presents a 2 p.m. screening of the comedic silent film The Freshman (1925). “Harold Lloyd heads to college in his biggest hit, and makes the grade with one of the most famous sports sequences ever filmed. An eager freshman fumbles his attempts to fit in—from football tryouts to the Fall Frolic—but can he bounce back at the Big Game?”
Also at 2, within the Newhallville Learning Corridor along the Farmington Canal Trail, an event co-presented by Clean Transportation Communities of Southern Connecticut offers a chance to inspect and test-drive electric vehicles and e-bikes. Also “enjoy free food and family-friendly activities, enter raffles for a chance to win great prizes (including an e-bike!), check out local vendors, and connect with the community.”
Written by Dan Mims. Image, featuring Christian Sands, sourced from christiansandsjazz.com. Readers are encouraged to verify times, locations, prices and other details before attending events.
