This Week in New Haven (November 2 – 8)

November 2, 2026

This week, with Halloween behind us, Thanksgiving is coming into view—and Christmas is already tiptoeing into the picture.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 2

Mini Calaveras: A Día de los Muertos Craft
3–5 p.m. | Fair Haven Library | Free
Children ages six to eleven can celebrate Día de los Muertos by making miniature calaveras and watching the animated film The Book of Life. Snacks provided.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3

Community Sewing Project
12:30–2:30 p.m. | Yale University Art Gallery | Free
The Yale Art Gallery invites visitors to contribute to a communal sewing project inspired by quilting. No experience necessary, and all materials provided.

Bluegrass Jam
6–8:30 p.m. | Shore Line Trolley Museum, East Haven | Donations encouraged
Enjoy banjos and fiddles plus vintage streetcars at the Shore Line Trolley Museum. Bring an instrument and join in, or just listen.

Practical Pickles: Demystifying Fermentation
6–7:30 p.m. | Group Project | $20; $10 for members
Learn how salt and naturally occurring bacteria turn veggies into something tart and crunchy. Group Project's workshop covers the basics of lacto-fermentation, with materials provided.

Scottish Country Dancing
7–9 p.m. | Whitneyville Cultural Commons, Hamden | $8
No kilt, partner, or experience required. Learn the steps to traditional Scottish country dances with a welcoming group. First-timers can dance for free.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 4

Architecture and the American Empire in the Philippines
Noon–1:20 p.m. | Luce Hall, Room 203
Concrete was an instrument of empire building. Architectural historian Diana J. S. Martinez, author of Concrete Colonialism, examines how American authorities used buildings and urban planning to reshape the Philippines.

An Afternoon of Song
12:45 p.m. | Engleman Hall, Southern Connecticut State University | Free
Opera, jazz, and Broadway share the bill as Southern's voice students perform a lunchtime recital.

Artist Talk: Richard Long
5–7 p.m. | Yale Center for British Art | Free
British artist Richard Long once made art simply by walking through a field. Now he's swept clay across a twenty-six-foot wall at the Yale Center for British Art. Hear him discuss Gravity and a career spent turning landscapes into art.

Early Screening: La bola negra
6:30–9 p.m. | 53 Wall St. | Free
Penélope Cruz, Glenn Close, and Julio Torres star in La bola negra, a Spanish drama connecting three generations through desire, secrecy, and history. This early screening includes English subtitles. No registration required.

Kallos Chamber Music Series: The Place We Begin
7:30 p.m. | New Haven Lawn Club | Ticketed
Kallos opens its season with a program exploring music by Tessa Lark, Seth Grosshandler, Schumann, and Dvořák.

Giles Corey, Kathryn Mohr and Val Acton Loper
8 p.m.; doors 7 p.m. | Space Ballroom, Hamden | All ages; ticketed
Dark and haunting, Giles Corey is the solo project of Have a Nice Life's Dan Barrett. Experimental musicians Kathryn Mohr and Val Acton Loper round out the bill.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5

A Slice of Zuppardi’s Family History
6–7:30 p.m. | New Haven Museum | Free with museum admission; registration encouraged
Before Zuppardi's made apizza, it made bread. Sisters Cheryl and Lori Zuppardi trace the family business from a 1934 West Haven bakery to a beloved pizza institution, joined by pizza historian Colin Caplan.

Barry Seroff's Large Ensemble
7 p.m. | Ely Center of Contemporary Art | Suggested donation
Barry Seroff leads an ensemble of improvisers whose performance takes shape through musical conversation, spontaneous change, and whatever gets thrown into the mix.

Arthur Miller's The Price
7 p.m. | Legacy Theatre, Branford | Tickets from $55
Two estranged brothers, their dead father's furniture, and decades of unfinished business. Long Wharf Theatre officially celebrates the opening of Arthur Miller's The Price, with director Ralph B. Peña reimagining the family as Asian American. Runs through November 22.

Organ Improvisation Showcase
7:30–9 p.m. | Woolsey Hall | Free
Yale students improvise on Woolsey Hall's gigantic Newberry Memorial Organ. It should result in a unique and surprising performance.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6

An Evening with Natasha Trethewey
5:30–6:30 p.m. | Yale Center for British Art | Free
Former U.S. poet laureate Natasha Trethewey reads from work exploring memory, race, and American history. Her books include the Pulitzer-winning Native Guard and the memoir Memorial Drive.

Quinnipiac Women's Hockey vs. Cornell
6 p.m. | M&T Bank Arena, Hamden | Ticketed
Two strong programs face off in Hamden as Quinnipiac hosts Cornell.

The Santa Switch: Opening Night
7 p.m. | Cabaret on Main, East Haven | Ticketed
Santa wants to retire and his chosen replacement, a New York advertising executive, doesn't want the job. This musical mixes Christmas favorites with immersive projections. Runs through November 22.

Yale Medical Symphony Orchestra: America's 250th
7:30 p.m. | Harkness Auditorium, Yale School of Medicine | Free
Doctors and medical students trade stethoscopes for instruments and celebrate America's 250th.

Circle Comedy: Dan Altano
8 p.m. | ZINC Garden Lounge | Ticketed
Marriage, parenting, and the indignities of adulthood provide plenty of material for comedian Dan Altano's set.

Gregg Bendian’s Trio Pianissimo
8:30 and 10 p.m. | Firehouse 12 | $20 first set; $15 second set
Percussionist Gregg Bendian joins pianist Simon Bahadoran and bassist Peter Brendler for adventurous jazz that borrows the intimacy of chamber music.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7

North Haven Craft Fair with The Jam Stand
9 a.m.–2 p.m. | North Haven High School
Get an early start on holiday shopping with handmade goods and small-batch preserves from The Jam Stand.

Bartlett Land Preserve and Totoket Mountain Hike
9:30 a.m. | West end of Cooks Lane, North Guilford | Free
Three towns meet atop Totoket Mountain. Guilford Land Conservation Trust director Bill Bloss leads a three-hour hike through Bartlett Land Preserve to the Guilford–Durham–North Branford boundary. Expect a few good climbs. Leashed dogs welcome.

Menagerie at the Manger: The Creatures of Christmas
10 a.m.–4 p.m. | Blessed Michael McGivney Pilgrimage Center | Free
The Bible doesn't explicitly place animals at Jesus's birth. So why do they populate almost every Nativity scene? Nearly sixty crèches and artworks from forty countries offer some answers. The exhibition opens Saturday.

Tellabration! with Storyteller Carol Glynn
11 a.m. | Connecticut Children's Museum
Storyteller Carol Glynn brings characters to life through voices, songs, humor, and audience participation as part of the international Tellabration celebration.

Connecticut Poetry Society Fall Fest
Noon–4 p.m. | James Blackstone Memorial Library, Branford | Free; registration required
Spoken-word artist Frederick-Douglass Knowles II headlines an afternoon of poetry, performances, and conversation. There will be an open mic, a book sale and refreshments.

Feral Feline Festival
2–6 p.m. | Greater New Haven Cat Project, Northford | Free
Meet the center's feline residents at an open house featuring themed raffle baskets, a look at the nonprofit's work, and chances to volunteer.

Sweet Sixteen: Día de Muertos
Community market 2 p.m.; fiesta 7 p.m. | Teatro Bregamos | Suggested $20 donation
Teatro Bregamos celebrates Día de Muertos with a Mexican-style market, food, artisans, and face painting, followed by a fiesta.

Shir Magic with Jacob “Spike” Kraus
7 p.m. | Temple Emanuel, 150 Derby Ave., Orange | Ticketed
Singer-songwriter Jacob “Spike” Kraus joins the Temple Emanuel Band for an evening of contemporary Jewish music honoring Rabbi Jerry Brieger.

Hot Mulligan with One Step Closer, Riley! and Wakelee
7 p.m. | College Street Music Hall, 238 College St. | Ticketed
Angsty Michigan emo band Hot Mulligan comes to College Street with One Step Closer, Riley!, and Connecticut's own Wakelee.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 8

Judy Birke on Family History and Kristallnacht
10–11 a.m. | Congregation Mishkan Israel, Hamden
Ahead of Kristallnacht's 88th anniversary, author and art critic Judy Birke recounts her family's experiences surrounding the Nazi attacks on Jewish communities in November 1938.

Pequonnock Yacht Club Auxiliary Fall Festival
11 a.m. | Pequonnock Yacht Club | Open to the public
The Pequonnock Yacht Club opens its City Point clubhouse for a fall festival featuring local vendors and handmade gifts. Non-members welcome.

Milford Veterans Day Parade
Noon | Wasson Field to Milford Green | Free
Veterans, marching bands, military groups, and first responders parade through downtown Milford in honor of Veterans Day. The procession ends on the Green, with this year's observance also marking America's 250th anniversary.

The Two Robes of Judge Bianco: My Faith Journey as a Judge and Deacon
6:15–7:30 p.m. | Saint Thomas More Chapel | Free
Federal judge Joseph Bianco wears two robes: one in court, another as a Catholic deacon. He discusses the intersection of law, conscience, and faith in his lecture.