Hot Weekend In CT: Bull Riding, Candle Making & Maple Sugaring

CONNECTICUT — Whether you get your sugar from the syrup inside a maple tree or from the rim of your cosmopolitan glass, Connecticut offers some event this weekend that'll float your boat.

If an evening or afternoon of hot wax and alcohol rings one or more of your bells, slink on over to NaturalAnnie Essentials Candle Bar in Bridgeport any weekend through the end of the year. The chandlers there are holding BYOB Sip & Pour Candle Making Classes. If you're like the 99.9 percent of Americans who have never poured a candle before, no worries. The staff encourages first-timers to "spill the wax and make a mess" as you craft your first-ever tallows and tapers. Chipper instructors and a live DJ will take away the sting of any unruly molten goo. Fridays at 6 p.m., Saturdays at noon, 3 p.m. and 6 p.m.; and Sundays at 1 p.m. Register online here.

Looking for something a bit more rambunctious? This weekend, Bridgeport is also playing host to the Cooper Tires Professional Bull Riders, who will be barreling into the Total Mortgage Arena for two shows. The PBR is the world's top bull riding league, and Bridgeport is a prime stop on the tour. For the riders, it's the longest eight seconds of their lives. For you and the family, it's crazy cowboy fun. Shows are Friday, Feb. 28 and Sat., Mar. 1 at 8 p.m. Tickets are available online here.

There will be plenty more sedentary opportunities to have a good time in Bethel and Stratford this weekend, as both towns are celebrating Restaurant Weeks in their Downtowns.

Bethel Restaurant Week 2025 kicked off on Monday and will run through Sunday, offering specially priced menus at some of the town's top eateries, alongside raffles and freebies. See here for the full list of participating restaurants and deals. Look for more of the same in Stratford, beginning Saturday, and running through Mar. 8. The local community center and YMCA are even offering free child care during Stratford Restaurant Week, so maybe you can have a read date night for once.

This weekend, Connecticut will be just about in the middle of sugaring season, and to get a full appreciation for what that means, we direct your attention to the Woodbury Sugar Shed. The shed began in 1982 as a backyard maple syrup making hobby, and has since grown into a sweet leviathan that produces hundreds of gallons of quality maple syrup every year, along with many other agricultural products. This Saturday, Mar. 1, these sultans of sucrose will be holding their first Maple Sugaring 2025 Demo and Open Sugar House. The expositions will continue every weekend in March. Admission is free, but be sure to pick up something sweet at the farm stand and support local agriculture. Sessions are about a half-hour long, run from 1-4:30 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays, and are booked online here.

Mardi Gras begins Mar. 4, but the Shore Line Trolley Museum in East Haven is getting a jump on the festivities with its "Mardi Gras Family Fun." Revelers can step aboard a special 100-year-old New Orleans trolley, adorned in Mardi Gras splendor, and "journey back to the festive delights of a bygone era." Enjoy magicians, craft stations and the wonder of Bourbon Street, Saturday, Mar. 1, at 11 a.m. Tickets are available online here.