Pirates, Peaches & A Classic Country Fair: CT's Weekend Highlights

CONNECTICUT — Pirates, peaches and a huge country fair are the highlights of a Connecticut weekend that promises tapering temperatures. Can legit autumn be far away…?

Look ahead to three days of big fun at The 71st Annual Bridgewater Country Fair, beginning with the Annual Bridgewater Fair Parade down Main Street following the opening ceremonies down at 6:30 p.m.

Then make your way to the Bridgewater Fair Grounds, where all the fried dough, fried Oreos, slow-cooked chicken, fresh buttery corn, tacos, ice cream, BBQ, and legendary roast beef sandwiches are prepared and cooked by local volunteer fire company and EMS members. You can't beat that.

Live music and carnival rides will entertain, pig races will amuse, and tractor pulls and death-defying aerialists will astound fair-goers across a three-day activities schedule that is packed wall-to-stall.

The annual fair is the main source of income for the Bridgewater Volunteer Fire Department, the last self-sustaining fire company in Connecticut, so come early, stay late, and eat heavy.

Native American tribes from Arapaho to Zuni will descend upon the Earth Expo & Convention Center at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville this weekend for Mohegan Wigwam Festival 2024. Traditional Native American crafts, drums, flutes, foods, storytelling and dance competitions will fill the event, which is free and open to the public, Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Avast, ye lubbers, New London is going all in (as it has a tendency to do) for Pirate Night on Saturday, Aug. 17 from 6 to 9 p.m. Dress like a pirate and talk like a pirate for the pirate parade past a pirate ship. Put the swash back in your buckle with a show by stunt combat troupe The Bawdy Buccaneers ("Pirates of the Caribbean meets Pro Wrestling"), and music (sea chanteys, obviously) by Captain Lance D. Boyle and his trusty First Mate and "Cruise Director," Truly Scrumptious. Bars and restaurants will be offering buccaneer-themed food and drink specials, and even the local art galleries aren't immune to the siren's call. Be sure to pick up your map to the downtown Pirate Scavenger Hunt at City Pier, and maybe you can score some booty.

There will be fewer scurvy dogs at Lyman Orchards in Middlefield on Saturday, but there will be plenty of peaches — thousands, in fact, in just about every form you can name. The Peach Festival at the Orchards' Apple Barrel Farm Market will run 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and celebrate everything peachy. Stretching the theme a bit will be face painting, goat cuddling, a chocolate pie-eating contest, horse-drawn wagon rides, live music from The Aquatudes and even yoga.

What's as American as apple pie, brimming with beautiful women, and fields the teams with the most savage nicknames? That's right, Bunky, it's roller derby!

Connecticut Roller Derby is a flat-track, skater-owned, skater-run organization with a May-November schedule that rolls all over the state.

On Sunday, there'll be an intraleague game, as the Widowmakers take on the Bone Crushers at Roller Magic in Waterbury. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., the match begins at 7, and mayhem ensues shortly thereafter. Tickets are available online here.