Here are some top events in NH to put on your calendar this spring

Technically speaking it’s meteorological spring in New Hampshire, so get out your calendar and plan your vernal equinox activities right now. Here are a few suggestions.

Help preserve one of our state’s most beautiful creatures – butterflies. There are more than 100 species of butterflies in New Hampshire, but data on their presence and distribution is limited. That’s why the New Hampshire Audubon and New Hampshire Fish and Game are hosting online and field training sessions for volunteers to help collect long-term data on butterflies in the Concord region and beyond. Sightings will provide valuable data on how species ranges are changing over time and help support butterfly conservation in New Hampshire. Butterfly experts from across the state will serve as guides. Online training sessions are scheduled for the following dates: March 20, March 27, April 3, and April 10. This training will culminate in the Concord Area Butterfly Survey count in July.

Spring Art Show, Jaffrey Civic Center, 40 Main St., Jaffrey, Now through  April 4. This year’s show of over 80 works, features painters, photographers, pastel artist sculptures, and mixed media artists.  The show is open Wednesday – Friday, noon to 5 p.m. and Saturday, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Restaurant Week Portsmouth & the Seacoast, April 18 – 27. Nearly 30 restaurants are offering $48, three-course prix-fixe menus for dinner and $25 lunches. Reservations are highly suggested for the 10-day event and there are special offers in area hotels, shops, and attractions. Listings can be found here.

Earth Day Celebration, Saturday, April 20, 10 a.m. – 3 p.m., NH Audubon Massabesic Center, 26 Audubon Way, Auburn. The celebration will include a variety of family-friendly activities including a raptor encounter, nature hikes, and amphibian exploration. Registration is recommended but walk-ins will be accepted. Admission is $10 for member families of four and $15 for non-member families. The first 125 families that register can participate in nest-box building.

 NH Sheep & Wool Festival, Saturday, May 11, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m., Sunday, May 12, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m., Deerfield Fair Grounds, 34 Stage Rd., Deerfield. Admission $10. Children 12 and under, Two days of sheep, fiber, and craftsmanship. Over 100 fiber vendors, sheep breed display, youth sheep show, workshops, food, and more.

Spring Equinox Sound Bath, Vibrations Sound Bath Studios, March 20, Nashua, 7-8 p.m. 5 Pine St. Extension, Unit 2-B, Nashua. Vibrations Sound Bath Studio welcomes you to immerse yourself in the harmonies of renewal at the Spring Equinox. The experience includes the sounds of crystal singing bowls, Tibetan bowls, ocean drums, crystal singing pyramids, and lotus wind gong.  $40 per person. 

Beltane Concert – Spring is Here will be held at the Merrimack Public Library, 470 Daniel Webster Highway, Merrimack, on Thursday, May 2 at 6-8:15 p.m. Beltane, sometimes called May Day, is a Pagan holiday that falls halfway between the spring equinox and the coming of the summer solstice and has been associated with music and folklore. In this performance, traditional musicians Castlebay – Julia Lane and Fred Gosbee of Round Pond, Maine, will use their voices, folklore, and instruments, including Celtic harps, 14-string guitars, fiddles, and woodwinds to weave their celebration of Beltane.

2024 Rollinsford Spring Farmers Market, March 16, Wentworth Greenhouses, 141 Rollins Rd., Rollinsford 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. This market will feature fresh produce, fruits and vegetables, plants, breads, meat, fish, poultry, dairy products, maple and honey products, seeds and plants, foods, baked goods, and much more. There will be vendors, music, kid’s activities and local food. Admission is free.