Lilac Festival Returns This Saturday
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The popular Lilac Festival returns to Portsmouth's Wentworth-Coolidge Mansion on Saturday, May 26 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sponsored by the Wentworth-Coolidge Commission, the celebration of the nation's oldest lilacs brings this historic seaside site to life each year.  (Continued below)

 



The free event draws families, lilac enthusiasts, history buffs, artists, and nature lovers alike. They come to enjoy this treasure of the Seacoast and the Festival's many offerings. Activities for children will keep young visitors entertained all day. They will enjoy building their own Fairy Houses and story reading with noted children's author Tracy Kane; exploring the rambling grounds as part of a Treasure Hunt; creating art projects; watching the antics of guest Alpacas; and, for a small charge, having a caricature done by former New Yorker cartoonist, local artist Bob Nilson. 

To highlight the rich artistic heritage and the views that have inspired artists for over a hundred years, a plein air painting event will be ongoing during the Lilac Festival. Participating artists' work will be available for view and purchase in the onsite gallery in an exhibition that will run through June 24. 

Several favorite outdoor pieces from our critically acclaimed Art Encounters Preservation exhibition will return. 

Kit Clews will reconstruct his "Sea Level Tide Clock," a large dial constructed from 19th century ship building materials that measures the ebb and flow of Little Harbor. Kate Doyle will bring back her "Found Grotto," an enchanting children's music house filled with instruments created from found and recycled objects. Lilac Festival favorites, including a lecture and Q & A session at 1 pm with Guy Giunta, Chair of the NH Lilac Commission will be back, along with a silent auction, lilac sales, and free tours of the Mansion. A short film, For the Love of Lilacs, will run continuously throughout the day. Created by filmmaker Dennis Kleinman, the film encapsulates the remarkable 250 year history of the site's heirloom lilacs and the recent destructive effects of the armillaria fungus. 

The Wentworth-Coolidge Commission will unveil its latest efforts to eradicate this disease from the site's lilacs and ensure that these beautiful purple blooms remain for years to come. A new onsite lilac nursery has been filled with 100 young lilac seedlings. These plants will be distributed throughout the gardens when they have reached a proper size. 

The Wentworth-Coolidge Mansion was home to New Hampshire's first royal governor, Benning Wentworth. When artist John Templeman Coolidge bought the property in 1876, he and his family created an informal arts colony that engaged every aspect of the site's breathtaking seaside location. The Coolidge clan ran boats through Little Harbor, picnicked on Leach Island, and painted on the lush green lawns. Children found adventures throughout the grounds. 

Coolidge's daughter Mary remembered all of the Mansion's rooms as "wonderful playgrounds, as were the fields, the rocks, and the pine woods." The Lilac Festival honors this richness in the Mansion's history. 

Admission to the Lilac Festival is free. The Wentworth-Coolidge Mansion is located at the end of Little Harbor Road, just off Sagamore Avenue in Portsmouth. All forms of transportation are encouraged -- bicycles, canoes and kayaks as well as walking with ample parking for cars along Little Harbor Road and in the Mansion's lot. The Lilac Festival is the perfect time to try out the new 1.5 mile walking trail that connects the Mansion, Creek Farm, and Portsmouth conservation lands.

All are welcomed. Refreshments will be available. For more information please visit www.wentworthcoolidge.org or call the Wentworth-Coolidge Commission at 603-436-9889

 

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