Where and when are the free activities?
FIREWORKS AT WEIRS BEACH
Click here for the fireworks schedule
Click here to enlarge the fireworks photo
MUSIC AT THE MARKETPLACE
          Whether Weirs Beach's 1886-1902 original Music Hall (left) at Endicott Rock Park
          Or Weirs Beach's 1903-1924 Music Hall (right) on Tower Street
(click here to see a rare, color photo of the interior of the Music Hall)
          Or Weirs Beach's 1925-1976 Irwin's Winnipesaukee Gardens ballroom at the Winnipesaukee Pier. Click here to enlarge the photos below and for a bonus photo.
          The rooftop sign showed a dancing couple.
Some of the other big band attractions that played at Irwin's Winnipeaukee Gardens but not mentioned in the above advertisement:

• Benny Goodman • Nat King Cole • Guy Lombardo • Dean Hudson • Count Basie • Harry James • Tommy & Jimmy Dorsey • Glenn Miller • Sammy Kaye • Tony Brown • Glen Gray
          "The Gardens had a glossy grand piano and big frame around the stage. On that frame were two mermaids on each side and King Neptune at the top" - Carole Gosselin
           From the mid 1960's until the closure of the ballroom in 1976, the Gardens shifted its entertainment emphasis to rock and roll. While the few surviving famous big bands would still occasionally swing through town, the Gardens now rocked with a different beat. Some of the famous rock acts who performed there included:

Gary Pucket & The Union Gap • Sam the Sham and the Pharoahs • The Beach Boys • The Turtles • Eric Burdon & War • The Spectras
          Music at Weirs Beach has had a very long tradition, and the Winnipesaukee Marketplace has been carrying the flame since 1991. In July & August, on Wednesday nights, you can hear the Lakes Region Chordsmen barbershoppers sing songs that would undoubtedly be familiar to those who attended concerts at the earlier Weirs Beach Music Halls. And on Sunday nights, the Boardwalk Jazz Quartet brings back the familiar tunes by Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and other Jazz greats whose music once graced the Winnipesaukee Garden's ballroom.
Click here to enlarge the barbershoppers photo
SQUARE DANCING ON THE BOARDWALK
 
What and when are the special events?
LAKE WINNIPESAUKEE FISHING DERBY
May 16-18, 2008. The 27th annual event is presented by the Lakes Region Inland Fishing Association. A variety of prizes are awarded, including 4 boats, for major catches of Salmon and Lake Trout. Bystanders can watch as the fish are weighed in at the weigh station, located on Lakeside Avenue in Weirs Beach.
CAR SHOW
LACONIA NATIONALS
     The Weirs Beach Drive-In held a car show in 2007 on Saturday, July 7. 2008 dates TBA. For further information, please email weirsdrivein@hotmail.com.
6th Annual. May 23rd through the 25th, 2008. Activities includes Friday night's Cruz’n the Boardwalk at Weirs Beach, with a cook-out for drivers and guests featuring live oldies music, and the weekend show at Gunstock, with prizes for best Hot Rod, Custom, and Muscle.
Jalopy races were held at the Gilford Bowl during the 1950's. The above ad is from a 1954 advertising brochure. Now the site of the Meadowbrook summer concert series.
20th Annual WHITE MOUNTAINS TRACK CAR MEET
     Saturday, June 7, 2008, about 11am-1pm. Watch as more than 50 railroad Track Cars ride the rails into Weirs Beach. The pride and joy of their individual owners, each track car is customized differently. They remain along the boardwalk in Weirs Beach for about an hour.
MOTORCYCLE WEEK
JUNE 14-22, 2008. Now in its 85th year!
Up to 375,000 bikers will attend this event, the third largest Motorcycle rally in the USA.
Above, the start at Laconia, N.H. of Championship 100 Mile Motorcycle Race. Below, spectators line the race course, held at the Belknap Recreation Area (now known as Gunstock). Photos are from the early 1950's.
          In recent years, Motorcycling has become a respectable hobby, with many of the bikes owned by doctors and lawyers. The sport is no longer dominated by the gangs that sparked the infamous riot of 1965, when Weirs Beach made the front page of the New York Times, and an article in Life magazine.
     Click here for a look at some of the official "Gypsy Tour" publications of the 1950's & 1960's.
STOCK CAR RACING AT THE
NEW HAMPSHIRE
MOTOR SPEEDWAY
     Two NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series races are held at the speedway, about a half-hour drive from Weirs Beach. Close to 100,000 people attend each 300-lap race around the 1 mile oval. In 2008, the 16th annual Lenox Industrial Tools race will be held June 29, while the 12th annual Sylvania race, the first race in the final ten-race "Chase for the Cup", is scheduled for September 14.
Click here for some great aerial photos of the New Hampshire Motor Speedway, taken during the July 1, 2007 race.
MONTREAL-BOSTON TOUR
THE SOUL FEST
Four days of soul-inspiring Christian music of all genres, guest speakers and authors from around the world, workshops, discussion groups, and numerous recreational activities comprise this event, the largest multi-day music festival of its kind in the Northeast. This years event, to be held at Gunstock on July 30-August 2, 2008, will celebrate the Soul Fest's 11th Anniversary.
Stage #6: Franconia to Concord
Originally scheduled for August 10, 2007
Postponed until 2008. 2008 Dates TBA

          Passing from the White Mountains through the Lakes Region on its way to the state capitol, this first-ever eight-stage bicycle race, based on the famous Tour de France, could become one of cycling's top international events. Over 20 professional and national cycling teams will be competing. The closest the race will pass to Weirs Beach will be at Wellington State Park on Newfound Lake in Bristol. Click here for a map of the race course.
TIMBERMAN TRIATHALON
August 15-17, 2008

     Attracting nearly 1500 extremely talented athletes, this 70.3 mile, "half-ironman" triathalon is an official qualifier for the Ironman World Championships, and features a 1.2 mile swim in Lake Winnipesaukee, a 56 mile bike ride, and a 13.1 mile run, all starting from Ellacoya State Park in nearby Gilford, about 7 miles from Weirs Beach. In 2006, the winner finished with an incredible sub-4 hour total time of 3 hours, 57 minutes, and 46 seconds!

QUILTS AT THE WEIRS
     One of the only outdoor quilt shows in the country, celebrating the creativity of Quilters. The beautiful quilts were hung from the porches of the Victorian homes and the buildings of the New Hampshire Veterans Association lining Lakeside Avenue in Weirs Beach. Held annually from 2001-2005, the show is currently on hold, due to lack of an organizer. However, Weirs Beach still has a "Quilt Connection", the Quilted Frog (603) 366-5600, which sells DIY books, fabrics, and supplies.
LAKE WINNIPESAUKEE RELAY RACE
SEPTEMBER 20th, 2008 at 8:00am

     This annual road race, now in its 20th edition, consists of about 100 eight-person running teams, each completing a 65.1-mile circle around Lake Winnipesaukee! The race starts and ends in Weirs Beach, with each member of the team completing one leg. The race, sponsored by the North Medford Club, is dedicated to Fred Brown, a pioneer in New England road racing. In 2007, the winning team completed the course in less than 7 hours, posting a blistering pace of one mile every 6 minutes, 13 seconds!
ANTIQUE & CLASSIC BOAT SHOW
LEE'S MILLS STEAMBOAT MEET
SEPTEMBER 5-14, 2008

The town of Moultonborough sponsors this annual 10-day meeting of Steamboats, now in its 36th edition. The Meet features a parade of boats each Sunday of the event. The parade occurs at 2pm on the first Sunday, and at 10am on the second Sunday. There is also a race on Wednesday from the Moultonborough town docks to 19 Mile Bay in Tuftonboro. For further information please contact:
David Thompson
PO Box 175, Moultonboro NH 03254
(603) 476-2224
Saturday, July 26th, 2008, 9am-3pm.
Meredith Town Docks.
After 29 years in Weirs Beach, the show moved to Meredith in 2003. 2008 will be the 6th Meredith show, and 35th overall.
ARTS & CRAFTS/ANTIQUE SHOWS
      In 2008, the Lake Winnipesaukee Museum, next to Funspot, will host the second annual Weirs Summer Arts & Crafts Festival on July 26 & 27, organized by Castleberry Fairs & Festivals. Arts and crafts fans should also check out the 29th annual Lakes Region Arts & Crafts festival in Meredith, August 23-24, 2008.
HISTORICAL & FUTURE EVENTS
          Events that enjoyed a long history in Weir Beach, but that are no longer being held, or have relocated elsewhere, include: boat carnivals and exhibitions; boat races of all types – steamboats, wooden inboard-engine speedboats, fiberglass outboard-engine speedboats, hydroplanes, and most recently, massive offshore power boats, which raced down the Broads of Lake Winnipesaukee in the 1990s; sailboat regattas; water skiing races and exhibitions; helicopter rescue demonstrations; parachute jumping exhibitions, and beauty pageants.
          The recent absence of boating events from Weirs Bay is very likely due to its increasing congestion. In 1939 there were only 1681 boats registered on the entire Lake, in 1948, 2496 boats, and in 1955, 3753 boats. By 1979 there were more than 15,000 boats, according to one study. With 100, 835 boats registered statewide in 2003, it would be safe to assume that today, there may be as many as 25,000 boats on Lake Winnipesaukee.
          It is interesting to speculate whether these events will ever return in the future. There may be newer events many years from now that cannot even be imagined today.
          A skydiver lands on Weirs Beach, early 1970's.

           Five waterskiers, pulled by one ski boat, pass between the ski jump and the public docks, Boat-O-Rama, 1964.
          A helicopter churns the water off the Mount Washington Wharf, 1950's.
          A late 1920's speedboat race. Lakeside Avenue houses are in the background.
          Offshore power boats gather at "Aqua Fest" at the Weirs Beach public docks, 1996. Click here for a larger picture.
          The Miss Winnipesaukee beauty pageant was held in Weirs Beach, at Irwin's Winnipesaukee Gardens, from 1925-1968; and from 1969 - 2000 at various closeby venues including Funspot, Laconia High School, and Gilford Middle School.
The above photo was probably taken in 1954.
          "Sailboat racing on Lake Winnipesaukee, Weirs Beach, New Hampshire. Exciting races are held every weekend."
         Since 2001 the pageant has been held at Gunstock, in Gilford. Click here to enlarge the above photo.
A boat carnival in the 1900's. Click here to enlarge and for additional photos and info.
Miss New Hampshire 1954 (Mae Allen), was on the
cover of the 1955 Weirs Beach brochure.
Miss New Hampshire 1955 (Margaret Johnson), was on the cover of the 1956 Weirs Beach brochure.
WINTER EVENTS
In 2008, the second weekend in February was the time to visit, as the Meredith Rotary held its 28th annual Great Rotary Ice Fishing Derby on February 9-10, while the Lakes Region Sled Dog Club held its 79th annual Laconia World Championship Sled Dog Derby on the same weekend, from February 8-10. These events require cold weather, ice and snow, so hopefully, they will be held ever year, despite global warming. With good ice conditions (8"-16" thick) and plenty of fresh snow, the 2008 events were a big success.
ICE FISHING - BY THE NUMBERS

4: Minimum thickness in inches of new clear ice needed to safely walk upon
8–12: Minimum thickness in inches of ice needed to safely drive a car upon. Varies according to vehicle
2: Maximum number of ice fishing holes legally allowed per person
18: Minimum length in inches for a legal "keeper" - a fish that you don't have to throw back in
5x6: Dimensions, in feet, of a typical bobhouse – an ice fishing shack
4/1: Latest date bobhouses must be removed from the ice or pay fine and lose fishing license for 1 year!
A bobhouse on Weir Bay. Notice the Spindle Point lighthouse in the distance. Click here to enlarge.
While racing began in 1929, 1936 was the first "World Championship" sled dog race. A pinback button is a common memento of the race.
Racing down Laconia's Main Street in the 1960's (color photo) and in the 1950's (black and white photo).
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