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 | FRIDAY, OCT. 23 THROUGH THURSDAY, OCT. 29, 2026 | Hey Wormtowners!We’re back. And Worcester has plenty to get us out of the house. I’m Jenn Gibbs, the new publisher of Wormtown Weekly. Jim built something worth keeping, and I’m grateful he’s entrusted me with its next chapter. Thank you, Jim, and thank you for keeping a spot for Wormtown in your inbox. Our new rhythm: Friday afternoons, with plans from Friday through Thursday. You’ll still find good local outings, live music, a little Worcester history, and a pet who deserves a second look. This week: free theatre for the kids, a homecoming game, an ABBA singalong, and a $10 movie night with a very big organ. Let’s make plans. | The weekend, fast Pick your kind of outing. | Tonight: free open mic at Off The Rails at 7 p.m. All ages; performers can sign up through the event page. 90 Commercial St. Saturday: a free Rainbow Fish show, football at 1, then ABBA or Bach after dark. Sunday: family theatre, Disney on Ice, a $10 Wurlitzer concert, or Bachtoberfest. Also inside: a staycation, Worcester history, a vintage postcard, Halloween lore and Snow the cat. All times Eastern. Organizer links have the latest ticket, weather and accessibility details. |
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Five best bets Your weekend starts here. |  Official artwork: The Hanover Theatre. 01 / SATURDAY & SUNDAY A little fish. A free family outing.Oct. 24 & 25 · 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. each day
Francis R. Carroll Plaza · 2 Southbridge St. · Free The Hanover Theatre’s Youth Acting Company brings The Rainbow Fish to the plaza in a 35-minute, all-ages show. Short enough for small attention spans, with no ticket bill. Bring a chair; seating is limited. The theatre lists an indoor rain location. See showtimes and RSVP → | 02 / SATURDAY Put some purple in the afternoon.Oct. 24 · 1 p.m.
Fitton Field, Holy Cross · Worcester · Ticketed Holy Cross hosts Bucknell for Homecoming. If your ideal October plan involves a football field and a reason to cheer with the people around you, this is the one. Check the official game page for tickets and gameday information. Plan your Holy Cross game day → |  Official promotional photo: The Hanover Theatre / MANIA. 03 / SATURDAY NIGHT You already know the chorus.Oct. 24 · 7:30 p.m.
The Hanover Theatre · 2 Southbridge St.
$39.50–$99.50 listed all-in MANIA: The ABBA Tribute brings the songs, costumes and big singalong energy to the Hanover. This is a tribute show, with roughly two hours and ten minutes including intermission. Go with the friend who needs no encouragement to sing. Choose your ABBA night tickets → |  Photo: The Hanover Theatre. 04 / SUNDAY An afternoon with the mighty Wurlitzer.Oct. 25 · 2 p.m.
The Hanover Theatre · 2 Southbridge St. · $10 general admission Dr. Jonathan Kleefield plays music by Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II and Lorenz Hart in Richard, Oscar & Lorenz. Expect a 90-minute trip through Broadway favorites. Eligible theatre members, subscribers and conservatory families have free-ticket options on the event page. See the Wurlitzer concert details → |  Official promotional artwork: Disney On Ice / Feld Entertainment. 05 / FRIDAY THROUGH SUNDAY The big family production: on ice.DCU Center · Worcester · Ticketed
Fri. 23: 7 p.m. · Sat. 24: 11 a.m., 3 & 7 p.m.
Sun. 25: noon & 4 p.m. Disney On Ice presents Spotlight Magic is in town through Sunday. Pick the performance that works with your household’s schedule and compare ticket options before promising anyone a trip to the rink. Pick a Disney On Ice performance → |
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Turn it up Three more ways to hear Worcester. | Saturday, 7 p.m. / Molly McKeon. A free Listening Room performance at Off The Rails, 90 Commercial St. See the music-night details. Saturday, 7:30 p.m. / Boris Giltburg. Bach’s The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I at Curtis Performance Hall, Assumption University, 500 Salisbury St. Adult tickets $35–$94; students $20. Find seats for an evening of Bach. Sunday, 4 p.m. / Bachtoberfest Choir. Regional singers and the Hartford Chorale at Mechanics Hall, 321 Main St. Pay-what-you-wish general admission is listed at $20–$60. See the choir program and tickets. | Keep a few plans for later The week does not end on Sunday. |  Official event artwork: Mechanics Hall. TUESDAY, OCT. 27 / 7 P.M. A silent movie with a live heartbeat.Mechanics Hall · 321 Main St. · $10; free for members
Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Lon Chaney’s 1923 The Hunchback of Notre Dame gets a live, improvised soundtrack from organist Peter Krasinski. The film is silent. The Worcester Organ very much is not. Book the $10 silent-film night → | WEDNESDAY, OCT. 28 / TWO PERFORMANCES Give the lunch hour an Irish soundtrack.Holy Cross · 1 College St. · Free
Noon in Dinand Library; 2 p.m. in Fenwick Library Diarmuid Ó Meachair, John Hannigan, Liz Knowles and Kieran O’Hare bring traditional Irish music to the libraries. Choose the noon or 2 p.m. performance, and check campus visitor-parking arrangements before heading over. See the two library performances → | THURSDAY, OCT. 29 / 5:45–6:30 P.M. Step inside a national treasure on Salisbury Street.American Antiquarian Society · 185 Salisbury St.
Free; advance registration required The evening public tour offers a look inside AAS and its work preserving America’s printed past. The tour is limited to 30 people, so use Monday’s quiet moment to check registration. Don’t count on walking in. Register for the evening tour → | One more free Thursday option: Daniel Gay plays the Off The Rails Listening Room, 5–8 p.m., at 90 Commercial St. Check the Thursday music details. | Staycation A night away, right here in Worcester. |  Photo: Beechwood Hotel. Make one of these nights feel like a getaway. Beechwood Hotel, at 363 Plantation St., is a Worcester boutique stay with stained-glass details and artwork from the owners’ collection. Pair a room with a show downtown, then give yourself a slow morning before heading home. Check the hotel’s current rates and availability for your dates; this is a local staycation idea, not a package deal. Take a look inside Beechwood → |
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This week in Worcester history Two days that helped build a national movement. | October 23–24, 1850. Brinley Hall, Worcester. Exactly 176 years ago this weekend, the city hosted the first National Woman’s Rights Convention. Seneca Falls had met two years earlier; Worcester helped turn those demands into an ongoing national effort. Paulina Wright Davis presided. Lucretia Mott and Frederick Douglass took part in the debates; Elizabeth Cady Stanton sent a letter. The conversation reached beyond the vote to women’s place in work, education and public life. Davis pushed the gathering toward the hard part: doing something after the speeches ended. The convention called for raising money, collecting evidence, printing tracts and sending speakers out to keep the work moving. Worcester hosted the national gathering again the next year. That is the detail worth carrying into our own weekend: a room full of people making plans for what came next. A local meeting can have a very long reach. Read the National Park Service’s convention history | The vintage corner Wish you were here, Worcester. |  Public domain postcard, dated 1905–1915. Courtesy VCU Libraries, James F. Stubbins Postcard Collection. Before a downtown snapshot traveled by text, it traveled by stamp. This City Hall postcard was published by Samuel Langsdorf & Co. and printed in Germany. VCU Libraries dates it to 1905–1915. A little piece of Worcester, ready for somebody else’s mantel. Your turn: which Worcester place would you bring back for one afternoon? Reply with the place and the memory. | Wormtown lore / Halloween edition The ghost nobody put in the window. |  Haunted-house illustration from WPI’s 2013 article. A Tudor-style house, hidden passages and Halloween visitors: Higgins House at WPI has the right ingredients. Built in 1923 for Aldus C. Higgins and given to WPI in 1971, it also has a campus ghost story worth telling with the lights on. In a 2013 WPI account, student organizer Rick Baruffi recalled guests leaving the 2011 haunted-house event and complimenting the ghost in a second-floor window. They wanted to know how the effect worked. His explanation was the unsettling part: the organizers had put no decorations up there. Baruffi also said he had never personally experienced anything unusual in the house. So file this under campus folklore. The visitors’ story is an anecdote, and the ghost remains unverified. That window still makes a good ending. Read WPI’s archived Higgins House story | Pet of the week Snow is looking for his next chapter. |  Photo: Worcester Animal Rescue League adoption listing. Snow is an orange-and-white male domestic shorthair mix at Worcester Animal Rescue League. His current listing estimates his age at one year and one month. Ask the shelter about his temperament and the home that would suit him. WARL is at 139 Holden St. Check Snow’s live listing and contact the shelter before making a trip; availability can change. Meet Snow and check availability →
Want to help the shelter this weekend? Waggin’ for a Van is Saturday, Oct. 24, at Shore Park, 115 Shore Dr. Check-in starts at 9 a.m.; the walk starts at 9:30. Registration supports a shelter transport van. See the fundraiser and registration.
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Put your business in the next Friday plan.
Own a Worcester-area business? Sponsor an upcoming Wormtown Weekly and introduce yourself to readers deciding where to go, what to try and whom to support.
Hit reply with SPONSOR, or email Jenn at [email protected] with your business name and the dates you have in mind. I’ll follow up with options. Local restaurants, shops, venues and neighborhood services: I’d love to hear from you.
Help us come back with one more friend.
Pick one person who loves Worcester and send them this edition. Tell them Wormtown Weekly is back, with fresh plans every Friday.
Have an event, a business we should know or a correction? Reply or email [email protected] with the details. For event tips, include the date, time, address, price and organizer’s link.
Thanks for being here. I’m glad we get to keep this going.
