What is 2nd Saturday?
2nd Saturday is a monthly community event held on the second Saturday of each month, celebrating local art, music, food, and culture. It’s a time when local businesses, galleries, and vendors come together to showcase their creativity, connect with neighbors, and make downtown come alive with energy and fun.
October 10TH HAPPENINGS:
🎃 Downtown Manchester Scarecrow Contest Kick-off – See what our local businesses and organizations have entered and vote for your favorite.
🫖 Poet-Tea with Nadia Sims (10–11:30A) – There may be a nip in the air, but you can enjoy poetry in a cozy, creative atmosphere.
✍️ Writer’s Playground (12–1:30P) – Monthly creative open house where writers age 16+ can share and hone their skills in a supportive environment.
🎨Ignite Your Inner Light Series – A monthly Creative Collective event, this month features pumpkin painting for family engagement.
🧩Puzzle Exchange – Bring a puzzle, take a puzzle, work on a puzzle.
🎨 Family-Friendly Crafts – Try scrape painting and create a Ghost Family Portrait.
🎶 Live Music Local musicians will entertain you with their song stylings.
WORK_SPACE is committed to providing an inclusive and welcoming environment. Our building is ADA accessible and includes an elevator at the rear entrance, as well as push-button door openers on exterior, vestibule, and restroom doors. If you have questions or specific access needs, please reach out to us ahead of time so we can help make your visit as pleasant as possible.
October 10th – 2nd Saturdays POET-TEA – 10-11:30a – FREE
The leaves are changing, there’s a nip in the air, and you’re feeling inspired! Come in for a cup of tea and stay for the camaraderie and creative vibes of Poet-Tea. Come find your muse among fellow creatives. Bring your parchment and your quill, or just your poetry notebook and a pen, and write along with Manchester’s Poet Laureate Nadia Sims as she guides you with a creative prompt.
* WORK_SPACE is committed to providing an inclusive and welcoming environment. Our building is ADA accessible and includes an elevator at the rear entrance, as well as push-button door openers on exterior, vestibule, and restroom doors. If you have questions or specific access needs, please reach out to us ahead of time so we can help make your visit as pleasant as possible.
Contact WORK_SPACE with any questions via: 860-647-3168, galleries@workspacemanchester.com
Just stop by or RSVP to be notified of any updates: https://bit.ly/2ndSatPoetTea
Writer’s Playground – Monthly Peer-Led Writing Group
October 10th | 12–1:30 PM
Free to attend. Bring a notebook, your ideas, and an open mind.
Questions: Contact info@workspacemanchester.com
‘Tis the season for all ages to decorate pumpkins with paints and stickers, fostering creativity and self-expression!
Pumpkin Painting & Family Engagement
Saturday, Oct 10, 10:00 – 11:30am
Join us for a festive, family-oriented activity perfect for all ages, encouraging creativity and seasonal fun. Participants will decorate pumpkins using paints, markers, and various art supplies, allowing for imaginative designs and family bonding. This activity celebrates fall, community, and self-expression, providing a joyful experience for children and adults alike. Light refreshments will be provided. Free. Pre-registration is encouraged.
WORK_SPACE is committed to providing an inclusive and welcoming environment. Our building is ADA accessible and includes an elevator at the rear entrance, as well as push-button door openers on exterior, vestibule, and restroom doors. If you have questions or specific access needs, please reach out to us ahead of time so we can help make your visit as pleasant as possible.
RSVP: https://bit.ly/2ndSatPumpkin
For more than 200 years, the Wangunk have been referred to as Connecticut’s “lost tribe.” But what if they were never lost?
Their ancestors lived in the Connecticut River Valley for thousands of years. Their descendants are still here.
Join Gary “Red Oak” O’Neil, Wangunk descendant, artist, historian, and master storyteller, for a fascinating evening of stories, history, art, and conversation about the Wangunk people—and the remarkable story of how his family survived.
Red Oak is part of the Jonathan Palmer family line, the only surviving Wangunk line that remained in the area. He’ll share stories of a people whose history in the Connecticut River Valley reaches back some 10,000 years, and how generations of his family survived and maintained their identity, in part by living quietly and staying “under the radar.”
But this isn’t only a story about the past.
Red Oak is also one of the artists represented in Roots Run Deep: The Art of Indigenous Heritage, along with other Wangunk artists. Surrounded by their work in the WORK_SPACE Gallery, we’ll have the rare opportunity to hear directly from an artist about the ways Indigenous heritage, identity, traditions, and stories can be preserved and expressed not only through the stories we tell, but through the art we create.
The Listening Room open mic
Thursday, Oct. 15 | 6 – 8 PM
Live Music & Spoken Word are alive and well at WORK_SPACE. Join us for this monthly gathering where you can entertain and/or be entertained!
Welcome to the 3rd Thursday Listening Room / Open Mic event!
Join us every 3rd Thursday in the Main Street Gallery @ WORK_SPACE for a melodic evening of music, poetry, and camaraderie.
Whether you’re a seasoned performer or just looking to enjoy some great tunes, this event is perfect for everyone. Come showcase your talent or simply sit back and relax as you listen to some amazing performances.
Don’t miss out on this opportunity to connect with fellow music lovers and have a great time in a great venue.
Produced by Imagine Manchester and hosted by Liz Reed.
FREE
Picture This: A Photography & Poetry Exhibit
Opening Thursday, October 29th, 2026 5:30-7pm
DateNight Downtown Wine & Cheese Tasting at Manchester Historical Society
Manchester Historical Society 175 Pine Street
Join us for a deliciously different DateNight Downtown at the Manchester History Center, where we’ll pair exceptional Connecticut cheese and locally crafted libations with good conversation and a taste of Manchester history.
Cato Corner Farm, nationally acclaimed for its artisan raw-milk cheeses, will provide a selection of distinctive cheeses to taste and enjoy.
Fairy Feastery / Dragonfire Meadery will introduce us to their handcrafted libations—and share some of the flavors, inspiration, and stories behind them.
Come with a date, bring a friend, or come on your own. DateNight Downtown is really about making a date with your community—trying something new, meeting new people, and experiencing Manchester in a different way.
Choose Your Own Price
We want DateNight Downtown to remain accessible while also recognizing the true cost of creating a quality experience.
The value of this event is more than $50 per person, but you choose the ticket price that works for you: $50, $40, or $25.
Every ticket includes the same experience. If you’re able to pay the full $50, your ticket helps us continue offering accessible community experiences like this one. If $25 better fits your budget, that is absolutely fine.
We cover the ticket-processing fees, so there are no hidden costs. During checkout, you’ll also have the option to make an additional donation if you’d like to help support future community experiences.
Got Kids?
Make it a night out for the whole family—just in two different places!
The Firestone | art studio + café offers a companion program every second Thursday from 6–8 PM. While you enjoy DateNight Downtown, children ages 6+ can enjoy a fun, supervised creative activity—including dinner—between drop-off and pick-up.
Separate registration through The Firestone is required for the children’s program:
The Firestone Website
Space is limited at both venues, so reserve your spots early.
Perspectives of Fantasy & Imagination
Opening Friday, December 11th, 2026 5:30-7pm
Fantasy has always provided important lessons and comfort through difficult times; it allows us to create imagined possibilities from which real change can spring, or to process experiences through metaphor and symbolism. Whatever its purpose may be, the fantasy genre is known for its rich imagery of characters, creatures, and environments in a wide variety of styles. This show aims to explore the vast spectrum of the “unreal”—from high-fantasy landscapes and mythological re-tellings to surrealist dreams and speculative futures. We want to see how you interpret the unseen and the imagined!
PUPPY YOGA
2nd Saturday – December 12th 9AM-9:50AM | the Galleries @ WORK_SPACE
Join us for a morning of downward dogs, cat/cows, and delightful puppies. Maria from Samadhi Yoga Studio of Manchester will instruct a special puppy yoga class on Dec. 12th at 9AM. Get ready to stretch, relax, and cuddle with some adorable, adoptable puppies. This is a perfect way to de-stress and start your weekend with some joy. Ticket price includes a donation to PawSafe Animal Rescue to help support their incredible work. We will also be collecting needed supplies for the rescue. Your participation helps provide food, shelter, and medical care for animals in need.
Please bring your own yoga mat. Ages 12+ welcome; participants under 16 years of age need an adult present.
Sit! Stay after yoga for an adoption event, and leave feeling refreshed, in balance, and with a new best friend!