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The Wampanoag traditional Green Corn Celebration is a highlight of the summer season at the Historic Patuxet Homesite at Plimoth Patuxet Museums. This year’s event will take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 2, and visitors are welcome to take part in it.
Malissa Costa, a Mashpee Wampanoag and an educator at the homesite, said the green corn season represents a time of thanksgiving for Indigenous people. Weeâchumun (corn) is significant to the Wampanoag for its ceremonial and seasonal importance.
“This is the only time corn is sweet on the cob, and the only time you’ll see Native people eating corn on the cob,” Costa said.
She said it’s also a time of renewal, gratitude, and forgiveness. The celebration will be a day of song, dance, storytelling, reconnecting with nature, garden talks, and community coming together.
Keon Jackson, also a Mashpee Wampanoag, will be the special guest singer. Visitors can also watch a staff mushoon (canoe) race on the Eel River, which Costa said she won last year.
She pointed out that, like the 17th century Pilgrims (before they arrived here), we’re accustomed to getting our food from a market, whereas Indigenous people were more in tune with getting their sustenance from nature. Staff at the homesite will demonstrate reconnecting with nature with hands-on activities that include making almost anything out of corn: soups, breads, hominy corn, corn sifting, and even husk dolls for all ages.
“It’s a very corny day,” Costa said. And, if you’re wondering why corn husk dolls have no faces, an educator at the homesite can explain the story behind that tradition.
Anyone with tickets to the museum can attend. The basic prices for getting into the Plimoth Patuxet site are $35 for adults, $31.50 for seniors, and $20 for children ages 5 to 12. Tickets are available here.
Monday, July 28
“Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight,” directed by Embeth Davidtz, will screen at Plimoth Cinema at Plimoth Patuxet Museums, 137 Warren Ave. through Thursday, July 31. The film takes place in the former Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) during the final stages of the Bush War and follows eight-year-old Bobo (Lexi Venter) as she internalizes both sides of the war and tries to make sense of her life. “Oh Hi!,” directed by Sophie Brooks, will also be showing through Thursday, July 31. Starring Molly Gordon and Logan Lerman, it’s a rom/com with some darkness. Film times are 4:30and 7 p.m. Tickets are $12.50, $11 with a club card, $10 for seniors or members, and $8.50forseniors with a club card.
Tuesday, July 29
Children are invited to get creative with chalk at the Plymouth Public Library, 132 South St., with “Chalk the Walk,” from 2 to 4 p.m. Chalk will be provided, and artists can decorate the veranda, part of the walk, and the parking lot. All ages are welcome, and no registration is required.
If you’re intrigued by strange plants, register for a talk with author Varla Ventura titled “Rotten Botany: Bizarre, Beautiful, and Grotesque Plants,” from 6 to 7 p.m. in the Fehlow Meeting Room at Plymouth Public Library, 132 South St. Ventura will discuss the “grotesque” plants that sometimes creep into fantasy and horror genres. Her latest book is “Enchanted Plants: A Treasury of Botanical Folklore and Magic.” The talk is open to all ages and registration is required. You can register here.
Thursday, July 31
“Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox – Magic & Moonlight Tour” will perform at Memorial Hall at 8 p.m. The show takes familiar modern tunes and reimagines them in bygone genres, like 1920s jazz, swing, doo-wop, and Motown. The performance features a cast of singers, dancers, and instrumentalists. Audience members are encouraged to dress in vintage garb. Tickets – available here – are $45.25 or $99 for individuals; $43.25 or $97 for Spectacle Live members; and a VIP package priced at $182.
Friday, Aug. 1
Today is the deadline for local authors to submit their applications for an upcoming Local Authors Fair, from 1:30 to 4 p.m. The fair is set for Saturday, Oct. 18, at the Plymouth Public Library, 132 South St. Applications are available at the library’s reference desk and at the Manomet Branch Library. You can also apply online here. For more information, contact outreach@plymouth.ocln.org or call the reference desk at 508-830-4250, ext. 205. Authors will be notified of acceptance by Friday, Aug. 8.
First Fridays Plymouth welcomes the public to downtown Plymouth with art, food and drink, music, shopping, history, and entertainment from 5 to 8 p.m. This month, visitors may encounter Pilgrim Progress – reenactors dressed as Pilgrims walking to Burial Hill; music on the street by Just Two Guys; and Lau Lapides’s actors interacting and roaming Main Street. Participating shops and restaurants will offer specialties as well. The historic Spooner House, Mayflower Society House, and Howland House will be open for tours, and the Plymouth Center for the Arts will have a printmaking demo and much more. Check the website for updates.
Grace Kelly’s 20th Anniversary Tour will be at the Spire at 8 p.m. with doors opening at 7 p.m. Starting young, Grace Kelly, known for her saxophone playing, singing, songwriting, and composing, soloed with the Boston Pops at age 14 and performed at age 16 for President Obama’s 2009 inauguration. Kelly has played at venues all over the world, including the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Tickets are $48.10 and $53, and you can buy them here.
Saturday, Aug. 2
A traditional Wampanoag Green Corn Celebration will take place at the Patuxet Homesite in Plimoth Patuxet Museums, 137 Warren Ave., from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. See the lead item in this column for more information.
The Plymouth Antiquarian Society’s monthly one-hour Burial Hill Tour will be led by Mercy Otis Warren Society member starting at 1 p.m. The topic, in keeping with this year’s Revolutionary War theme, will be “The Revolutionary Warrens.” The event is free, and no registration is necessary. Meet promptly at 1 p.m. at the top of the hill, and make sure to wear appropriate shoes – the tour might include walking on steep and grassy slopes. Check the Facebook page for updates.
Sunday, Aug. 3
Presented by Harbour Lights Theater, “Nicole Travolta Is Doing Alright” will be performed at the Spire at 7 p.m., with doors opening at 6:30 p.m. Travolta’s solo comedy show will illustrate how she got herself out of debt through the Hollywood business of spray-tanning. The show will move on to New York City for an off-Broadway run at the Soho Playhouse on December 4. Tickets are $54, and you can get them here.
Tuesday, Aug. 5
The Summer of Music Series at Plimoth Patuxet Museums, 137 Warren Ave., takes place from 5 to 7 p.m., with the GroovaLottos performing. The band cites a range of influences including blues, Native American music, jazz and soul that combine to make up its “Thump & Soul” sound. Enjoy the music in this beautiful setting, and bring your chairs or blankets, pack a picnic, play lawn games, or purchase pizza and beverages from Plentiful Café. Tickets are $5 for non-members, and available at the door. Members and children age 5 and under are free.
Wednesday, Aug. 6
Families with children ages 6 to 11 are welcome to join other swashbucklers for a fun, interactive program with Luca Rebussini, the “R.I. Pirate Guy,” from 3 to 4:30 p.m. in the Fehlow Meeting Room at the Plymouth Public Library, 132 South St. Rebussini will share pirate knowledge, lore, and activities with the participants. Registration is required and you can do so here.
Because pirates aren’t just for kids, adults are invited to a presentation by Luca Rebussini, the “R.I. Pirate Guy,” from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in the Fehlow Meeting Room at the Plymouth Public Library, 132 South St. Rebussini will explain the history of the pirates and pirate hunters of New England during the Golden Age of Piracy. Topics will include why people became pirates, how the pirate ships were run, weapons and tactics used, the politics of pirates, the government, as well as how piracy ended. Registration is required and you can do that here.
The Project Arts free summer concert series continues at Pilgrim Memorial State Park on the waterfront, featuring Uncle John’s Banjo, a Grateful Dead tribute band, from 6:30 to 9 p.m.
Thursday, Aug. 7
“Lunch & Learn” at Plimoth Patuxet Museums, 137 Warren Ave., will feature a talk from noon to 1 p.m.by Reagan Smith on “The Forgotten Age of War and Empire: Contextualizing the 1600s.” The talk is free to the public, available either in-person or virtually, and is supported by the Plymouth Local Cultural Council. Smith isa public history intern in the 2025 Summer Internship Program. Register for the talk here.
All ages are welcome to come hear songs and stories at the Plymouth Farmers Market Storytime, from 4:30 to 5 p.m., at G Pub, 101 Carver Road.
Join a book talk with author Annie Hartnett at Book Love, 7 Village Green South, in the Pinehills, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Hartnett will be sharing about her recent novel, “The Road to Tender Hearts.” Hartnett also wrote the novels “Rabbit Cake” and “Unlikely Animals.” The cost is $6.76, and you can register here.
Friday, Aug. 8
Pilgrim Progress, a reenactment of the Pilgrims’ Sabbath procession to worship begins at 6 p.m. at the Mayflower Society House, 4 Winslow St., as costumed participants representing survivors of the winter of 1621 gather to the beat of a drum, proceed down North Street, along the waterfront, and then to Burial Hill for a brief service. The march then proceeds back down the hill, ending at the Mayflower Society House. The procession takes place every Friday evening in August at 6 p.m.