Check out our growing list of music festivals in New England! Among the oldest and most well known-- the Newport Jazz Festival (est. 1954) and the Newport Folk Festival (est. 1959), both co-founded by legendary jazz producer, George Wein. Other popular outdoor music venues in New England include The Litchfield Jazz Festival in Connecticut, North Atlantic Blues Festival in Maine, Roots On The River in Vermont, and the Green River Festival in Massachusetts. Each year families and individuals from age 0-99 gather to enjoy live music and entertainment at one of New England's many outdoor summer music festivals. One can find arts and craft activities for kids, tasty food and good drink provided by local vendors, as well as an array of artisans selling specialty, New England-made  products and gifts. What better way to get outdoors and enjoy summer in New England?

Connecticut  Music Festivals

Connecticut Music Festivals in June:

Mystic Sea Music Festival in Mystic, CT

New England Fiddle Contest in Manchester, CT

Connecticut Music Festivals in July:

Litchfield Jazz Festival in Goshen, CT

Podunk Bluegrass Music Festival in E. Hartford, CT

Gathering of the Vibes Music Festival in Bridgeport, CT

Connecticut Music Festivals in September:

Connecticut Folk Festival in New Haven, CT

For me, one of life's simple pleasures is catering to the wildlife that frequent our yard. We live in a small, rural town where woodland surrounds our property. It isn't unusual to see wild turkeys, deer and even bears traversing across the lawn. Filling the bird feeders has long been a part of our family routine and a special time I enjoy with my kids. Not too long ago, we were picking, what seemed like bushels, of pine cones out of the yard and we were inspired to create some feeders of our own. These are easy and cheap to make...and a great craft project for kids!

With his boyish smile and sparkling blue eyes, Cape Cod author and travel writer Christopher Setterlund, is a natural born story teller. The tone of his writing is distinct and honest--drawing his reader into worlds of both fact and fiction. Born November 2, 1977 with an active imagination and keen sense of self, Chris started out writing poetry. He graduated from high school and went on to college where he studied journalism, creative writing and graphic design.  He often says his Abnormal Psychology classes helped him to develop some of the "weirder characters" in his books. By 29, he had over 600 poems to his acclaim. Since then, he's been writing feverishly, with little rest in between, authoring two children's books, two full length novels, five short stories and over 100 New England travel reviews. His books cover a mixture of genres ranging from  horror/suspense and police drama to adult humor and science fiction. Chris' work has been featured in Cape Cod Today, Plymouth Daily News and, most recently, here, on All Things New England. In 2008, Chris started his own website, Christopher Setterlund, followed by a travel blog, In My Footsteps. Currently, Chris considers himself to be the "classic starving artist", ironically working by day as a cook in  one of East Dennis' fine restaurants, The Marshside. In addition to his website, Chris' books are available through Amazon's Kindle Store, Barnes & Noble and The Apple Store, Sony. I was first introduced to Chris in March of 2010 and was taken by his enthusiasm for New England travel and history and his  passion for writing. These common interests drew us together and since then we've developed an amazing working relationship, that, to put it simply, works. Humble and somewhat shy by nature, Chris was apprehensive to agree to this interview at first--but with a little cajoling, I was able to convince him otherwise. Read on, he's worth getting to know.