Autumn is arguably the best time to be on Cape Cod.
The crowds have gone home, but the event calendars are still packed with activities and things to get you out of the house before winter inevitably shows up. This fall is certainly no different with both new happenings and the return of annual traditions, here’s some upcoming events for you to look forward to…
Operation Flags For Vets – November 4, 10 am – 1 pm
Operation Flags for Vets will be placing flags on the graves at the National Cemetery in Bourne for Veterans Day. They are looking for volunteers to help place flags on the final resting place of our veterans.
A short ceremony will be held at the flagpole followed by the placement. For more details and information, please click here.
Gardens Aglow – November 24 – December 17, 4:30 pm – 8:30 pm
The end of summer doesn’t mean the end of the fun at Heritage Museums and Gardens. Gardens Aglow, a popular holiday family tradition, transforms the grounds with more than twelve miles of holiday lights. Enjoy marshmallow-roasting, a reindeer scavenger hunt, visit with Santa and Mrs. Claus in the Model T, take carousel rides, holiday treats at Magnolia Café, and more.
Take a look at the expanded model train display made of natural materials with scale replicas of well-known bridges, visit with baby animals (baby goats, piglets, chickens and chicks, bunnies, and more), and enjoy live music, fire pits, and of course all the holiday lights.
Local Races – Thanksgiving Week
With Thanksgiving just around the corner, a preemptive calorie burn is never a bad idea. Lucky for us the Cape offers several of these fun, low-pressure races for runners and walkers alike. What’s more, these events are organized to benefit some of the region’s most deserving causes. Here are just a few…
Chatham Turkey Trot (November 23) – Last year the event drew in over 2,600 participants for the annual 5k, the $40,000 dollars raised went to the Lower Cape Outreach Council and approximately 1,200 bags of groceries were collected for those in need. Plus, many were able to have a second slice of apple pie on Thanksgiving without the guilt, a win/win/win.
Provincetown 5K Pilgrim Trot (November 23) – What better place to run a Pilgrim Trot then where the Pilgrims landed, Provincetown! All proceeds will be donated to the Provincetown Art Association & Museum, T-Shirts to the first 200 entrants and $100 cash for the first male and female finishers.
The Andrea Holden Thanksgiving Race (November 25) – The popular community 5k Run/Walk welcomes all and is held each year on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Money raised this year will go toward funding four Annual College Scholarships at Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High School in Andrea’s name, as well as supporting Calmer Choice, Dream Day on Cape Cod, and the Faith Family Kitchen.
Edaville’s Festival of Lights – November 18-30
It’s off-Cape, but the festival treats attendees to more than 17 million lights illuminating the park! That is a lot of lights. About enough to decorate a Christmas Tree roughly the size of Rhode Island. You and your family can enjoy Edaville USA’s three Adventures in one: there’s Edaville Proper, Thomas Land, and of course the Christmas Festival of Lights featuring over 90 rides & attractions. A spectacular day for the whole family.
The Game – Thanksgiving Day
“The Game” means different things to different people depending on where your loyalties happen to lie. The biggie, of course, is the Barnstable Red Raiders verses the Falmouth Clippers. It’s one of the oldest high school football rivalries in the nation and alarmingly competitive over the last decade or so. But Barnstable/Falmouth is hardly the only “The Game” on Thanksgiving morning, there’s the traditional Sandwich/Mashpee matchup, D-Y vs Nauset, Bourne taking on Wareham, the battle of the tech schools, and the more recent “who does God really like better” faceoff between Saint John-Paul II and Bishop Connolly. No matter who you root for, stakes are high and a year of relentless bragging hangs in the balance.
Holidays at Highfield – November 24 – December 3, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
The Historic Highfield Hall and Gardens decked to the nines in holiday fare for you to enjoy. In addition to the decorations and lights the event offers a Gift Gallery, Refreshments, visits with Santa, Trains in motion, Craft Activities, Turning Pointe Dancers, and Musical Entertainment all at one of the most beautiful properties on the Cape.
Lighting of the Pilgrim Monument – November 22, 5:00 – 7:00 pm
The free annual event celebrates the Pilgrims’ first landing in the new world in Provincetown on November 11, 1620, is one of Cape Cod’s most beautiful traditions put on each ear by the Pilgrim Monument and Provincetown Museum. Last year almost 1500 people came to the event to witness the Monument festooned with more than 3,100 “landing lights” which shine nightly through January 6th.
By CapeCod.com Staff
