Here’s your curated mostly-Hartford event calendar for November 2024.

What makes this list? Events that I would either attend or recommend to a good friend.
Review events with the host/venue to confirm details have not changed since publication. 

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  • DIA DE LOS MUERTOS: Stop by your friendly neighborhood cemetery for ofrenda creating, bulb planting, and music on November 2, 2024. This collaborative event at Zion Hill Cemetery with involvement from two Trinity College student organizations — P.R.I.D.E. and Garden Groupies — and from La Voz Latina and Friends of Zion Hill Cemetery will begin by planting 1,000 daffodil bulbs. This nearly doubles the total bulbs planted at Zion Hill Cemetery, and points to how Día de los Muertos is a celebration of life. Altar building and bulb planting will begin at 10 AM; music and food is from 12-2 PM. The caretaker cottage near the Zion and Ward entrance will be the hub of activity. Stop by to enjoy this event and see for yourself the true character of the Frog Hollow neighborhood. 

 

  • ELECTION CAKE BAKE OFF: Professional and cottage food bakers will compete in the third annual Election Cake Bake Off at the Old State House on November 2, 2024. Not a baker? Show up for cake tasting and live music. This event is 12-3 PM and is free to attend. If you want to compete, go to their website to register and review rules. 

 

  • FREE HART CLOSET REOPENING: The Free Hart Closet has moved out of the Parkville neighborhood and into downtown. They officially re-open on November 3, 2024 from 10 AM until 3 PM at Semilla Cafe + Studio. What’s Free Hart? It’s a place for anyone who wants to get free arts and crafts supplies. Curious to try a new craft but not sure you want to commit all that money for buying supplies? Need just a little bit of purple paint to complete a project, but not enough that it makes sense to buy a whole new container? Whatever your reason, Free Hart provides at no cost what others in the community have donated. 

 

  •  VOTE: Election Day is November 5, 2024, and like every other election day, polls are open from 6 AM until 8 PM. There is a ballot question that is an absolute no-brainer: just vote yes to allow no-excuse absentee voting. This expands our ability to participate in democracy, regardless of how many jobs and other responsibilities we are juggling. I’ve heard some ridiculous conspiracy theories pushed by those who are ignorant about how absentee voting works, and the only one of these I will speak to is the misinformation about people voting a whole bunch of times by dumping multiple envelopes into drop-boxes. Currently, when absentee ballots are issued, an outer envelope is coded to match the code assigned to the person who requested the ballot. There is nothing about this process that makes it more likely that election fraud will occur. If election officials are doing their job, the voter’s name is crossed out (or the equivalent) when the envelope is returned, just as would happen if the voter were standing in front of someone at a polling place. Those of us who have experienced chaotic polling places with shady and/or poorly trained poll workers know that the current system is not perfect, but the way to address that is to address it — not by limiting voting rights unnecessarily. During the pandemic, I loved casting votes through absentee ballot. I didn’t have to carve out time to go to a polling place, stand there spelling my street name three times for someone, getting screwed over because there are no working pens at the location even though the ROV knew that they had this kinda big deal day to plan for all year. I didn’t have to endure the obnoxious people standing around polling places with their signs, yelling, loud music. I know some people love that shit. I don’t. I’m not going to impulse vote for someone. I’ve done my research and would like to be left along to cast my vote in peace and quiet, FFS. For Hartford voters, there are two job postings to be aware of. One is Hartford City Registrar of Voters. Sam Pudlin, Working Families Party, is hoping to get a spot. Voting for him is not a vote against anyone else. If he is elected, this would once again expand the number of registrars in Hartford from two to three; there is precedent for Hartford having three registrars. There would still be a democrat and a republican Registrar of Voters; voting for Sam would not change that. If you are an average person who doesn’t spend all day glued to election news and feel like you aren’t as informed as you should be, you’re basically being called to vote for Sam. We desperately need more voter education happening in Hartford, and better voter turnout. There are dozens of examples I can give for why we need more voters showing up in Hartford, but I’ll stick to an example from my own district. Minnie Gonzalez was elected as a legislator for the first time in 1996. It is an injustice that she remains a legislator in 2024 and is running for reelection. She doesn’t hold this position because she has revolutionized this district since 1996. Use box 5H to write-in an opposition vote to Minnie. The big picture, though, is than we need more voters and more educated voters, showing up at each election. The way to that is by having registrars who aren’t interested in vote suppression. 

 

 

  • PLANT GARLIC: Take a one-time garlic planting workshop at Knox (75 Laurel Street) on November 7, 2024 from 4:30-6:30 PM. Garlic is one of the easiest plants to grow, but if you don’t believe me, sign up for the workshop and see for yourself.

 

  • DIVINE INTERVENTION: Good for Cinestudio — the other artsy cinema in the area won’t touch this subject. This 2002 film is described by Cinestudio: “At the center of the Middle East conflict, hearts beat in tragic comedy and deadpan irony: a young Palestinian woman defies Israeli soldiers and struts through a check-point as if it were the catwalk of a fashion show, Santa Claus is chased up the sun-drenched hills of Nazareth by a gang of knife-wielding school kids, Israeli police use a blindfolded prisoner to provide directions to tourists in Jerusalem and a female ninja descends from the sky, holding the map of Palestine as her battle shield. These are but a few of the provocative images put forth in this critically-acclaimed satire chronicling the absurdities of life and love on both sides of the Palestinian-Israeli border.” Watch this for free on November 8, 2024 at 7 PM.

 

  •  WEAVING CENTER OPEN HOUSE: One of the neatest spaces in Hartford is the Hartford Artisans Weaving Center at 42 Woodland Street. Artisans here are 55+ or of any age but blind or visually impaired. The open house is a great chance to see a room full of looms and watch demonstrations. Bring money if you want to shop for scarves, linens, or other things created here. The open house is on November 9 and 10, 2024; 10 AM – 5 PM on Saturday, and 11 AM – 4 PM on Sunday.

 

  • READING FOR CHANGE: Scott Gac will be leading a virtual discussion about the book The Ground Breaking by Scott Ellsworth. To participate, you do not need to read the book in advance. This free event will take place from 6-7 PM on November 13, 2024. Register to get the login information.

 

  • DARK SKIES: Did you find yourself frustrated during the recent northern lights viewings in Connecticut, unable to see much of anything because of how saturated our built environment is with excessive lighting? There is a free panel discussion hosted by the Connecticut Valley Garden Club on November 14, 2024 from 6-7:30 PM for those who would like to learn more about solutions to this ecological problem that impacts more than our ability to enjoy the night sky. This event will take place at 1 Elizabeth Street in Hartford. Register here.

 

 

 

  • POLISH HOLIDAY FAIR: The Polish National Home may have changed hands, but that hasn’t ended the annual festival of food, crafts, and szopkas. This will be held on November 16, 2024 from 9 AM until 3 PM in Hartford at the SS. Cyril & Methodius Church on Popieluszko Court. Free admission. 

 

  • COFFEE: Exhibit opening for Coffee: A Connecticut Story at the Connecticut Museum of Culture and History (formerly Connecticut Historical Society), at 1 Elizabeth Street. This free event takes place on November 16, 2024 from 11 AM until 1 PM. If you miss this opening event, you will still have several months to see the exhibit.

 

  • TRANSGENDER DAY OF REMEMBRANCE: There will be a solemn service at Asylum Hill Congregational Church commemorating “the lives of transgender and gender-diverse individuals lost to anti-transgender violence over the past year.” This event will be on November 20, 2024 from 7-8 PM.

 

  • FILM FESTIVAL PREVIEW NIGHT: Come out to watch trailers from the 2025 Hartford Jewish Film Festival. This is November 21, 2024 at 7 PM in the Mandell JCC’s Innovation Center (335 Bloomfield Avenue, West Hartford). See their website for other details and to register. 

 

  • BONHOEFFER: Cinestudio begins screening Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin. on November 22, 2024. Their description: “As the world teeters on the brink of annihilation, Dietrich Bonhoeffer is swept into the epicenter of a deadly plot to assassinate Hitler. With his faith and fate at stake, Bonhoeffer must choose between upholding his moral convictions or risking it all to save millions of Jews from genocide. Will his shift from preaching peace to plotting murder alter the course of history or cost him everything?” See the Cinestudio site for dates, times, and prices. 

 

  • HARVEST MARKET: Show gratitude for local farmers — do your Thanksgiving shopping at the Harvest Market instead of a big box store. This is November 23, 2024 from 10 AM until 2 PM  in the greenhouse at 75 Laurel Street.

 

  • A CHRISTMAS CAROL: The annual run at Hartford Stage begins on November 23, 2024. Hartford residents with library cards get get two free tickets, but because [$*!#@@$*#*$& library] you will have to call the Hartford Stage box office directly to make arrangements for those free passes, unless the library manages to get it together and fix its system. But it’s been nearly two years since the downtown library closed because of a broken pipe, and the upcoming reopening won’t even include every part of the library . . . sorry, but I have higher expectations of the library. Just call Hartford Stage and have your library card and some available dates ready.

 

 

  • HOPE OUT LOUD COFFEEHOUSE: This open mic event, once held at La Paloma Sabanera, has been going for decades. For poetry, spoken word, and acoustic music, gather at the Hartford Friends (Quaker) Meetinghouse on the last Friday of most months. The next one is November 29, 2024 with the open mic starting at 7 PM — 144 South Quaker Lane, West Hartford. Free. 

 

CULTURAL ASSETS

For ongoing free education, entertainment, public art, and resources — like 24/7 food pantries and libraries — check out this map. Zoom in and click on the icons for more information. This was last updated in September 2024