Happy Birthday Connecticut's Old State House!
2025-05-17 12:00 - 16:00 (America/New_York) | Connecticut’s Old State House, 800 Main St, Hartford, CT 06103, USA
That’s the funny thing about birthdays, they’re kind of an annual thing! Join us in celebrating Connecticut’s Old State House’s 229th birthday on Saturday, May 17th from 12-4 pm, rain or shine.
Connecticut’s Old State House will be open from 12-4 pm with FREE admission. Enjoy a guided or self-guided tour, a Spring Market featuring Connecticut-made vendors and crafters and birthday cake made by our Election Cake Bake-Off 2024 winner Brown Butter Bakery in Glastonbury. Enjoy live music on our front lawn and more.
On May 13, 1796, Connecticut’s Legislature held their first session in their newly-constructed Hartford State House, and it has become the day that we celebrate this important building. Connecticut’s Old State House is iconic in the City of Hartford and one of the first buildings to be named a National Historic Landmark in December, 1960.
Throughout the years, this building has been threatened with destruction, but we’re celebrating its 229-year survival and important connections to history during our birthday celebration.
Bring a friend, a date, or the entire family!
To RSVP, click here.
Parking:
On street parking is available. Garage parking for $5 is available at State House Square Parking Garage, located at 55 Market Street, just steps away from Connecticut’s Old State House. Please present your parking ticket to the museum’s Visitor Services desk for validation.
Our Doors Are Open:
Our building is mobility friendly with a ramp on the West side entrance and elevator access to all floors. Our bathrooms are on the ground floor and have changing tables. If you wish to inquire about special accommodations for a tour or special event, please call (860) 522-6766.

Farmers Market Opening Day
2025-06-06 10:00 - 14:00 | Connecticut’s Old State House, 800 Main St, Hartford, CT, United States
Connecticut’s Old State House Farmers Market Season is every Tuesday and Friday from 10am to 2pm from June 6th to October 10th!

Summer Music Series featuring Cherry Pie
2025-06-06 12:00 - 13:00 | Connecticut’s Old State House, 800 Main St, Hartford, CT, United States
Jump, jive, and kick your heels up to swing, rockabilly, Latin and a few sultry ballads thrown in just for fun. With Jilian Grey and the boys, Cherry Pie is a delicious, freshly baked musical dance party with just enough retro sprinkled on top for sweet-stepping good time!
Connecticut’s Old State House 2025 Summer Music Series
EVERY FRIDAY | JUNE 6 – OCTOBER 10, 2025 | 12:00 – 1:00 pm
Join us for our annual FREE Summer Concert Series! Stop by every Friday at lunchtime to hear a different band play each week on the westside patio of Connecticut’s Old State House. Bring your lunch and enjoy the music!
Concerts begin at noon and will also be live-streamed on our Facebook page and YouTube channel.

Thank you to our friends from the Richard P. Garmany Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, and the Evelyn Preston Memorial Fund for their generous funding of the Summer Concert Series.

Farmers Market at CT's Old State House
2025-06-10 10:00 - 14:00, 2025-06-13 10:00 - 14:00, 2025-06-17 10:00 - 14:00, 2025-06-20 10:00 - 14:00, 2025-06-24 10:00 - 14:00, 2025-06-27 10:00 - 14:00, 2025-07-01 10:00 - 14:00, 2025-07-08 10:00 - 14:00 and 7 more dates | Connecticut’s Old State House, 800 Main St, Hartford, CT, United States

Summer Music Series featuring Midnight Anthem
2025-06-13 12:00 - 13:00 | Connecticut’s Old State House, 800 Main St, Hartford, CT, United States
The Midnight Anthem is a musical trio from New England, made up of Catherine, Sophia & Grace…cousins by birth, but sisters at heart. The group has an uncanny knack for creating music that is both fun to listen to and touches the soul.
Much of their childhood was spent with their parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles & 19 cousins performing and celebrating America’s history at fife & drum musters in Connecticut & New York. The ladies have continued the family tradition with their rhythm section which is made up of Cat & Sophia’s brother, Ianon bass and Grace’s dad, Dominick on drums.
The Midnight Anthem’s music is an entertaining blend of original songs and popular tunes with a country flair and they have been compared to a wide range of performers from yesteryear such as America, The Cranberries, The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, and Simon & Garfunkle.
Connecticut’s Old State House 2025 Summer Music Series
EVERY FRIDAY | JUNE 6 – OCTOBER 10, 2025 | 12:00 – 1:00 pm
Join us for our annual FREE Summer Concert Series! Stop by every Friday at lunchtime to hear a different band play each week on the westside patio of Connecticut’s Old State House. Bring your lunch and enjoy the music!
Concerts begin at noon and will also be live-streamed on our Facebook page and YouTube channel.

Thank you to our friends from the Richard P. Garmany Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, and the Evelyn Preston Memorial Fund for their generous funding of the Summer Concert Series.

Connecticut Open House Day
2025-06-14 12:00 - 16:00 | Connecticut’s Old State House, 800 Main St, Hartford, CT, United States
Join us from 12–4 PM for a special day of free admission! Explore the space at your own pace with self-guided tours or enjoy a more in-depth experience with our guided tours.

Summer Music Series featuring Illuminous
2025-06-20 12:00 - 13:00 | Connecticut’s Old State House, 800 Main St, Hartford, CT, United States
Illuminous is an original band hailing from the Hartford, Connecticut area, carving out their own space in the music scene with a fresh blend of post-alternative, indie, groove, and rock. With a sound that’s as dynamic as it is distinctive, they channel raw energy, tight musicianship, and a healthy dose of not taking themselves too seriously. Whether on stage or in the studio, this is a band that thrives on chemistry, creativity, and—most of all—having way too much fun doing what they love.
Connecticut’s Old State House 2025 Summer Music Series
EVERY FRIDAY | JUNE 6 – OCTOBER 10, 2025 | 12:00 – 1:00 pm
Join us for our annual FREE Summer Concert Series! Stop by every Friday at lunchtime to hear a different band play each week on the westside patio of Connecticut’s Old State House. Bring your lunch and enjoy the music!
Concerts begin at noon and will also be live-streamed on our Facebook page and YouTube channel.
Thank you to our friends from the Richard P. Garmany Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, and the Evelyn Preston Memorial Fund for their generous funding of the Summer Concert Series.

Summer Music Series featuring Caribbean Vibe Steel Drum Band
2025-06-27 12:00 - 13:00 | Connecticut’s Old State House, 800 Main St, Hartford, CT, United States
Caribbean Vibe Steel Drum Band providing the best in fun, festive steel drum music for over 30 years. Performing on many stages including The Today Show, and The View, their musicians and dancers originate from many parts of the Caribbean including Trinidad, Jamaica, Haiti, Antigua, and St. Kitts.
Known best for their high energy, lively, and rhythmic performances, covering a wide variety of styles including Calypso, Reggae, Soca, R&B, Afro Latin, Salsa, Hip Hop, and more! You will “Feel and experience the sounds of the Islands” with Caribbean Vibe!
Connecticut’s Old State House 2025 Summer Music Series
EVERY FRIDAY | JUNE 6 – OCTOBER 10, 2025 | 12:00 – 1:00 pm
Join us for our annual FREE Summer Concert Series! Stop by every Friday at lunchtime to hear a different band play each week on the westside patio of Connecticut’s Old State House. Bring your lunch and enjoy the music!
Concerts begin at noon and will also be live-streamed on our Facebook page and YouTube channel.
Thank you to our friends from the Richard P. Garmany Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, and the Evelyn Preston Memorial Fund for their generous funding of the Summer Concert Series.

Summer Music Series featuring The Professors of Sweet, Sweet Music
2025-07-11 12:00 - 13:00 | Connecticut’s Old State House, 800 Main St, Hartford, CT, United States
The Professors of Sweet Sweet Music (POSSM), co-creators of the Hartbeat Music Festival in Hartford, have an infectious charm and enthusiasm for life. Their original songs are a surprising collection of pop-infused rock with writing and arrangements that harken back to groups and musicians who have become icons in the industry. The POSSM live shows are known to entertain crowds with an energetic style and broad musical appeal.
They have become well-known and loved in their hometown of Hartford, CT and have won the Best of Hartford Readers Poll three years in a row. The group feeds off the support, inspiration and friendship given by their community. Off the stage they are surfers, teachers, students, business owners and lovers of life. Check them out at thepossmband.com or on social media at @thepossm.
Connecticut’s Old State House 2025 Summer Music Series
EVERY FRIDAY | JUNE 6 – OCTOBER 10, 2025 | 12:00 – 1:00 pm
Join us for our annual FREE Summer Concert Series! Stop by every Friday at lunchtime to hear a different band play each week on the westside patio of Connecticut’s Old State House. Bring your lunch and enjoy the music!
Concerts begin at noon and will also be live-streamed on our Facebook page and YouTube channel.
Thank you to our friends from the Richard P. Garmany Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, and the Evelyn Preston Memorial Fund for their generous funding of the Summer Concert Series.

Summer Music Series featuring Malado!
2025-07-18 12:00 - 13:00 | Connecticut’s Old State House, 800 Main St, Hartford, CT 06103, USA
Malado! is a powerhouse band from Springfield, MA, seamlessly blending R&B, Hip-hop, Funk, and Neo-Soul since 2008. Their dynamic performances often draw comparisons to legends like The Roots and 1500 or Nothin. In 2014, Malado! gained national attention as one of the top three finalists on VH1’s “Make A Band Famous,” and has played at top venues across New England, including Church and The Middle East Cafe in Boston, Maximum Capacity in Chicopee, the MassMutual Center in Springfield, the Mullins Center at UMass Amherst, The Iron Horse in Northampton, and the Eastern States Exposition (The Big E). They’ve also performed at Mohegan Sun’s Wolf’s Den, MGM
Connecticut’s Old State House 2025 Summer Music Series
EVERY FRIDAY THRU OCTOBER 10, 2025 | 12:00 – 1:00 pm
Join us for our annual FREE Summer Concert Series! Stop by every Friday at lunchtime to hear a different band play each week on the westside patio of Connecticut’s Old State House. Bring your lunch and enjoy the music!
Concerts begin at noon and will also be live-streamed on our Facebook page and YouTube channel.
Thank you to our friends from the Richard P. Garmany Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, and the Evelyn Preston Memorial Fund for their generous funding of the Summer Concert Series.

Summer Music Series featuring Malado!
2025-07-18 12:00 - 13:00 | Connecticut’s Old State House, 800 Main St, Hartford, CT, United States
Connecticut’s Old State House 2025 Summer Music Series
EVERY FRIDAY | JUNE 6 – OCTOBER 10, 2025 | 12:00 – 1:00 pm
Join us for our annual FREE Summer Concert Series! Stop by every Friday at lunchtime to hear a different band play each week on the westside patio of Connecticut’s Old State House. Bring your lunch and enjoy the music!
Concerts begin at noon and will also be live-streamed on our Facebook page and YouTube channel.
Thank you to our friends from the Richard P. Garmany Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, and the Evelyn Preston Memorial Fund for their generous funding of the Summer Concert Series.

Conversations at Noon on the Connecticut Freedom Trail: From These Roots - My Fight with Harvard to Reclaim My Roots
2025-07-22 00:00 | CT
Don’t miss this online conversation with Tamara K. Lanier, author of From These Roots: My Fight with Harvard to Reclaim My Legacy, focused on the repatriation of artifacts, archives, race, and justice. A plaintiff in the lawsuit Lanier v. President & Fellows of Harvard College, Tamara documents her fight with Harvard over images of her enslaved ancestors Renty and Delia taken in 1850. These photographs, known as daguerreotypes, were commissioned by Harvard scientist, Louis Agassiz, known for supporting racist theories of polygenesis. The images, were among a collection at Harvard University’s Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, and are considered the first-ever photos of enslaved people from Africa.
Tamara K. Lanier is a tireless champion for truth and justice known for her long and distinguished record of public service and social advocacy. She is a twenty-seven-year veteran of the State of Connecticut Judicial Branch, where she retired as a Chief Probation Officer. She is a board member of Connecticut’s Racial Profiling Prohibition Project, the past Vice President of the New London NAACP, and an active member of The Saint John’s Christian Church of Groton, Connecticut. Lanier has several passions, one of which is to eradicate racial and ethnic disparities in Connecticut’s Criminal Justice System and to put an end to the ugly practice of racial profiling. She has been a constant voice for change and has traveled the country promoting the need for a national dialogue relative to slavery and its impact on society. She lives in Norwich, Connecticut.
RSVP Here:
Watch Live Here: https://www.facebook.com/CTOldStateHouse
Watch Live Here: https://www.youtube.com/@CTOldStateHouse/streams

Conversations at Noon on the Connecticut Freedom Trail - From These Roots: My Fight with Harvard to Reclaim My Legacy
2025-07-22 12:30 - 13:00 | CT
Join us online for this conversation with Tamara K. Lanier, author of From These Roots: My Fight with Harvard to Reclaim My Legacy, about the repatriation of artifacts, archives, race, and justice. A plaintiff in the lawsuit Lanier v. President & Fellows of Harvard College, Tamara documents her fight with Harvard over images of her enslaved ancestors Renty and Delia taken in 1850. These photographs, known as daguerreotypes, were commissioned by Harvard scientist, Louis Agassiz, known for supporting racist theories of polygenesis. The images, were among a collection at Harvard University’s Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, and are considered the first-ever photos of enslaved people from Africa.
Tamara K. Lanier is a tireless champion for truth and justice known for her long and distinguished record of public service and social advocacy. She is a twenty-seven-year veteran of the State of Connecticut Judicial Branch, where she retired as a Chief Probation Officer. She is a board member of Connecticut’s Racial Profiling Prohibition Project, the past Vice President of the New London NAACP, and an active member of The Saint John’s Christian Church of Groton, Connecticut. Lanier has several passions, one of which is to eradicate racial and ethnic disparities in Connecticut’s Criminal Justice System and to put an end to the ugly practice of racial profiling. She has been a constant voice for change and has traveled the country promoting the need for a national dialogue relative to slavery and its impact on society. She lives in Norwich, Connecticut.
RSVP HERE: https://forms.gle/zVPP4urbbWZg9QXx5
Watch Live on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/CTOldStateHouse
Watch Live on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CTOldStateHouse/streams

Summer Music Series featuring The Bards of Gungywamp
2025-07-25 12:00 | CT
The Bards of Gungywamp is a folk group from southeastern CT, with styles ranging from Celtic, Sea Songs, Punk Rock, Old Time, Bluegrass and more. After playing together in different factions for many years the members formed late one winter for a hometown St. Patricks gig. They have since commenced traveling the hills and valleys of Old New England, bringing their tunes to Irish Pubs, Renn Faires, Festivals, Farm Markets and more. BOG draws on their namesake to tell stories of life in New England, weaving their modern sound with tradition and history, such as that of the prehistoric stone site Gungywamp.
Connecticut’s Old State House 2025 Summer Music Series
EVERY FRIDAY THRU OCTOBER 10, 2025 | 12:00 – 1:00 pm
Join us for our annual FREE Summer Concert Series! Stop by every Friday at lunchtime to hear a different band play each week on the westside patio of Connecticut’s Old State House. Bring your lunch and enjoy the music!
Concerts begin at noon and will also be live-streamed on our Facebook page and YouTube channel.
Thank you to our friends from the Richard P. Garmany Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, and the Evelyn Preston Memorial Fund for their generous funding of the Summer Concert Series.

Conversations at Noon on the Connecticut Freedom Trail: Celebrating the Legacies of African Americans through Historic Preservation with Brent Leggs
2025-07-30 12:00 - 13:00 | Connecticut’s Old State House, 800 Main St, Hartford, CT 06103, USA
What is the role of preservation when it comes to telling America’s whole history? Hear from Brent Leggs, a national leader in the U.S. preservation movement, as he discusses his passion for elevating the significance of black culture in American history. This event is FREE and open to the public.

To RSVP, click here: https://forms.gle/uSViZgUNJioCFi9h7

Mr. Leggs is the Executive Director of the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund and Senior Vice President of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. He was the 2018 recipient of the Robert G. Stanton National Preservation Award and a former Harvard University Loeb Fellow. He co-authored “Preserving African American Historic Places,” which the Smithsonian Institution called the “seminal publication on preserving African American historic sites.”
Parking & Accessibility
Discounted Parking:
On street parking is available. Garage parking for $5 is available at State House Square Parking Garage, located at 55 Market Street, just steps away from Connecticut’s Old State House. Please present your parking ticket to the museum’s Visitor Services desk for validation.
Our Doors Are Open:
Our building is mobility friendly with a ramp on the West side entrance and elevator access to all floors. Our bathrooms are on the ground floor and have changing tables. If you wish to inquire about special accommodations for a tour or special event, please call (860) 522-6766.

Summer Music Series featuring Goza Latin Band
2025-08-01 12:00 - 13:00 | Connecticut’s Old State House, 800 Main St, Hartford, CT 06103, USA
Don’t miss this an engaging Latin musical ensemble comprised of Connecticut’s most seasoned and versatile musicians. GOZA (Spanish for Joy) performs exciting music and dance rhythms from Latin America, Brazil and Spain with guitar, violin, horns, Latin percussion and beautiful, romantic vocals. Groove to the rhythms of samba, salsa, bachata, rumba, cha-cha, cumbia, flamenco, tango, and bolero. The band has performed multiple times at the Mohegan Sun Wolfden, Hartford First night, Wadsworth Atheneum, Elizabeth Park, River Camelot Cruises, festivals, colleges, and clubs throughout New England.
EVERY FRIDAY THRU OCTOBER 10, 2025 | 12:00 – 1:00 pm
Join us for our annual FREE Summer Concert Series! Stop by every Friday at lunchtime to hear a different band play each week on the westside patio of Connecticut’s Old State House. Bring your lunch and enjoy the music!
Concerts begin at noon and will also be live-streamed on our Facebook page and YouTube channel .
Thank you to our friends from the Richard P. Garmany Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, and the Evelyn Preston Memorial Fund for their generous funding of the Summer Concert Series.
