Year in Review: A look back at a standout year for entertainment in NH | A&E

Nearly all of these topics were covered in the Union Leader’s NH Weekend this past year. This countdown spotlights 10 that stood out the most, from quirky pop culture highlights to moments that drew regional or, in some cases, national attention.

Kicking off the countdown is the long-overdue live debut of Jim Henson’s “Fraggle Rock,” which stopped at Concord’s Capitol Center for the Arts in early April.

Remarkably, the tour marked the first time in the franchise’s 40-plus-year history that “Fraggle Rock” was brought to the stage — a debut decades in the making.

Drawing inspiration from both the original 1980s television series and its recent Apple TV+ reboot, the show struck a careful balance between nostalgia and freshness, appealing to longtime fans while introducing the Fraggles to a new generation.

Filmmaker Robert Eggers, originally from Lee, earned four Academy Award nominations for his gothic period horror film, “Nosferatu,” at the 97th Oscars in March.

The remake of the 1922 classic — itself inspired by Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” — received nods for Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Production Design and Best Makeup and Hairstyling.

This was Eggers’s fourth feature film and the second time one of his projects earned an Oscar nomination (his 2019 film “The Lighthouse” also picked up a Best Cinematography nod). He’s also known for films like “The Northman” and “The Witch,” the latter following a Puritan family preyed upon by an evil force in 1630s New England.

Eggers is already set to follow his Oscar-nominated success with a new period horror film titled “Werwulf,” which Focus Features has slated for a Dec. 25, 2026, theatrical release, according to industry databases.

Sept. 3 marked 60 years since the infamous “Incident at Exeter,” when teen Norman Muscarello and two Exeter police officers reported witnessing a UFO.

The case thrust New Hampshire into the national spotlight, and the town has embraced its place in UFO lore in the decades since.

The annual two-day Exeter UFO Festival, held on Labor Day weekend, brings together enthusiasts, skeptics and curious visitors for panels, storytelling and community activities centered on the paranormal and unexplained.

One of the festival’s most popular features is its guided trolley tours, which take visitors to the site of the original incident in nearby Kensington. The narrated tours make several stops at local points of interest before culminating at the location of the famous encounter.

No. 7 on the list is comedian and ventriloquist Jeff Dunham, who brought his “Artificial Intelligence” tour to the SNHU Arena in Manchester in March.

This wasn’t the first time Dunham and his cast of loudmouthed comedic puppet pals had visited the Granite State — and it likely won’t be the last.

I later caught up with Madison Griffin, director of marketing for the SNHU Arena, who shared that Dunham nearly sells out every time he comes, drawing more than 9,000 fans.

During our brief interview, I learned quite a bit about the master of puppets, from the inspiration behind his many characters to his creative process and performance routines.

It was a fun conversation that definitely earns its place on this list.

This event brought the surviving cast of the beloved 1986 coming-of-age film “Stand by Me” together for a special 40th anniversary live screening and Q&A at the Capitol Center for the Arts in Concord in December.

I spoke with Wil Wheaton, who portrays Gordie Lachance, the film’s narrator and central character.

As it was the first stop of their nationwide tour, it was a unique opportunity to hear Wheaton’s thoughts on revisiting the film and what it has meant to him and his fellow cast members, Jerry O’Connell and Corey Feldman.

He also shared memorable tidbits from the set, including stories surrounding the infamous train trestle scene.

It would be remiss to include this event without acknowledging the late director Rob Reiner, the visionary behind “Stand by Me” and many other iconic films of the ’80s and ’90s, from “This Is Spinal Tap” and “The Princess Bride” to “Misery,” “When Harry Met Sally…” and “A Few Good Men.”

The Pavilion partners with Live Nation Entertainment to bring some of the biggest names in music to New Hampshire each year. An estimated 300,000 fans attended concerts over the 2025 season, enjoying acts like Shania Twain, Goo Goo Dolls, Pantera, Rod Stewart and Blink-182. This year also marked the first Pavilion performance by Neil Young, a milestone General Manager R.J. Harding said had been more than 20 years in the making.

It may be cold outside now, but the Pavilion is already booking for summer 2026. Notable acts scheduled so far include a dual headlining show featuring Styx and Chicago, Motley Crue with Tesla and Extreme, and “Weird Al” Yankovic — with many more announcements expected in the months to come.

Landing at No. 4 is the Palace Theatre’s electrifying production of “Jesus Christ Superstar,” the groundbreaking rock opera that helped redefine what musical theater could be.

The show opened on Good Friday, bringing Andrew Lloyd Webber’s vision to life with a raw, high-energy intensity. First released as a concept album in 1970 before arriving on Broadway the following year, “Superstar” remains one of the most enduring and provocative works in the musical theater canon.

Palace Theatre Artistic Director Carl Rajotte said in April that the show became one of the most successful presales of the season up to that point.

If any destination in New Hampshire could justify its own Top 10 list, Hampton Beach might be it. Still, for the sake of this countdown, I’ll stick to the highlights — and there were plenty.

Chief among them was the 25th annual Master Sand Sculpting Classic, a milestone event that once again proved to be one of the summer’s biggest draws.

Held in mid-June, the international competition brought elite sand sculptors from around the world to Hampton Beach and drew an estimated 100,000 visitors over the course of the weekend, according to Lisa Martineau, co-marketing director for the Hampton Beach Village District.

First place went to “Aligned” by Melineige Beauregard of Captain Cook, Hawaii, with “The Creation of the Mermaid” by Ilya Filimonstev of Moscow, Russia, earning runner-up honors — just two examples of the creativity that continues to define the event a quarter-century in.

One of the Granite State’s most enduring cultural traditions reached a major milestone in 2025, as the NH Highland Games & Festival celebrated its 50th anniversary while aiming for the record books.

To celebrate the occasion, NHSCOT attempted to break the Guinness World Record for the largest single bagpiping performance ever, rallying pipers from competitive bands, casual players and even local fire departments.

The goal was to surpass the standing record by playing “Scotland the Brave” continuously for five minutes — a mark set in May 2012 by 333 pipers from Bulgaria.

While the record ultimately remained unbroken (the official count came in at 231 pipers, just over 100 short), the moment underscored what has sustained the Games for half a century.

Beyond the massed pipes, the anniversary weekend once again filled Loon Mountain in Lincoln with heavy athletics, sheepdog trials, Highland dancing, fiddling, clan gatherings and live music, reinforcing its status as a must-see event each year.

If you were in downtown Manchester the weekend of June 20–22, it was impossible to ignore: Phish fever had taken over.

Not only was it the first time since 2010 that the jam-band juggernaut played SNHU Arena, it was also the first time in the venue’s history that the same band performed three nights in a row.

Each night sold over 10,000 tickets, with more than 4,400 fans purchasing three-day passes.

Elm Street was closed for “Shakedown Street,” a bustling marketplace of fan art, crafts and merchandise. Local businesses — from coffee shops and ice cream parlors to restaurants and bars — extended hours, offered special menu items, and turned spaces into pop-up beer gardens. Phish-inspired creativity thrived everywhere: the DoubleTree hosted PhanArt, showcasing artists like New Hampshire natives Ryan Kerrigan and Kellen Rattigan, while after-parties kept the music going across downtown venues.

Reconnecting with Jodie Nazaka, director of the City of Manchester’s Economic Development Office, I got a sense of the weekend’s sheer scale: All hotels in Manchester were fully booked, more than half of visitors came from 30 or more miles away, and city attendance totaled 92,000 out-of-market visitors, with an overall spend of more than $14.6 million.

A highlight of the year and an easy choice for No. 1.