The Gloucester Schooner Festival is celebrating its 39th year and we are excited to bring this fantastic weekend to the public once more, this year being even more spectacular as we mark Gloucester’s 400th Anniversary. Each year Maritime Gloucester and the Gloucester Schooner Festival Committee commits to raising all of the funds to put on the four day event, bringing tens of thousands of visitors to Gloucester and getting local residents out on the harbor. Help us support this year’s event and celebrate our maritime heritage with a night of fun auction items, 50/50 raffle, cash bar, light buffet, good drinks, great friends, and music by our friend DJ Scotty Mack!

$39 suggested donation for the 39th Annual year

photo credit and schooner in the picture: Schooner When and If

Thank you to Lenny Linquata and the Gloucester House Team for providing the venue

COME CELEBRATE WITH US! Join Backyard Growers for a special ribbon-cutting to kick off the veggie-growing season in newly-expanded Burnham’s Field Community Garden!

📍 Burnham’s Field Community Garden

📆 Sunday, April 2, 11am

This spring, we are welcoming 55 households to the garden, where they will grow their own fresh food in raised garden beds – a nearly 50 percent increase in capacity

Greater Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce is generously hosting this ribbon-cutting on the same morning as our first Burnham’s Gardener Work Day and our annual Free Seed Swap & Giveaway which is open to the public. It’s going to be a great, vibrant morning down at Burnham’s Field in Gloucester! Join us!

Tuesday, April 4 is the new date for Gardens of New England Artists with Jana Milbocker. (https://www.enchantedgardensdesign.com/) Jana is an experienced lecturer and author. She combines horticulture, design, and travel tips to educate, inspire and delight both new and seasoned gardeners. Jana loves to visit gardens and historic sites in the U.S. and abroad, and share her trips through her books, photos and blog. She published The Garden Tourist: 120 Destination Gardens and Nurseries in the Northeast in 2018, The Garden Tourist’s New England in 2020, and The Garden Tourist’s Florida in 2021.

This program is sponsored by Manchester Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency. The program is free and the public is encouraged to attend. We welcome the Manchester Garden Club as a co-sponsor and guest of our April 4 meeting.

Seaside Garden Club meets at the Manchester Community Center. Doors open at 7pm; program begins promptly at 7:30pm.

Please join us Wednesday, March 22nd at 6pm, at Gloucester City Hall’s Kyrouz Auditorium for a live, in-person talk from GMGI Fisheries Scientist Tim O’Donnell. Click here to register!  Hear from Tim on how he and his team are utilizing state-of-the-art genomic technology to support sustainable fisheries for the future. All are welcome. The event is free of charge and registration is required.  Can’t make it to City Hall? 1623 Studios will be live-streaming the event on their YouTube and broadcast channels!

Register now!

Questions? Contact Maggie Costello at maggie.costello@gmgi.org.

For more information on other upcoming GMGI events, please visit GMGI’s tenth anniversary page on our website.

 Sweet little wine bottle summer squash illustration by our talented Garden Educator Hailey Small

 Join Backyard Growers at Helen’s Bottle Shop for a specialty fundraiser, featuring a curated natural wine-tasting and delicious bites. Proceeds support Backyard Growers’ work building healthy, connected, resilient communities by empowering people to grow their own food.

📍 Helen’s Bottle Shop @ 2 School Street, Manchester, MA

📆 Thursday, April 13, 5:30-8pm

 Tickets: $60 donation to Backyard Growers. Please note: This event is split into two sessions to allow the maximum number of people to join us for this special experience – session A, 5:30 – 6:30pm, and session B, 7 – 8pm. Please select your session at check-out.

  Thanks to Alexis Harwood, owner of Helen’s Bottle Shop & member of our Board of Directors, for hosting this delicious evening.

See you there!

Interesting in growing your own food with us this year? Learn more about our community programs here and explore our spring workshops here.

Due to tomorrow’s nor’easter, our program, Gardens of New England Artists is postponed until April 4, same time, same place.

Seaside Garden Club’s April Meeting is jointly sponsored by the Manchester Garden Club.

On Tuesday, April 4, Seaside Garden Club welcomes Jana Milbocker with a program on the Artists’ Gardens in New England.

Some of our most beloved painters, sculptors and authors were inspired by the gardens they created. Visit the private havens of Edith Wharton, Julian Alden Weir, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Daniel Chester French, Emily Dickinson, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Celia Thaxter and others in this virtual tour. 

Jana Milbocker is the principal of Enchanted Gardens (https://www.enchantedgardensdesign.com/), a lecturer and author. She combines horticulture, design, and travel tips to educate, inspire and delight both new and seasoned gardeners. Jana loves to visit gardens and historic sites in the U.S. and abroad, and share her trips through her books, photos and blog. She published The Garden Tourist: 120 Destination Gardens and Nurseries in the Northeast in 2018, The Garden Tourist’s New England in 2020, and The Garden Tourist’s Florida in 2021. The 2-acre garden surrounding her Victorian home features more than 140 varieties of trees and shrubs, perennial gardens, peony and rose beds, water features and shady retreats.

Seaside Garden Clubs welcomes the public to this free program at the Manchester Community Center. Doors open at 7pm, program begins at 7:30pm.

This program is sponsored by a grant from the Manchester Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency. The program is free and the public is welcome to attend.