Update (9/21/25): Mine works again after updating my phone to iOS 26. Please let me know if it’s still not working for you!
NOTE: Opening events is currently not working properly on some phones. We are hoping to have it fixed soon! In the meantime, check it out on a computer for full access or email aimee.e.holmes@gmail.com for information about a listed event.
We have a new calendar! We’re experimenting with including free cultural and educational events at other local and regional libraries, museums, and non-profits. We hope a compilation of these great events will be a valuable resource for our community. Click on the categories above the calendar to limit the results by drive time from the Bolton Free Library. Be sure to check the hosting organization’s website for schedule changes and cancellations. Note that some of the events at and within 10 minutes of our library are not free; these are denoted with a “($)” and costs are included in those descriptions.
Check back often for updates and let us know what you think!
Events in December 2025
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November 30, 2025(1 event) – Step into the world of robotics with Snapology! In this hands-on workshop, kids will design and build robots that move and act like real animals. From hopping frogs to flapping birds, young engineers will explore animal adaptations while learning the basics of robotics and engineering. Drop in, build, and let your creature come to life! |
December 1, 2025
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December 2, 2025
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December 3, 2025
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December 4, 2025
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December 5, 2025(1 event) Bring your fossils and your curiosity! Join Dr. Lisa Amati, State Paleontologist of New York, for a fun and fascinating fossil identification session. Visitors are invited to bring up to five fossils from their personal collections to learn more about what they are, where they came from, and how they formed. Dr. Amati will also share examples of common fossils found across New York State and visitors are invited to pick up some handy fossil guides to keep your discoveries going long after you leave. |
December 6, 2025(2 events) Join us for a short, guided tour of Voices & Votes: Democracy in America, led by a staff member from the Underground Railroad Education Center. This traveling Smithsonian Institution exhibition explores the history, challenges, and ongoing evolution of American democracy. Discover how local Albany residents have shaped, and been shaped by, our nation’s democratic ideals through powerful storytelling, multimedia displays, and community perspectives. This December, in recognition of World AIDS Awareness Month, the New York State Museum presents a staged reading of Night Turns to Day, an original play by Toni Lester. Blending music, memory, and heartfelt storytelling, the play follows the relationship between a young Black gay man living with HIV and his beloved grandmother. Moving between her coming-of-age during the Great Depression and his life many decades later at the height of the AIDS epidemic, the story explores themes of love, identity, resilience, and the strength of intergenerational connection in communities of color. |
December 7, 2025(2 events) – Fort Klock will re-open to celebrate St. Nicholas Day, a traditional holiday brought to America by the Dutch and Palatine Germans. Come visit St. Nicholas at the Home of Johannes Klock, and listen to the music of the season by a warm fire while enjoying some mulled cider, hot chocolate, and cookies in this beautiful 18th-century historic fortified homestead. Join us for a special lecture with Russ Oechsle, collector, author, and researcher specializing in upstate New York clocks. Following the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825, upstate New York became a hub of competition between established out-of-state clock manufacturers and newly arrived craftsmen from the East. These skilled emigrants sought to build a market for locally made clocks among those prospering from the canal-driven economic boom. Between 1825 and 1845, this rivalry gave rise to dozens of upstate clockmaking firms—some successful, others short-lived. Russ Oechsle will explore the opportunities and challenges these makers faced, illustrating how innovation and risk shaped their industry. The lecture will highlight remarkable examples from the Museum’s Oechsle Clock Collection, showcasing the enduring craftsmanship and creativity of these early clockmakers. |
December 8, 2025
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December 9, 2025(1 event) Discover the magic of winter along the Raquette River in this captivating WPBS documentary! The Raquette River Winter Experience explores the unique activities and adventures offered by towns along the river during the snowy months. From outdoor thrills to family-friendly fun, the film highlights the creativity and community spirit of local residents who have transformed cold winter days into memorable experiences. Join us for this inspiring look at Northern New York’s winter wonderland and the people who bring it to life. |
December 10, 2025
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December 11, 2025
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December 12, 2025(1 event) Registration required: New York State Museum Join Dr. Robert Feranec, Director of Research and Collections and Curator of Ice Age Vertebrate Paleontology, for an exclusive tour of the New York State Museum’s Ice Age Vertebrate Collection. See collections representing tiny shrews to massive woolly mammoths, including bones of the recently found specimen from Orange County. Learn about the late Pleistocene ecosystems of New York and the research that brings these ancient creatures to life. |
December 13, 2025(2 events) Historian and author John Marks joins the New York State Museum for a thought-provoking talk in connection with the exhibition George Washington: An American Paradox. Drawing from his forthcoming book Thy Will Be Done: George Washington’s Legacy of Slavery and the Fight for American Memory (University of North Carolina Press, April 2026), Marks explores how generations of Americans have remembered, forgotten, and contested George Washington’s involvement with slavery. For over two centuries, Washington’s legacy has been interpreted through shifting lenses. Marks will trace this complex history of memory and mythmaking, revealing how the debates that shape our understanding of Washington’s life are part of a much longer American story—one that continues to influence the way we wrestle with questions of freedom, justice, and national identity today. This discussion will be moderated by Aaron Noble, Senior Historian and Curator of Political and Military History at the New York State Museum. – Registration requested: Adirondack Sky Center & Observatory “If you aren’t confused by quantum mechanics, you haven’t really understood it.” -Niels Bohr Quantum mechanics is crazy! Teleportation, entanglement, multiverses (yes parallel quantum universes are a real topic), what’s going on? I study physics and love explaining things, and on December 13th I’ll be discussing quantum physics to anyone interested. Come with your burning questions or just general curiosity. Walk ins are welcome, but we would like a sense of how many will attended. Please register online or contact the office at 518-359-3538. |
December 14, 2025(2 events) Celebrate the Festival of Lights with crafts, stories, and play! Families are invited to stop by Kids Cove to decorate dreidels, enjoy simple crafts, and learn about Hanukkah tales and traditions to celebrate the season! This program brings together artist and researcher Carter King (Oneida Nation) and KarenLyne Hill (Onondaga Nation) to reflect on the history and meaning of the shawl associated with Polly Cooper—an Oneida woman whose courage and compassion aided George Washington’s starving troops at Valley Forge in 1778. Through perspectives on Indigenous material culture, costume design, and family heritage, King and Hill will illuminate how this textile bridges centuries of history, gratitude, and sovereignty. The shawl, currently featured in George Washington: An American Paradox, serves as a profound testament to Oneida contributions to the founding of the United States. |
December 15, 2025
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December 16, 2025
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December 17, 2025(1 event) Registration recommended: New York State Museum An ode to the remarkable variety of life in the Hudson Valley, The Nature of Nature: Biodiversity in the Hudson Valley celebrates the living fabric of this unique landscape. From high elevation forests to the globally rare tidal marshes along the Hudson estuary, the 30-minute documentary film captures the beautiful, the complex, the familiar, and the unknown… guided by the plants, animals, and people that call the Hudson Valley home. Join us for a screening of The Nature of Nature followed by a panel discussion with biologists and filmmakers, including:
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December 18, 2025
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December 19, 2025(1 event) Join us for a fascinating lunchtime lecture with Stephen Loughman, Sports Curator at the New York State Museum, who will guide you through a transformative decade in New York's sports history. From the creation of the Mets, Jets, Islanders, Nets, and Buffalo Braves to the rise of the Bills and Sabres, discover how the expansion era of professional sports forever reshaped the state's sports culture. Bring your lunch and enjoy an engaging mid-day discussion filled with history, insights, and sports nostalgia! |
December 20, 2025(1 event) Bring the whole family to the New York State Museum for a festive celebration featuring a special screening of The Muppet Christmas Carol! Enjoy this beloved holiday classic on the big screen and continue the fun with a Muppet-themed scavenger hunt through the exhibits, hands-on seasonal crafts, and a Letters to Santa station to spark young imaginations. This joyful holiday program invites visitors of all ages to explore the Museum, create together, and make new traditions in a warm and welcoming setting. Crafts and activities begin at 10:30 a.m., followed by the screening of The Muppet Christmas Carol at 11 a.m. |
December 21, 2025(1 event) – Celebrate the magic of the season with a special read-aloud of ’Twas the Night Before Christmas at the New York State Museum! This cherished holiday tradition comes to life as you explore the fascinating history of the poem with a rare treat—the original 19th-century Troy Daily Sentinel featuring the first-ever printing of this iconic story, courtesy of the New York State Library’s Manuscripts and Special Collections. After the reading, young visitors can enjoy festive crafts and letter writing to celebrate the holiday spirit. Don’t miss this enchanting event for all ages, blending storytelling, history, and holiday cheer! |
December 22, 2025
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December 23, 2025(1 event) Celebrate the season through the lens of American craftsmanship with a special screening of Craft in America: HOLIDAY. This festive episode highlights the artists and traditions that make the holidays uniquely handmade, including ceramicists Susan Garson and Veronica Castillo to glass artist Garcia Art Glass, paper artist Kathleen Trenchard, and master woodcarver Harley Refsal. Explore iconic holiday creations at the National Gingerbread House Competition, Biltmore House, and the John C. Campbell Folk School, and discover how both familiar and new traditions come to life through craft. Embrace the artistry, creativity, and spirit of the season in this inspiring holiday celebration. |
December 24, 2025
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December 25, 2025
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December 26, 2025(2 events) Join a New York State Museum Educator for a fun and interactive walk-through Outcasts: Mary Banning’s World of Mushrooms. Together we’ll explore the colorful mushroom illustrations of Mary Elizabeth Banning, learn about her adventurous spirit, and discover how she followed her curiosity even when science wasn’t always welcoming to women. This guided tour is a great way for families to experience the exhibit, ask questions, and see how mushrooms—often thought of as “outcasts” in nature—can inspire wonder, creativity, and new ways of thinking about the natural world. – Kick off the Kwanzaa season with an inspiring celebration of Umoja (Unity), the first principle of Kwanzaa. This annual event invites the community to honor African American culture, history, and values through a variety of engaging activities. Explore the African Marketplace, enjoy live drumming, and take part in engaging activities for all ages. From a candle-lighting ceremony to special workshops, there’s something for everyone to enjoy. Admission is free, and we invite you to bring a fruit for the community fruit basket. Don’t miss this joyful celebration of culture and togetherness! |
December 27, 2025(1 event) Step back in time and discover how children and families played hundreds of years ago! Join Shari Crawford for a hands-on, family-friendly program exploring 18th-century toys, games, and pastimes. Participants of all ages can try their hand at tops, clay marbles, and even writing with a feather quill pen. Learn through play as Shari demonstrates the history behind each activity, invites you to interact with period toys, and shares fascinating stories from daily life in the 1700s. Laugh, play, and experience history first-hand in this lively, immersive program. |
December 28, 2025(1 event) Bundle up and explore the wild side of winter with the Utica Zoo at the New York State Museum! During this fun and interactive presentation, a zoo educator will bring amazing live animals and cool biofacts to the museum. Discover how animals survive and thrive in the cold—from furry coats to fantastic freeze-fighting adaptations. Perfect for kids and families looking for a wild winter break adventure! |
December 29, 2025
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December 30, 2025(1 event) Step back in time and discover the festive traditions of the 17th and 18th centuries! Join Schuyler Mansion and Crailo State Historic Sites at the New York State Museum for a special daytime program exploring Twelfth Night—the lively holiday that marked the close of the Christmas season in early New York. Through stories, music, and hands-on activities, families can learn how Dutch and English communities celebrated with feasting, music, games, and merriment. This free program offers a family-friendly introduction to the history behind Schuyler Mansion and Crailo’s annual evening Twelfth Night celebrations. Come enjoy holiday fun at the Museum, then plan to continue the festivities at the two state historic sites this January! |
December 31, 2025(1 event) – Join us at the New York State Museum for a festive midday countdown on New Year’s Eve! Celebrate the arrival of 2026 with friends and family as we enjoy crafts and activities for all ages. We can’t wait to celebrate with you! |
January 1, 2026
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January 2, 2026
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January 3, 2026
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