Stonington's Off-Season Has a Calendar, and It Runs Through the Opera House Lobby

This fall the Stonington Opera House added a Friday night to its off-season. On October 5, 2026, Opera House Arts announced Feature Film Fridays, a new fall and winter series that shows recent films on the big screen for $10 per adult and $5 per child. Those Fridays slot in between two lobby nights that already repeat every month. The result is a set schedule for the late-fall months, with a date at the Opera House in nearly every week from now until December 17.

The pattern is the useful part. Once you know which night of the month each event falls on, you can plan the next nine weeks ahead of time.

Three recurring nights, one lobby

The Opera House Arts schedule through December is built on three repeating formats:

• Open Mic, first Wednesday of the month. November 4 and December 2, held in the lobby. The November listing runs 6 to 8 p.m. and invites "Deer Isle and the Blue Hill Peninsula's family of local artists," with snacks from concessions and a view of Stonington Harbor.
• Trivia Night, third Thursday of the month. Trivia is free, held in the lobby, and Opera House Arts describes it as a monthly event. The remaining 2026 dates are November 19 and December 17, both at 6 p.m. The chamber's listing tells people to "bring a team or join one, think with a drink, and make it a dinner date with a homemade flatbread pizza overlooking the harbor."
• Feature Film Fridays, roughly every other Friday. These are the new nights, and they cover the weeks the other two formats leave open.

Opera House Arts' visit page covers the practical details. The theater is heated in winter. The lobby sells organic popcorn, homemade flatbread, candy, snacks, beer, wine, canned cocktails, soft drinks and water. The rear entrance is accessible, there is wheelchair space in the front row, and the restrooms are accessible.

What the films add

The open mic and trivia nights both fall midweek. The film series adds Friday dates, and the schedule now spaces them so they rarely fall in the same week as an open mic or a trivia night. Here are the titles still ahead:

• Tony, Friday, October 23, 7 p.m. Matt Johnson directs Dominic Sessa and Antonio Banderas in a film about a 19-year-old Anthony Bourdain who goes to Provincetown and ends up in a chaotic restaurant kitchen. Rated R.
• Wicker, Friday, November 13, 7 p.m. A fisherwoman commissions the local basketmaker to weave her a husband, and his arrival upsets their quiet village. $10.
• The Rivals of Amziah King, Friday, November 27, 7 p.m. Matthew McConaughey plays a beekeeper and musician who is a pillar of his community. He reunites with his former foster daughter and has to defend his honey business. Rated R.
• Toy Story 5, Friday, December 11, 6 p.m. The only film so far rated PG, and the only one that starts an hour early. Woody, Buzz and Jessie run up against electronics as a new threat to playtime.

November 27 is the day after Thanksgiving, so a Friday-night film on the harbor fits a holiday weekend with family in town. Opera House Arts says more titles and dates are coming and points people to its Facebook and Instagram, @operahousearts, and its weekly e-newsletter for updates. Tickets are available through operahousearts.org or by calling 207-367-2788.

The weeks, laid out

With all three formats on one calendar, the nine weeks from now to mid-December look like this. Every week has at least one Opera House date, and only one week has two.

1. Week of October 19. Tony on Friday the 23rd.
2. Week of October 26. No lobby night, but Louise Bichan's All Hallows' Eve show is on the Opera House schedule for Friday the 30th. This is Halloween week on the island, covered below.
3. Week of November 2. Open Mic on Wednesday the 4th.
4. Week of November 9. Wicker on Friday the 13th.
5. Week of November 16. Trivia on Thursday the 19th.
6. Week of November 23. The Rivals of Amziah King on Friday the 27th.
7. Week of November 30. Open Mic on Wednesday, December 2.
8. Week of December 7. Toy Story 5 on Friday the 11th, then the Very Merry Holiday Concert on Saturday the 12th.
9. Week of December 14. Trivia on Thursday the 17th.

The second week of December is the only back-to-back weekend. The Very Merry Holiday Concert is an annual event on Saturday, December 12, 2026, at 6 p.m. It is part of the Opera House's "Live! for $5" programming, tickets cost $5, and all ages are welcome. The page says this year's lineup is still to be announced. Paired with the 6 p.m. Toy Story 5 screening the night before, that makes two early-evening, family-priced shows in a row, which is the most kid-friendly stretch on the fall schedule.

Halloween week fills the open slot

The one week without a lobby night is also the busiest week for everything else on the island. The Deer Isle-Stonington Chamber of Commerce calendar lists:

• Saturday, October 24, 8 to 11 p.m. A Halloween dance at Stonecutters Kitchen with DJ Mavrick. It is 21 and older with IDs checked at the door, there is a cash cover, and guests enter through the back deck. Costumes are encouraged but optional.
• Friday, October 30, 6 p.m. Louise Bichan's "All Hallows' Eve: Spooky Tunes, Songs and Tales from Scotland," the second year of her Halloween program. It features guitarist Conor Hearn, mandolinist Ethan Setiawan, cellist Brendan Hearn and guests, with Samhain traditions, tales of trowies, sea serpents and selkies, and the release of her new album, Binnorie.
• Saturday, October 31. The annual Spooktacular Treat Parade, in two parts. The Deer Isle parade leaves Chase Emerson Library at 10 a.m. and finishes around 10:45, and the Stonington parade starts at the Stonington Fire Department at 11 a.m.

The next Saturday, November 7, the Healthy Hibernation Fair runs from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Blue Hill YMCA, 32 Mines Road. The Ellsworth American reports that the fair is for the Blue Hill Peninsula and Deer Isle-Stonington. It will have health resources, demonstrations, a thrift-shop fashion show, child care, food sales and door prizes, and the YMCA will be free and open to everyone during the fair.

Dinner before a 7 o'clock show

As more of the island closes for the season, where you eat before a show becomes something to plan. The Ark, which went back to its original name from Pilgrim's Inn according to The Ellsworth American, lists its last Dining Room dinner as Tuesday, October 13, and its last Tavern evening as Sunday, October 25. Aragosta says it is open between May and October each year. 44 North's Stonington café is marked closed for the season and says it opens Memorial Day through Indigenous Peoples' Day.

These places post hours that cover the film and trivia nights, though none of them labels the hours as a winter schedule:

• 27 Fathoms Waterfront Grille, 27 Main Street. Monday through Wednesday and Friday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Closed Thursday, and open 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday. Its Friday hours line up with the 7 p.m. films. Its Thursday closure falls on trivia nights, when the Opera House lobby serves its own flatbread.
• Stonecutters Kitchen. Dine-in Wednesday through Saturday, 7 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Closed Monday and Tuesday. Those hours cover all three Opera House formats.
• Burnt Cove Market, 1 Burnt Cove Road. Monday through Saturday, 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Sunday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. The page was updated October 8, 2026.
• Fin & Fern, 25 Seabreeze Avenue. The site lists November hours of Thursday through Saturday, 4 to 7:30 p.m., but gives no year.

For a morning before the Deer Isle parade, 44 North's Deer Isle café at 7 Main Street lists hours of 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday. The chamber's directory lists Borrego Bread at 30 Hardy's Hill Road, open Thursday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Off-season hours tend to shift with little notice, so call ahead before a show night.

Seen together, the schedule and the posted hours point to an easy routine for most of these weeks. Have an early dinner on Main Street, then walk to the Opera House for a 7 p.m. film, or eat flatbread in the lobby on the third Thursday. The calendar is posted through December 17, and Opera House Arts says more film dates are coming.

Laura's photographer's eye always comes back to Stonington Harbor in the off-season, when the light gets low and the lobby windows glow after dark. If you're thinking about a home where a week like this could be part of your own calendar, Laura Farr would be glad to show you around the island. Let's Connect.