World Cultures
The notion of America as a melting pot, where immigrants are assimilated into a singular culture, has fallen away. In New England today, cultural diversity is respected and celebrated, even as people of different backgrounds come together within larger communities. The benefit, for both residents and visitors, is the sheer array of cuisines to savor, ethnic neighborhoods to explore, and cultural events to attend within this compact region. In a day, you can virtually zigzag across the globe, meeting interesting people, hearing their stories, and sampling their traditions, while broadening your own perspective and gaining as much appreciation for the things that make us alike as those that make us different.
Here is just a taste of how you might experience world cultures during your time in the New England states.
MASSACHUSETTS
Boston is America’s most Irish city. Walk the Boston Irish Heritage Trail, and you’ll learn the stories of Irish-Americans who left their mark here, and also see the moving Boston Irish Famine Memorial, which recalls the starvation that forced many to leave their homeland for Boston in the mid-19th century. Stop into one of the many Irish pubs along the route. Boston’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade in March attracts close to one million spectators.
Boston is known, too, for its Italian North End neighborhood. Waves of immigrants, first from Genoa then from other regions of Italy, began settling here in the 1860s, and it’s still where you’ll find the city’s best pizza and enough authentic pastry shops that no one will blame you for eating dessert first. During the month of August, the North End celebrates Italian saints with festivals and feasts every weekend.
Boston’s Chinatown, which traces its origins to the 1870s, is one of the oldest in the United States. Colorful festivals and authentic restaurants draw visitors to this neighborhood on the outskirts of downtown’s financial and retail districts. Be there for the annual Chinese New Year Parade (the Lunar New Year arrives in January or February each year), and you’ll marvel at the pageantry of lion dancers and other performers. The first Chinese to arrive were predominantly male laborers; now, residents are a mix of new arrivals and generations-old Asian-American families. In office since 2021, Michelle Wu is Boston’s first Asian-American mayor.
Beyond the capital city, cultural events you may want to experience in Massachusetts include:
- Peter’s Fiesta (Gloucester, June): A five-day Italian celebration of the patron saint of fishing, famous for its hilarious “greasy pole” contest.
- Feast of the Blessed Sacrament (New Bedford, August): The largest Portuguese feast and festival in the world.
- Festival Latino of the Berkshires (Great Barrington, September): A daylong festival featuring music, folk dancing, food, and art showcasing Berkshire County’s Latino community.
RHODE ISLAND
Rhode Island’s most evocative neighborhood is Providence’s Italian Federal Hill. DePasquale Square, with its flowers, fountain, and European-style outdoor cafes, is the beating heart of this “Little Italy.” You’ll want to watch pasta makers at work at 70-plus-year-old Venda Ravioli, taste the traditional breads and other goodies baked in 100-year-old brick ovens at Scialo Bros. Bakery, snap photos against the backdrop of massive painted murals, shop at Italian markets, and sip espresso drinks and nibble Italian pastries at Pastiche Fine Desserts.
In the state’s Gilded Age city of Newport, where Irish immigrants were often employed as servants to mansion-dwelling families, the Museum of Newport Irish History organizes a March-long Newport Irish Heritage Month series of tours and events. The high point is always the Newport St. Patrick’s Day Parade, which has been eagerly anticipated by locals and visitors for more than 65 years.
Other cultural events in Rhode Island to check out include:
- Rhode Island Day of Portugal (Providence, June): Celebrated since 1978 and similar to festivals held by Portuguese communities around the world to commemorate the death in 1580 of Portuguese poet Luís Vaz de Camões, this two-day festival and parade is focused on traditional food, music, and folklore.
- Heritage Festival (Providence, September): A day to celebrate many cultures’ music, art, handcrafts, and food, hosted by the WaterFire Arts Center.
- Festa Italiana (Newport, September/October): A multiday, multifaceted celebration of Italian heritage that features an outdoor festival and the annual “meatball challenge” cooking contest.
CONNECTICUT
Wooster Square, New Haven’s Italian neighborhood, is Connecticut’s best-known cultural destination. That’s because it is home to Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana, where in 1925 Italian immigrant Frank Pepe “invented” apizza (pronounced “ah-beets”)—New Haven’s own world-renowned style of thin-crust, coal-fired pizza. Rival shop Sally’s Apizza is just down the street, so be sure to try both, then stop into Libby’s Italian Pastry Shop, founded a century ago, for Italian ices and creative cannoli (like pumpkin spice flavor in the fall). Each April, the Wooster Square Cherry Blossom Festival coincides with the pink eruption of flowers on the branches of 72 Japanese cherry blossom trees, planted in 1973.
Connecticut’s capital city, Hartford, is home to one of the larger Puerto Rican communities in the United States. El Instituto’s La Plaza Virtual website is your best resource if you would like to plan a self-guided walk of the city’s Clay Hill/Arsenal, Frog Hollow, and South Green neighborhoods, which offer churches and other landmarks that reflect the city’s Puerto Rican culture. In summer, the Greater Hartford Puerto Rican Parade and Festival del Coquí is a much-loved day of festivities.
Keep these additional cultural events in mind while you’re planning your Connecticut visit:
- Lunarfest (New Haven, January/February): Yale-China volunteers and community partners invite you to explore Chinese culture through a weeks-long program of exhibits, workshops, talks, films, and participatory activities, such as tossing red ribbons up into the “wishing tree” at the New Haven Museum.
- Little Poland Festival (New Britain, June): Polka bands and pierogies are just the start at this day-long party honoring New Britain’s Polish heritage.
- Riverfront Dragon Boat & Asian Festival (Hartford, August): Cheer for rowers and enjoy this free annual event’s hands-on activities, martial arts demonstrations, and traditional music and dance performances celebrating Asian and Pacific Island cultures.
MAINE
The French-Acadian population along both sides of the St. John River, which defines the border between Maine and Canada, predates Maine statehood in 1820. More than 200 years later, it’s rare to hear New England French in northern Maine, yet Acadian culture lives on, particularly in the St. John Valley. If you’re visiting this region, be sure to try Acadian dishes like buckwheat pancakes, sugar pie, and poutine (French fries slathered with gravy and cheese curds). In Madawaska, an enormous cross marks the spot where Acadians fleeing deportation by the British arrived in Maine after fleeing Canada in 1785. Each August, thousands gather in this border town to celebrate the four-day Acadian Festival featuring music and traditions like a noisemaking “tintamarre” parade.
More events celebrating French and other cultures in Maine include:
- La Kermesse Franco-Americaine Festival (Biddeford, June): A four-day Franco-Americaine celebration featuring an array of French food and a parade.
- Festival of Nations (Portland, July): Northern New England’s oldest diversity festival, with family-centric activities inspired by cultures from around the world.
- Festival Champlain (Portland, September): Two days of Francophone movies from a variety of French-speaking countries.
VERMONT
French explorer Samuel de Champlain claimed this territory for New France in 1609, naming it “Verd Mont,” which means “green mountain.” Combine this history with Vermont’s proximity to the largest French-speaking city in North America—Montreal, Quebec, just an hour north of the Canadian border—and it’s not surprising there are still traces of French culture in this state. One of the most French communities is the city of Winooski, which celebrates French Heritage Day each year in June with live music, educational programming, food, and a tourtière (meat pie) recipe contest.
Other internationally inspired events in Vermont each year include:
- The British Invasion (Stowe, September): A weekend-long salute to British motorcars and the lifestyle associated with them.
- New World Festival (Chandler, September): A day devoted to traditional Celtic and French Canadian music and dance, with performances spread across five stages.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Every autumn, just as the leaves are beginning to display the first hints of fall color, the nonprofit cultural organization NHSCOT puts on one of the largest celebrations of Scottish culture held in North America. September’s three-day New Hampshire Highland Games at Loon Mountain Resort in Lincoln features athletic competitions like the caber toss and loon stone carry, sheepdog trials, living history reenactments, classes, food, musical performances, and a clan village, where you can learn more about your own Scottish heritage. Check NHSCOT’s online calendar for other live and virtual events, including a Hogmanay celebration of the new year.
For a glimpse of other world cultures within New Hampshire’s borders, plan to attend:
- We Are One Festival (Manchester, August): An outdoor event spotlighting African, Caribbean, and Latino music and culture.
- Concord Multicultural Festival (Concord, September): A one-day celebration of New Hampshire’s rich diversity featuring food, performances, family activities, and a parade of flags representing more than 70 cultures from around the globe.
