Great Waters Music Festival

Each summer, as the breeze rolls off Lake Winnipesaukee and the hills of New Hampshire’s Lakes Region come alive with birdsong and bloom, another sound fills the air: the warm, unmistakable rhythm of live music. This is the Great Waters Music Festival, a long-standing cultural pillar of Wolfeboro, New Hampshire—known by locals and returning attendees as simply “Great Waters.”

For decades, this multi-week celebration has brought Broadway stars, classical virtuosos, folk troubadours, and jazz ensembles to the heart of the Lakes Region. It’s where music meets mountains, cocktails meet community, and families gather for something timeless.

Who It’s For
Great Waters welcomes a beautifully diverse audience. You’ll find grandparents introducing grandchildren to symphonic suites, date nights under string-lit tents, and longtime residents sharing picnic blankets with newcomers. Whether you’re an opera buff, a Broadway fan, or simply love a summer evening filled with music, this is your scene.

Artists like Kate Baldwin and Graham Rowat—both Broadway veterans—headline the Great Waters Gala, while local favorites and emerging acts rotate through an ever-changing summer lineup. For donors, students, daytrippers, and multi-generation family groups alike, Great Waters offers both world-class performance and small-town soul.

When It Happens
The 2025 season unfolds across June, July, and August, with concerts scheduled throughout the week and weekends. One signature date to mark is Thursday, July 10, when the Great Waters Gala returns to the Rogers Center for the Arts at Brewster Academy. The evening includes cocktails, dinner, a silent and live auction, and an exclusive Broadway performance—part fundraiser, part festival highlight.

Most events begin in the late afternoon or early evening, with performances often timed to golden-hour light and followed by starlit conversations.

Where It Happens
Great Waters programming centers around two exceptional venues:

Concerts in the Clouds at Castle in the Clouds in Moultonborough, a mountaintop estate with sweeping views of Lake Winnipesaukee and a sunset-lit performance tent.

Concerts in Town at Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro, a charming lakeside boarding school that transforms its waterfront campus into a live-music haven each summer.

Festivalgoers often stay in or around Wolfeboro, which bills itself as “America’s Oldest Summer Resort.” Here, Black’s Paper Store, Bailey’s Bubble, Burnt Timber Brewing, and the Wolfeboro Inn are mainstays within walking distance of most events.

For travel, the region is easily accessed by car via I-93, NH-16, and Route 28. The nearest airports are Manchester-Boston Regional Airport (MHT) and Lebanon Municipal Airport (LEB). Taxis and shuttle services are available locally.

Why You Should Go
Because few festivals can pair a Broadway ballad with a view of Mount Shaw at dusk. Few orchestras perform within steps of vintage boats moored on a historic lakefront. And even fewer festivals feel this personal—where staff greet returning attendees by name and musicians linger after shows.

Signature experiences include:

The Ride & Dine Series, where guests board the Winnipesaukee Belle for a cruise and dinner before arriving dockside for a lakeside performance.

The Painted Piano Project, featuring artist-painted pianos scattered around Wolfeboro, each inviting spontaneous performances from passersby.

Locally sourced fare and wines from regional purveyors offered at concerts and receptions, connecting audiences with the bounty of Carroll County.

The Concerts in the Clouds series, staged under a white sail tent at Castle in the Clouds, offers one of the most scenic live music experiences in New England. As the sun sets over the Belknap Mountains and the first notes float out over the valley, it becomes clear why this series has become a rite of summer.