ArtsFest opens today and runs through Sunday, October 18, and the structure is simple: more than 40 venues, around 250 artists, and most of it costs nothing. The New Rochelle Council on the Arts runs its 18th one, and the weekend carries a hometown hook this year, because the tall ship Lynx sits at the marina all four days as part of the 250th anniversary programming.
Tonight belongs to FROG. The indie rock band from New Rochelle is mid-tour, with dates across the U.S. and U.K., and it comes home for the official kickoff concert, 7:00 to 8:30 tonight in the Ossie Davis Theater at the New Rochelle Public Library, 1 Library Plaza, and the library asks for a free registration. If you want the full list of open studios, exhibits and walking tours, the schedule lives at newrochellearts.org, and it is worth a scroll before Saturday because the venues scatter from the library to the cottage grounds.
Friday is the ticketed night. The MOTH returns for a live Story SLAM at Trinity Episcopal Church Parish Hall, 311 Huguenot Street, 6:30 PM, theme "American Dreams," ten storytellers picked from the audience by random draw, 15 dollars a ticket. Saturday hands you the Makers Market at Thomas Paine Cottage with 30-plus vendors and a youth market next door run by kids 7 to 17, and Sunday closes with Young Musicians of Westchester at the library and a wrap party on Echo Island.
The questions New Rochelle searches this week, answer first, source after.
When and where does FROG play its ArtsFest kickoff show?
Tonight, Thursday, October 15, 7:00 to 8:30 PM, in the Ossie Davis Theater at the Main Library, 1 Library Plaza. The band is a New Rochelle indie rock act on its FROG for Sale Tour, the city's ArtsFest announcement names this set as the official kickoff concert, and the library asks for advance registration. Local singer-songwriters follow at 18th Ward Brewing later in the evening.
The SLAM runs 6:30 PM Friday at Trinity Episcopal Church Parish Hall, 311 Huguenot Street. Tickets are 15 dollars, storytelling starts from audience names drawn at random, and anyone can throw a name in: five-minute stories on the theme American Dreams. Buy through themoth.org, and expect the door list to run long, because this is the slot that sold as soon as the box opened.
Tonight stays sunny near 63, then showers arrive overnight, mainly after 5:00 AM Friday, at a 60 percent chance. Friday runs 70 percent with a high near 74 and a slight chance of a late thunderstorm, so the MOTH audience should carry an umbrella to Huguenot Street. Saturday clears after a 30 percent morning shower chance and turns sunny near 52 with north gusts to 25 mph, and Sunday stays sunny near 55. Cold on the marina dock, dry both weekend days.
Tulip Lane between Pinebrook Boulevard and Winding Brook Road closed Wednesday, October 14, for roughly six weeks while the city replaces culverts on the Sheldrake River. Drivers detour by Ramona Court and Amherst Drive back to Pinebrook Boulevard, and pedestrians get pointed north through Pinebrook Park to the crosswalk at Pinebrook Boulevard.
The work is part of the city's Flood Mitigation Program: two culverts get upsized at Tulip Lane and Pinebrook Boulevard, and a bypass goes in near Dennis Drive, so heavy rain moves through instead of backing up. If your commute crosses the closure, budget the detour for the next month and a half. Project background sits at newrochelleny.gov/flooding.
AI Corner: one plain-English AI thing, every issue
This week: pick your ArtsFest acts like a festival pro.
Forty venues is a maze. Screenshot the schedule at newrochellearts.org, drop it into an AI chat, and try this: "Here is the ArtsFest schedule with venues and times: [paste]. I am in downtown New Rochelle Saturday from 10 to 6 with a car. Build me a loop with walking and parking in mind, keep two backups per stop, and flag anything that needs a ticket."
Then do the human check. Models move events across days and invent venues, so confirm each time and address against the schedule before you leave. The plan is a draft; the printed schedule is the fact.
Reply with questions; they become future AI Corner topics.
ArtsFest 2026 opens, running through Sunday, October 18 across more than 40 venues; FROG plays the official ArtsFest kickoff concert, 7:00 to 8:30 PM in the Ossie Davis Theater at the Main Library, 1 Library Plaza, free registration requested, with local singer-songwriters at 18th Ward Brewing later; sunny, high near 63, north wind 5 to 8 mph
Main Library and 18th Ward Brewing · city ArtsFest announcement, NRPL calendar and NWS
The MOTH Story SLAM, 6:30 PM at Trinity Episcopal Church Parish Hall, 311 Huguenot St, 15 dollars, theme American Dreams; Wayne Tucker celebrates 100 Years of Miles Davis in a Friday night concert at the New Rochelle Public Library; showers likely, 70 percent chance, high near 74, slight chance of a late thunderstorm
311 Huguenot St and the Main Library · city calendar and NWS
Free public tours of the tall ship Lynx, 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM at the Municipal Marina dock, free tickets and parking at Hudson Park with a history festival in the park; ArtsFest Makers Market with 30-plus vendors and a Youth Makers Market for ages 7 to 17 at Thomas Paine Cottage; Howl'oween dog parade and costume contest, 10:30 AM to 1:00 PM at Ward Acres; Colonial Tavern Experience, 4:30 to 8:00 PM at 18th Ward Brewing, 40 Division St; 30 percent morning shower chance then sunny, high near 52, north gusts to 25 mph
Hudson Park, Thomas Paine Cottage, Ward Acres and 40 Division St · city calendar, 250th announcement and NWS
Battle of Pell's Point/Pelham reenactment, 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM, viewing at Orchard Beach; Little Haunters at Wildcliff Mansion, 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM, 12 dollars, no jump scares, trick-or-treating at the end; Taste of Lincoln, 1:00 to 6:00 PM at Lincoln Park and Pool; Young Musicians of Westchester at the New Rochelle Public Library; ArtsFest wrap event at Echo Bay Yacht Club, 1:00 to 7:00 PM with boat shuttles from the marina; sunny, high near 55
Orchard Beach, Wildcliff Mansion, Lincoln Park, the library and Echo Bay Yacht Club · city 250th, city calendar and haunt operators
City Council Regular Legislative Meeting, 6:15 PM
City Hall, 515 North Avenue · city calendar
Halfway to Earth Day Fall Festival, 4:00 to 6:00 PM at Ward Acres; United Nations flag raising, 5:00 PM on the City Hall front lawn
Ward Acres and City Hall · city calendar
FALL-O-WEEN for Pre-K through 5th grade, 5:00 to 8:00 PM at Five Islands Park, LeFevre Lane; The Haunt returns, 7:00 to 10:30 PM at Wildcliff Mansion
Five Islands Park and Wildcliff Mansion · city calendar
HAUNTFEST at Wildcliff Mansion, 7:00 to 10:30 PM, 44 Wildcliff Rd, music, food truck and vendors; last day of yard waste collection
Wildcliff Mansion · city calendar and DPW
State of the City 2026, 6:00 to 8:30 PM at the JCC Mid-Westchester, 999 Wilmot Rd; RSVP at newrochelleny.gov/SOTCRSVP
