On Monday, Jan. 26, Lincoln Theater will celebrate a remarkable milestone: 150 years since the community was first welcomed into what was then known as Lincoln Hall.

Solas is lighting up stages across the globe as they celebrate three decades of pushing boundaries and honoring traditions in Irish music. And on March 15, Solas comes to Waldoboro for a 7:30 concert at The Waldo Theatre.

Hailed by The Boston Globe as “the finest Celtic ensemble this country has ever produced,” and by The Wall Street Journal as “an Irish traditional band bearing all the marks of greatness,” Solas continues to captivate audiences with their spellbinding musicianship and genre-defying creativity.

Dagney Ernest, who has been Camden Opera House's promotions and box office manager for the past six-and-a-half years, has retired. Kathleen Payton Brown has assumed that position as of the new year. 

Before joining the COH staff, Dagney had a long and colorful history with the theater, singing and acting on the Opera House stage with local performance groups, including Camden Civic Theatre and the Everyman Repertory Theatre, swing quartet Fascinatin' Rhythm, and the Arthur Hall International Dance Company. 

“Thirty-five years is a long time,” said Boneheads’ keyboardist Bob Colwell in a recent interview. “Bands are generally pretty ephemeral things, and it's highly unusual to last that long.”

Right! I say ... longer than The Beatles, not as long as The Stones. Hey, it got an appreciative chuckle ...

"Wintersong: A Midcoast Gathering of Voices" will take place Tuesday, Jan. 13 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. in Porter Hall at Skidompha Library, Main St., Damariscotta with a snow date of Tuesday, Jan. 20. The event is free and open to the public. Please enter via the Elm Street side (rear entrance) of the library, as the event will be held after regular hours.

Thursday, Feb. 5

Get out of the house and listen to some beautiful music while supporting Maine musicians. Doors for seating will open at 6:30 p.m., concert at 7 p.m. 86 Townsend Ave., Boothbay Harbor. Ticket purchase through the Portland Symphony: https://porttix.com/whats-on/pso-chamber-series-strings/

The Trustees of the Union Fair / Maine’s Wild Blueberry Festival are launching our annual contest to choose a design suitable for use in publicizing the 2026 Union Fair which will occur on Aug. 5 - 9. Please note that the deadlines and poster contest rules and requirements have changed.  

Gingerbread Spectacular baker/designer/architect Rimar Reed’s entries have long been part of the much anticipated event held at the Opera House. For this year’s 19th show she decided to challenge herself by creating an interactive game gingerbread, Candy Drop. To her delight and surprise, judges Alyssa Allen, Wendy Bellows, Margaret Branch and Pandy Dickinson selected it for the Best Holiday Spirit award.

Lincoln Theater is excited to announce its 2026 Free Family Film Series. One Sunday afternoon each month, the theater will offer a free, family-friendly film open to audiences of all ages - no tickets, no reservations.  

In corroboration with the weekly crowds of No Kings protesters on the Damariscotta-Newcastle bridge, Jean Kigel presents "Displacement: Immigrant Portraits" at Skidompha Library during January. A year ago, Kigel began painting faces of immigrants as ICE ramped up deportations. She has researched current immigration facts, which accompany each portrait. 

Twenty-seven bakers were inspired to enter this year’s Gingerbread Spectacular held at the Opera House for 19 years now. Their designs always charm, amaze and delight us all leaving us to wonder how did they do that? What went on in those kitchens?

Well, that’s exactly what I asked Eni DeLisle and Hilary Allen who constructed the fabulous Harbor Theater in gingerbread, including an audience of wee gingers watching “White Christmas!” Recently, we met at the theater to look back at their experience – and their were some surprises.

River Arts is pleased to announce an exciting opportunity for artists to kick off the New Year by participating in an upcoming “Members’ Show.” All current and new members are invited to submit one piece for this non-juried exhibition. The deadline for entries is Saturday, Jan. 10 at 4 p.m. 

Take Two is a series from reporters (and movie buffs) Fritz Freudenberger and Isabelle Curtis to review entertainment options in the region. This Christmas season, our pick is the 2005 foreign language film, “Joyeux Noël,” written and directed by Christian Carion, starring Benno Fürmann, Guillaume Canet and Daniel Brühl. It is available on Netflix under the title “Merry Christmas.” 

The film industry is an equation. There's the director with a vision, the crew who make it come to life, and the audience members who hang on the edge of their seats, but there's an often overlooked variable: the regional cinemas that disperse that movie magic to the masses. 

Although existing in some form at the Meadow Mall since the 1980s, the Harbor Theater, as it's known today, gained non-profit status in 2017 and continues to show new releases, indies, documentaries and fan favorites with the help of its 14 part-time employees.    

While the pandemic temporarily put a halt to activities for residents across Maine, in some cases it opened new doors. Musician and carpenter Scott Elliot turned his time without music gigs and other work into a time to explore painting and ever since has spent hours every day in his studio creating and selling much talked about works of art. The Opera House in Boothbay Harbor welcomes an exhibit of his most recent paintings this January.

As Coastal Senior College (CSC) continues to expand its role in the active lifelong learning community in Lincoln and Knox counties and beyond, the College kicks off the winter 2026 semester on Jan. 13 with a varied collection of four- to six- session courses, both in person in a variety of settings and on Zoom.

Registration for all courses opened on Dec. 16 and reservations are high to date with eight of the 11 courses offered remotely on Zoom avoiding winter travel.