Music
The Boardwalk Jazz Group playing on the Weirs Beach boardwalk on July 30, 2023. Rob Ames on soprano sax, Andrew Emanuel on tenor sax, Mike Levine on piano, Jarrod Taylor on guitar, Al Hospers on bass, and Mike Walsh on drums.
Music at Weirs Beach has had a very, very long tradition. More recently, the Winnipesaukee Marketplace featured a jazz series from 2014-2021, and Barbershoppers concerts from 1992-2019. Click here for the history of the jazz series.
Still playing on the Weirs Beach boardwalk, the Boardwalk Jazz Group (above photo) brings back the familiar tunes by Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and other jazz greats whose music once graced the Winnipesaukee Garden’s grand ballroom. The group plays at the middle of the Weirs Beach boardwalk on Sunday nights, beginning in late June, and ending on the Sunday of Labor Day weekend. The free Sunday night concerts begin at 6pm and end at 9pm. Click here for the 2025 schedule.
Free Outdoor Music Concerts
Several nearby towns around Lake Winnipesaukee offer free, outdoor music concerts to summer visitors. You can see free outdoor concerts four nights in a row, from Wednesday night through Sunday night, if you plan carefully!
In Tuftonboro, the Summer Concert Series at the 19 Mile Bay Beach Pavilion takes place on Thursday nights from 6:30pm-8:30pm.
In downtown Laconia, the Belknap Mill’s Arts in the Park Summer Concert Series takes place on Friday nights from 6pm-8pm.
Also on Friday nights, in Center Harbor, at the Bicentennial Bandstand, there is a two-part concert series. The first part features the Center Harbor Town Band, the “Boston Pops of the Lakes Region”.
In Wolfeboro, the Wolfeboro Community Bandstand Summer Concert Series takes place on Saturday nights from 7pm-9pm.
Also on Saturday nights from 7pm-9pm, in Alton Bay, the Alton Parks & Recreation Summer Concert Series takes place on the Land Bandstand. The Land Bandstand is located in Railroad Square Park, also known as Alton Bay Park, and the approximate location is 28 Mount Major Highway. (Not to be confused with the Water Bandstand located in the middle of Alton Bay.)
Then on Sunday nights, you can watch the jazz concerts on the Weirs Beach boardwalk from 6pm-9pm.
There are a couple more bandstands in the local area that offer free, outdoor summer music. They are the Hartwell Memorial Bandstand in Tilton; and right in Weirs Beach, the outdoor amphitheatre at the Weirs Community Park. This summer’s (2025) schedule at the amphitheatre TBA.
THE BOARDWALK JAZZ QUARTET
For over 30 years (since 1994), the Boardwalk Jazz Quartet has been playing jazz standards from the 1930′s through the 1970′s in Weirs Beach on Sundays in July and August. The group also plays arrangements of contemporary tunes and originals. The bandleader is soprano saxophonist Rob Ames. The group in the photo and video below is the 2012 version of the band, with Rob Ames on sax and vibes, Steve Warnick on keyboards, Mike Gruen on bass, and Dave Ellis on drums. Click here for a high-definition video.
HISTORY OF THE LAKES REGION CHORDSMEN
For over 60 years (from 1954 through 2019), in July & August, on Wednesday nights, you could hear the Lakes Region Chordsmen barbershoppers sing songs that would undoubtedly be familiar to those who attended concerts at the earlier Weirs Beach Music Halls. They performed on the Weirs Beach boardwalk for the first half of their run, then at the Winnipesaukee Marketplace for the second half. The Lake Region Chordsmen sang the old-time Barbershoppers favorites. The group consisted of about twenty singers, both old and young, and they sang their hearts out. Several members of the Chordsmen formed their own, classic Barbershopper quartets, and the quartets alternated segments of the concert with the larger group. Occasionally, larger groups of Barbershoppers from elsewhere in the state made a guest appearance, and then the combined groups sang together for an astounding wall of song.
While the Lakes Region Chordsmen have been gone for a few years, there is still a great Barbershoppers event being held annually. This year, the Meredith Bay Jamboree will take place from August 15-17, 2025. The highlight of the event is the Saturday evening, 8/16 concert, the “Great Gathering Show”, at 7pm at the Meredith Community Center. For more info, visit nedistrict.org/jamboree.
THE EARLY WEIRS BEACH MUSIC HALLS
Weirs Beach’s 1886-1902 original Music Hall at Endicott Rock Park
Weirs Beach’s 1903-1924 Music Hall on Tower Street. Click here for several photos of the interior of the Music Hall, info about the Hall and the bands that played there, and a bio of Jim Irwin, who owned the Hall.
Bandstands in Weirs Beach
Public bandstands have had a long history in Weirs Beach. From the early 1880s through the early 1920s, the Speakers Stand in the NHVA’s Veterans Grove also served as a bandstand. From the late 1920s through the late 1950s, a public bandstand was connected to the boardwalk at Irwin’s Winnipesaukee Gardens via a short footbridge. From the late 1950s until 1987, there was a rooftop bandstand above the fourth Weirs Beach Train Station. Since 2014, there has been a bandstand at the Weirs Community Park. Currently, efforts are underway to build a bandstand on the Weirs Beach boardwalk.
The Public Bandstand at Irwin’s Winnipesaukee Gardens.
The rooftop bandstand atop the fourth Weirs Beach Train Station.
IRWIN’S WINNIPESAUKEE GARDENS
Weirs Beach’s 1925-1976 Irwin’s Winnipesaukee Gardens ballroom was famous for the great big bands that swung through town. Now an arcade at the Winnipesaukee Pier. Click here to enlarge the photos below and for several bonus photos.
• Benny Goodman • Nat King Cole • Guy Lombardo • Dean Hudson • Count Basie • Harry James • Tommy & Jimmy Dorsey • Glenn Miller • Sammy Kaye • Tony Brown • Glen Gray
“The Gardens had a glossy grand piano and big frame around the stage. On that frame were two mermaids on each side and King Neptune at the top” – Carole Gosselin
The 1940’s and 1950’s were the heyday of big band entertainment at the Gardens, when the place would be hopping nearly every night with elegantly clad dancers. From the mid 1960’s until the closure of the ballroom in 1976, the Gardens shifted its entertainment emphasis to rock and roll. While the few surviving famous big bands would still occasionally swing through town, the Gardens now rocked with a different beat. Some of the famous rock acts who performed there included:
Gary Pucket & The Union Gap • Sam the Sham and the Pharoahs • The Beach Boys • The Turtles • Eric Burdon & War • The Spectras
The last band to play at the Gardens before its conversion to an arcade was the big band of Harry James.
New Winnipesaukee Gardens to open May 29
(May 15, 1925 article in the Laconia Democrat)
Right out over the water, where the cool breezes of the great lake are to be found, in a spot most delightful, is located Jim Irwin’s new Winnipesaukee Gardens, a ballroom which will be the largest and the best to be found in any part of the state. The latest features are being arranged and when the season opens on May 29, dance lovers from all parts of the country will again gather for the enjoyable events which have always been a big part in the summer activities of The Weirs.
The new ballroom is located at the end of a 350 foot boardwalk which leads from the railroad station. The building is now under construction. The roof was added this week and the interior finishing is now under way. It is expected that everything will be in readiness for the opening date with a capacity for accommodating 1800 people.
The music for the coming season will also be a big feature. Al Starita, now known as the Paul Whiteman of England, is coming from England with others. Al will play the saxophone, and he is one of the greatest of soloists. He left the Weirs ballroom two years ago for London, where he has appeared at the Savoy, the largest hotel in the world. He has his own band, which has appeared before many gatherings of nobility and these are the boys who are coming to furnish the music….
Stores will be erected on one side of the long, spacious boardwalk, which will be brightly lighted from the station to the pavilion presenting a very beautiful appearance as it will be visible for miles around.
Winnipesaukee Gardens Hold Opening Tonight
(May 29, 1925 article in the Laconia Democrat)
Grand Opening to Give This Section the Largest and Finest Ballroom in Northern New England
In the Spring, the young and old folks fancies lightly turn to thoughts of dancing. Tonight, all roads will lead to Jim Irwin’s Winnipesaukee Gardens, recently completed, making The Weirs the home of the largest and absolutely the finest attraction of this kind in any section of the Granite State, and which promises to draw capacity crowds nightly. Special and novel features have been arranged for tonight, and the music will be the best ever. No detours, all roads to The Weirs tonight.