Where do you go for Stoughton's 300th Day? The anniversary committee's event page gives one answer: the Stoughton High School Athletic Complex at 232 Pearl Street, 4:00 to 7:30 p.m., with "Football, Entertainment, Food, and more!" The town's flyer for the same Saturday tells a longer story. The day starts at 8 a.m. at Halloran Park and ends with a drone show over the high school fields.
Both are correct. They describe different halves of the day, and that explains how Stoughton is closing out its 300th year. The celebration is a relay. It passes between sites, organizers and dates from now until mid-December, and the parts meant to outlast it took shape downtown over the summer.
Saturday, October 3, Stop by Stop
The committee is working with Stoughton Recreation on this one. Here's how the day runs, according to the town's all-events flyer:
- 8:00 a.m., Once a Knight Always a Knight 5K. A road race starting in front of Halloran Park, presented by Stoughton Recreation.
- Noon to 4:00 p.m., Stoughton Day at Halloran Park. Family activities, live music and vendors, also run by Stoughton Recreation.
- 4:00 p.m., varsity football at Veterans Memorial Stadium. Presented by the Stoughton High School Athletic Department.
- 7:00 p.m., drone show at the Stoughton High School fields. It starts after the game and is presented by the Stoughton 300th Committee.
The committee's 4:00-to-7:30 listing covers the last two stops, the football game and the drone show on Pearl Street. The first eight hours belong to Recreation and Halloran Park. If you only check the anniversary site, you'll miss the 5K, the vendors and the petting zoo.
What the Morning and Midday Actually Include
Halloran Park is on Pierce Street. It's a two-acre grass park ringed by a quarter-mile lighted walking path, with a basketball court, a horseshoe pit, benches and a children's playspace. On October 3 that path doubles as the edge of a festival.
Stoughton Recreation calls the noon-to-4 block free and family-oriented. The lineup includes live music, food trucks, touch-a-trucks, a petting zoo, face painters, a balloon artist and kids' entertainment. The department expects more than 60 local vendors in the vendor section. That's a big showing of Stoughton businesses in one park on one afternoon, although the vendor names haven't been published yet.
The 5K has a few details that set it apart from an ordinary fall road race:
- Cost: $25 for Stoughton residents, $35 for nonresidents.
- What pre-registered runners get: a race T-shirt, a bib, a race bag and a finisher medal made for the 300th.
- Where the money goes: swim lesson and summer program scholarships for Stoughton families.
You can register through Stoughton Recreation's 5K page. The medal gives this year's race a keepsake that no other year's race will have.
A few things aren't settled yet. None of the official listings for the day mention parking, a shuttle between Pierce Street and Pearl Street, named performers, which food trucks are coming, or a rain date. The town posted a Stoughton Day news item on September 22, so updates are coming through official channels as the date gets closer.
The Summer Built the Part That Stays
The October relay is the loudest piece of the 300th. The lasting pieces started arriving in June, and they explain why the anniversary feels different from a series of parties.
On Saturday, June 13, the town held a block party in the Wyman Street area to dedicate its new community center, which is the former train station, converted. The town's invitation described funding from Town Meeting, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the Community Preservation Committee and the United States Congress. It said "great care was taken to protect the building's historic beauty" while turning it into a function space for residents. The ceremony included Congressman Lynch, a blessing by local faith leaders, building tours, a free cookout, live music and a local vendor marketplace. It ended with the closing of a fifty-year time capsule. Residents were invited to write letters for it on the theme "My Hope and Prayer for Stoughton in 2076."
Some of what Stoughton residents wrote this June won't be read until 2076.
The rest of the summer followed the same pattern of filling out the calendar:
| Date | 300th Event |
|---|---|
| Saturday, June 13 | Block party, Community Center dedication, 50-year time capsule |
| Thursday, July 2 | Fourth Festivities Touch a Truck |
| Saturday, July 4 | Fourth of July Parade |
| Saturday, August 8 | Stoughton 300th Night at the Brockton Rox |
The second downtown project sits right next to Town Hall. The Downtown Pocket Park is on the Porter Street side of Town Hall at 10 Pearl Street. Phase One construction ran from July 21 through August 27, and during that time parking moved to the Pearl Street front, a split back lot and the municipal lots on Rose Street and Freeman Street. The bid notice calls for sidewalks, pedestrian paths, parking improvements and safer walking and biking routes. The town's August 31 Town Crier still described it as a Phase One construction and map update, and no opening or dedication has been announced. The town has said it will post more updates as the landscaping moves along.
So downtown now has a historic train station turned into a public room, and it's getting a new public space outside Town Hall. The anniversary's biggest single day happens elsewhere, at Halloran Park and on Pearl Street. Stoughton spent the anniversary spreading itself around.
November and December Close the Loop
After October 3, the 300th calendar has a formal night and a final Saturday left.
Stoughton 300th Formal Gala, Saturday, November 21. It runs 6:00 to 10:00 p.m. at Blue Hill Country Club. Tickets are $75, and Town Spa Pizza is the listed sponsor. It's the one ticketed, dress-up event of the year, and it's sponsored by a local pizza name that most residents already know.
300th Closing Ceremony, Saturday, December 12. It runs 2:00 to 3:10 p.m. The committee says the year will end "with a time capsule, treats, and a toast to the town." No venue has been published yet.
Holiday 300th, same day. It runs 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. on the town calendar, and the address field only says "Stoughton, MA 02072." Neither listing explains how the two December 12 events connect, so check back before planning that afternoon.
The time capsule shows up at both ends of the year. One was closed at the June dedication, and the closing ceremony lists another. The official pages don't say whether the December event reopens, adds to or seals something new. Either way, the anniversary's last official act is aimed at a future Stoughton.
The committee behind all of this is Kellie Laguerre as chair, David Allen Lambert as vice chair, Dr. Patricia Randolph as secretary, Dianne Dolan as treasurer and Amanda Bettle leading signature events.
Getting 300th Gear Before the Year Ends
Online order forms for commemorative items are closed. The committee still points residents to the 300th table at events, or to email, to place an order. The order form lists blankets, coins, baseball hats, winter hats, short- and long-sleeve adult tees, hoodies and fleece. Pickups happen at committee meetings once buyers are notified. Stoughton Day at Halloran Park, with its crowd and vendor rows, is the most likely place to find that table this fall.
You may have also noticed personalized banners on Stoughton's street poles this year. Those came from a commemorative program that asked for a $300 donation, and its deadline was November 20, 2025.
The Weeks Between the Big Dates
For quieter nights around the anniversary schedule, the Stoughton Public Library at 84 Park Street has a steady calendar.
- Friday, September 25, 1:00 p.m. "9 to 5"…Celebrating Dolly Parton movie matinee
- Thursday, October 1, 6:30 p.m. Winter in the Azores: A Phototour with Josh Olshin
- Tuesday, October 20, 6:30 p.m. Halloween Storytime Party
- Wednesday, October 21, 6:00 p.m. BYOCC, Bring Your Own Craft Club
- Thursday, December 31, 11:30 a.m. Noon Years Eve for ages 2 to 8
The listings for the matinee, the Azores talk and the craft club say in-person, but they also mention an emailed event link. Confirm the format on the library's event calendar before you head over.
Put together, the rest of 2026 looks like this. There's a 5K at 8 a.m. on Pierce Street, 60-plus vendors by noon, football on Pearl Street at 4, and drones over the high school fields at 7. Then comes a gala at Blue Hill Country Club and a toast in December. After the toast, downtown keeps the Community Center in the old train station, which opened in June, and the pocket park beside Town Hall, which is still being landscaped.
At Zander Realty Group, Stoughton is home base. Our headquarters is here, and we'll be following the 300th right up to the closing toast. If the anniversary has you thinking about what your own Stoughton home is worth in its 300th year, we'll give you a clear, local answer. Get an Estimate and see where your place stands.
