By Tara Fischer

Staff Writer

The Calvin B. Taylor House Museum and the Berlin Chamber of Commerce presented their 2026 event lists this week, with the Peach Festival and the Bathtub Races returning. The Berlin Town Council approved the lineups.

In 2026, the Taylor House’s event schedule is as follows: The Pig Roast, Saturday, April 18 from 4 to 8 p.m.;  2nd Sunday at the Museum Concert, Sunday, June 14 from 6 to 7:30 p.m., 2nd Sunday at the Museum Concert, Sunday, July 12 from 6 to 7:30 p.m.; the Peach Festival, Saturday, Aug. 1 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.; 2nd Sunday at the Museum Concert, Sunday, Aug. 9 from 6 to 7:30 p.m.; 2nd Sunday at the Museum Concert, Sunday, Sept. 13 from 6 to 7:30 p.m.; and the Book Festival, Saturday, Oct. 17 from noon to 4 p.m.

All the aforementioned events, sans the Peach Festival, will offer alcohol.

The museum’s Book Festival in 2026 will coincide with the town-sanctioned Oktoberfest, said Carol Rose, a member of the Taylor House Board of Directors. The decision to coordinate with the German-inspired beer, food, and music festival comes after the success of this year’s collaboration.

According to Rose, the foot traffic from Oktoberfest drove visitors and residents to their yard’s bookish event just a few weeks ago.

“It was beautiful weather, and with folks walking and parking, we had a wonderful afternoon on the lawn,” the museum board member said.

The logistics for the Peach Festival were also discussed before the schedule was approved this week. The Peach Festival features peachy food and treats, music, and children’s activities, and is the facility’s largest fundraiser each year, attracting thousands of attendees.

Councilman Jay Knerr asked the Taylor House representatives if they had thought about the possibility of coordinating with the Town of Berlin to close Main Street for the event, because last year, he said, the Peach Festival was so crowded that people were pushed out onto the road anyway.

Heather Nottingham, museum administrator, said that facility officials are not interested in blocking Main Street for the Peach Festival, because then the event would lose its identity as a Taylor House benefit.

“It’s our biggest fundraiser of the year, and it is purely a Taylor House Museum event,” she said. “If we close Main Street, we lose our event.”

Nottingham added that she realizes the Peach Festival has grown in popularity, bringing with that some logistical challenges that come with increased crowds. However, she said they are making  adjustments to ensure the event remains in the best interest of the town.

“Originally we had vendors that sold jewelry and artifacts and things on the lawn, but we don’t do that anymore to try to push our people into the [Berlin] businesses,” the museum administrator noted.

“Now we just have nonprofits with food and demonstrators. We hope that people come to the Peach Festival, get some peach food, learn about local nonprofits, and then go into town for shopping…The Peach Festival committee meets year-round because it’s such a big event, so we look at all different angles to make sure we’re meeting the needs of everyone.”

Jimmy Charles, the town’s director of public works, said that to handle the Peach Festival crowds, his team has purchased cones, barricades, and rails to keep people on the sidewalks.

“We have also looked at buying chalk to make a temporary crosswalk,” he added. “We learned a lot last year on how to bring people onto the sidewalks more.”

The municipality’s council also approved 2026 events for the Berlin Chamber of Commerce.

The chamber’s lineup is as follows: Spring Celebration, Saturday, April 4, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (the Saturday before Easter); Spring Cruisers, Saturday, May 2, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. (Corresponds with the Ocean City event); Bathtub Races, Friday, June 12, from 6 to 8 p.m.; Chili and Chili Peppers, Saturday, Aug. 22, 3 to 8 p.m., rain date on Saturday, Aug. 29; Fiddler’s Convention, on Friday, Sept. 25, from 6 to 10 p.m., on Saturday, Sept. 26, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., rain dates on Friday, Oct. 2 and Saturday, Oct. 3.

Berlin Chamber of Commerce representatives said that this year, they chose to do away with the popular music festival, Jazz and Blues, to alleviate pressure on the town’s public works department. However, the group intends to resume the event in 2027.

Also in an effort to decrease its list of events, which the chamber said they were asked to do, the team is considering eliminating the Friday night Fiddler’s Convention date. The Saturday festival would continue.

“We are requesting approval for the Fiddler’s Convention for both Friday and Saturday; however, it is still under review to possibly discontinue Friday night,” reads a chamber letter to the municipality.

Councilman Jack Orris asked the organization’s representatives if this option was still a possibility during discussion this week, before the schedule was greenlit.

“We’re considering it,” said chamber president, Garrett Neville. “It ends up being a popular local’s night so ideally we wouldn’t, but we were putting everything on the table as far as town staff and set up, and we wanted to make sure we were being as accommodating as possible if there’s any strain on resources.”

The council, however, expressed their strong desire to maintain a Friday night Fiddler’s Convention.

“I support Friday’s Fiddler Convention,” Councilman Steve Green said. “It is a local’s event. There were a lot of people there last year, and I would like to see it continue.”

Garrett added that after their event lineup was submitted for approval, the chamber received “extreme interest” from Berlin establishments, particularly Sterling Tavern, in hosting a seafood festival.

The organization’s president asked the municipality’s mayor and council if they would consider this potential function for 2026. Local businesses would likely sponsor the festivity, and the chamber may simply apply for the liquor license.

Berlin Mayor Zack Tyndall said that they are “in the works on something as well,” and said that he would be interested in talking with the chamber on a possible seafood festival.

“Maybe we could make something work for everybody,” Tyndall said.