The Cambridge-based duo Sweet Wednesday will kick off the Hancock Depot Association’s first cabaret of the year on Saturday, Jan. 3, at 7 p.m.
“They’re always a favorite. They’ve played the Depot before, and they are good friends of ours, and its going to be a great show, ” said David Young of the Hancock Depot Association.
This will mark the 12th year of the Hancock Depot Cabaret.
“This is our kickoff for the whole 2026 season, which is lining up to be fantastic,” Young said.
Sweet Wednesday is the award-winning duo of Lisa Housman and Dave Falk, folk/Americana singer songwriters who also consider themselves storytellers, “harmony weavers,” and romantics.
Saturday’s show will include songs from the duo’s new album, “Vagabonds and Angels,” which will be released this spring. For more information go to www.sweetwednesday.com/about.
The Hancock Depot Association hosts monthly coffeehouse-style cabarets at the Hancock Depot on Depot Street. Each show features an hour of open mic, an hour with a featured performer, and additional time for more artists afterwards. Shows are typically the first Saturday of the month.
“There is always time after the feature performer if there is anyone who did not get a chance to perform who would like to,” Young said.
Cabarets are BYOB, and guests are also welcome to bring food. The association provides snacks and non-alcoholic beverages.
“We have tables where people can sit and eat. It really looks like an old time cabaret,” Young said.
Young says in the 12 years the cabaret has been running, it has grown to attract musicians from all over New England.
“We get all kinds of people for the feature act. We bring people in from all over New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Maine. A lot of people have gotten more gigs from coming to the cabaret and been introduced to the region,” Young said. “Sweet Wednesday will actually be at Harlow’s next week.”
Each event, including the annual Hanstock outdoor concert at Moose Brook Park, is a fundraiser for the Depot Association. The association also sponsors the town’s July 4 fireworks, Old Home Days, community cornhole tournaments, and other events.
The association has been raising money to preserve and maintain Hancock’s historic train depot since the 1960s. The depot is also available for other groups to rent out.
“We’re a 501(c) non-profit organization with two missions: to maintain and restore the depot building itself as a cultural center for the community, but also to educate the public about the history of New Hampshire train systems, and how our little depot fit in,” Young said.
According to Young, the Hancock Depot has an interesting history and role in the town and in the region.
“In the 1960s or early ’70s, apparently the town wanted to knock down the depot in order to move the road going up the mountain, but people protested and wanted to save the building,” Young said. “One woman said she would get on the roof and stay there until they agreed to save the building, and the town finally gave in.”
The town of Hancock compromised, agreeing to sell the depot to a group of residents for $50 if they would move the building and take responsibility for the structure going forward. Residents then formed the association to take care of the depot.
According to Young, trains were the lifeblood of the region until the hurricane of 1938 and a subsequent flood demolished massive stone trestles on the line.
“They were too expensive to rebuild, and that’s when train service stopped. Hancock used to be on the line running from Keene to Concord. In a way, the region was more sophisticated then,” Young said.
For a period after the tracks were removed, local Girl Scouts used the depot and the adjacent field as a camp.
While the association owns the building, the surrounding land is in a conservation easement and is monitored by the Hancock Conservation Commission and the Harris Center for Conservation Education.
For information about the cabaret, go to facebook.com/hancockdepotcabaret.