Starting on May 2, and leading up to the main celebration on May 9, the town of Wilton will be celebrating the country’s 250th birthday with a series of family-friendly activities and living history.

Events begin Saturday, with an open house at the Wilton Historical Society, located on the top floor of the Wilton Public & Gregg Free Library. The Historical Society includes glass display cases with labeled artifacts, journals and handwritten documents. The open house will be from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Also on Saturday, at 10 a.m., the Wilton Public & Gregg Free Library will discuss Howard Fast’s classic novel “April Morning,” a historical novel set during the Battle of Lexington. The library will have multiple copies of the book available for loan in advance, with ebook and audiobook versions available through the Hoopla app. Coffee and light snacks will be provided.

On Tuesday, from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., the Wilton Public & Gregg Free Library will host Allyson Szabo, a historian, author and re-enactor for a colonial cooking demonstration.

On Wednesday, all day, there will be a display of Revolutionary flags on Main Street. The Wall of Revolutionary War Flags is on loan from the town of Mont Vernon. The display will remain up from dawn to dusk from Wednesday through Saturday.

At 7 p.m., on Wednesday, the town will officially add Pomp Russell to the town’s American Revolutionary War Memorial. Russell was an enslaved man who stood on the front lines at the Battle of Bennington in 1777. At 7 p.m., at the Wilton Public & Gregg Free Library, historian, teacher and genealogist Judy Granger will give a speech on Russell’s life, from his time as a young soldier, to becoming a freed man and his connection to Wilton.

On Thursday, Wilton’s fourth graders will explore the town with the Heritage Commission, visiting sites such as the Fish family farm, the oldest home in Wilton, and other places of historical importance.

Also on Thursday, join Police Chief John Frechette and his dog, Dora, for Paws & Stories at the Wilton Public & Gregg Free Library from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Frechette will read themed stories celebrating the Fourth of July. The reading will be held outside, weather permitting, or in the rotunda if raining.

On Thursday, from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., the Wilton Public & Gregg Free Library will host Mary Adams of the New Hampshire Historical Society for a talk on the role New Hampshire played in the American Revolution, titled “Rebels & Redcoats: New Hampshire and the American Revolution.”

On Friday, there will be a contra dance from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Main Street Park. No experience is needed. The dance will be led by local caller Sandy Lafleur, joined by musicians Dave Fox on the fiddle, Jo-Anne Lund on fiddle and Victor Troll on keyboard.

On Friday at 7:30 p.m., the Wilton Town Hall Theatre will play “1776: The Musical Film.” Donations will be accepted. The film will hold another showing on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

On Sunday, at 2 p.m., the Wilton Town Hall Theatre will play the silent film “America” directed by D.W. Griffith, following the journey of a Minuteman and a Tory’s daughter in the wake of a new nation. The film is accompanied by live piano played by Jeff Rapsis.

Main celebrations on May 9

On Saturday, celebrations begin with a Fire Department breakfast, from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m., hosted by the Fire Department Auxiliary, at the fire department. Donations will be accepted.

From 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. there will be a Continental Army encampment at Whiting Park, as part of a living history event. The 1st NH Regiment and the 10th Massachusetts Regiments will have interactive displays of camp life, authentic militia formations, and musket volleys and cannon firings.

At 10 a.m. the Sons of the American Revolution and Daughters of the American Revolution, in conjunction with the Wilton 250th Committee, will gather in Whiting Park to plant two commemorative Liberty Trees. During the Revolutionary era, Liberty Trees were rallying points for patriots to organize. Wilton fourth graders will present the colors and sing a song for the occasion.

At 10:30 a.m., there will be a community-wide walk honoring the tradition of the Liberty Bell as a symbol of American independence. The “Let Freedom Ring Procession” will gather at Whiting Park and make its way a quarter-mile together, ringing bells. Led by the American Legion, the fife and drums of 1st NH Regiment, and flag-carrying color guard of the Sons of the American Revolution, the walk will proceed to the town’s Revolutionary War Memorial for a commemorative ceremony. Residents are encouraged to bring their own bell and join the march. The first several hundred participants will receive a commemorative Wilton 250 Let Freedom Ring bell designed for the occasion.

At 11:15, the town will officially unveil Pomp Russell’s name on the town’s Revolutionary War Memorial.

At noon, at Memorial Park on 1 Burns Hill Road, as the noon bell tolls, there will be a public reading of the Declaration of Independence. The reading will be performed by Wilton’s Michael Dell’Orto, local actor and member of the Wilton Historical Society.

At 12:30 p.m. to 3 p.m., there will be a Main Street Jubilee. The Jubilee will include complimentary cotton candy provided by Nelson’s Candy and the Wilton Girl Scouts, face painting by PartyArtsNH and live music. Bring your own T-shirt, tote, or fabric item to have a custom Wilton 250 design screen-printed on site. At 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., the Clinton Lodge No. 52 will host a barbecue in the Main Street Park, with hot dogs and hamburgers, with desserts by the Women’s Club, and beverages provided by Goss Park.

In Main Street Park, from 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., the Pin Mountain Bluegrass Band will play American roots music. From 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., the Temple Band, a volunteer ensemble dating back to 1799, will play classics such as “This Land is Your Land” and “Stars and Stripes Forever.”

From 12:30 p.m. to 3 p.m., there will be a farm and craft market along the Wilton River Walk on Burns Hill Road next to the Wilton Police Station. “The Rakes” will provide live Celtic music.

From 12:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. in Whiting Park, the Wilton Community Center will sponsor games for children based on 18th-century games, such as hopscotch, squirrel in the tree, jump rope, and toys such as a Jacob’s ladder, cat’s cradle and cup-and-ball.

From 1 p.m to 2 p.m., step off Main Street and into the LocalShare, where local historian Dick Putnam will give tours of the basement beneath the store, where original iron-barred town jail cells remain preserved.

At 1:30 p.m., there will be a Heritage Hike of Sheldrick Forest, located at 140 Town Farm Road. The hike includes information about the stone walls throughout the area, follows an abandoned road, and provides information of how the site became preserved by the Nature Conservancy. Author, steward, and outdoor enthusiast, Nikki Andrews, along with Myrilla Hartkopf of The Nature Conservancy, will host the hike.

At 2 p.m., the Wilton Town Hall Theatre will host a matinee of “Johnny Tremain,” the Walt Disney production of a silversmith’s apprentice who becomes involved in the heart of the American Revolution. Donations are accepted.

At 7 p.m., the Bent-Burke American Legion Post No. 10 will host R&B Dignity. While the Legion is a private club, the doors will be open to the community for the event, with no cover charge.

The night will cap off with a Skywatch at 8:30 p.m. at Carnival Hill Field on Whiting Hill Road. The New Hampshire Amateur Astronomical Society will provide high-powered telescopes to witness craters in the moon, planets, and star clusters.