At 1 p.m. last Saturday, the Sliding Capos were scheduled to play at the EG350 Heritage Festival on Academy Field. They also played East Greenwich's 300th anniversary celebration. Rachel Arbige, the EG350 project manager, told East Greenwich News that "the coolest element is that the Capos actually played for the 300th celebration." Booking the same band 50 years later sets the tone for the whole year.
The festival on Oct. 24 started a yearlong celebration. According to the EG350 announcement, it ends on October 30, 2027, when the town officially turns 350. Only those two dates are firm. The 12 months in between have been sketched but not scheduled. Two of the four main events still have no exact date, and the committees that will plan them are open to residents.
What Saturday Handed Out
The kickoff was meant to look back. It opened with a colonial costume parade at 10 a.m. and an opening ceremony with a flag raising at noon. Inside the Swift Community Center, a pop-up museum covered the town's history. Several new things also made their debut that day:
- "The Story of East Greenwich," a new 20-minute film by Matt Carcieri, set for screenings inside Swift
- A special-edition EG350 beer brewed by Apponaug Brewing Company, served at a 21-and-over tent from 1 to 4 p.m.
- EG350 merchandise, including flags, plus new books on East Greenwich history and artwork by local artist Don Mong
- A new town history, The History of East Greenwich 1677-2027, also by Carcieri
Most of these were made for the day itself. Organizers haven't announced any plans to show the film or sell the beer again. The book is the piece most likely to stay around through the whole anniversary year.
The Book Was Printed in a Run of 350
Carcieri wrote the book with the East Greenwich Historic Preservation Society, where he serves as historian. East Greenwich News reported that 350 copies were offered at the festival for $50 each, with proceeds going to the society. The paper added that more copies would be ordered and listed on Amazon "depending on the response." Whether you can still find a copy depends on how many sold Saturday.
It's built to be read in pieces. It has six parts and 92 short sections, with lots of photos, maps and artwork. "I wanted to make sure it was accessible to people," Carcieri told East Greenwich News. It starts with the First Peoples, who lived in the area 3,000 to 8,000 years ago. It covers King Philip's War of 1675-76 and the town's founding in 1677.
Much of the book is about the Revolution. It covers Gen. James Mitchell Varnum and also Nathanael Greene, who Carcieri thinks deserves a much bigger place in the town's story. The book also covers the town's role in the slave trade, which lasted more than two decades and stopped when the Revolutionary War began. It describes the nation's first Black Regiment, formed by Varnum, whose men trained in East Greenwich. Later chapters cover the seaport, the mills, the trolley down Main Street, Swede Hill, Chicken Hollow, the Hurricane of 1938 and the Blizzard of 1978.
So many of those places are within walking distance that the book works as a guide to Main Street and the streets above it.
The Four Main Events, and How Many Have Dates
The Heritage Festival was the first of four main EG350 events planned through October 2027. Here is where the other three stand:
| Event | When | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Heritage Festival | Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026 | Held at Academy Field and Swift Community Center |
| Spring Gala Ball | Spring 2027 | No date announced |
| Summer Bash | September 2027 | Month announced, no date |
| Historic Halloween Extravaganza | Oct. 30, 2027 | Anniversary finale |
The "Summer Bash" is set for September, which puts it just after summer ends. The big events also sit at the two ends of the year, with both the kickoff and the finale in late October, close to Halloween. That leaves a long gap between this weekend and the gala that the main events don't fill.
A Wide-Open Plan, by Design
Arbige explained the approach in the same East Greenwich News preview:
"We thought, let's do a full year. We wanted to kick it off a year prior and have events throughout the year, highlighting all the great reasons why we love East Greenwich."
"Events throughout the year" is the goal. Most of those events haven't been scheduled yet. At an October 2025 planning session, organizers showed a slide deck of possible programs. It listed a lecture series, guided history walks or ghost tours, a time capsule, an "EG 2077" exhibit, museum tours, a "Passport to EG" scavenger hunt, and Main Street strolls with history themes. The deck labeled all of these as placeholders, not commitments. None has been confirmed since.
Arbige is also recreation manager for East Greenwich Community Services. The town's own EG350 page describes the celebration as volunteer-driven. Matt Carcieri chairs the steering committee. East Greenwich News reported that its members include Kathy Burroughs, Renu Englehart, Mark Schwager and Andy Wade. It's a small group, and it's planning a full year.
Joining a Committee
The town's EG350 volunteer application lists committees for each remaining main event: the Gala Ball, the Summer Bash and the Historic Halloween Extravaganza. It also lists Arbige's contact details. A spring gala with no date yet is the event where new volunteers can still help decide the most, starting with when it happens.
For updates, the committee pointed residents to the EG350 page on Facebook and to EastGreenwich350 on Instagram.
Until the Gala, Main Street Fills the Calendar
The first EG350 event ended on Main Street. After the parade, the plan sent families back down for trick-or-treating at Main Street businesses. Until the gala gets a date, the town's regular fall and holiday events fill the calendar, and many of them are downtown:
- Thursday, Nov. 5, 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. The East Greenwich Free Library at 82 Peirce St. hosts a "Traditional Ecological Knowledge Hands-On Experience for Kids" for ages 5 to 12. It's a good match for the book's opening chapters on the First Peoples.
- Sunday, Nov. 15, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Temple Torat Yisrael holds a holiday craft market at 1251 Middle Road.
- Saturday, Nov. 28, noon to 4 p.m. Small Business Saturday on Main Street, part of the East Greenwich Chamber of Commerce's 2026 schedule.
- Early December. The Town Hall tree lighting appears with two different dates. The Chamber's schedule, published by East Greenwich News in March, lists Dec. 5 at 5:30 p.m. A South County tourism listing gives Dec. 6 for an East Greenwich holiday parade and tree lighting. Check the East Greenwich Chamber of Commerce before you go.
Main Street itself is changing a little this fall. The Greenwich Hotel's neon sign is fully lit again after repairs by AA Sign and Awning, East Greenwich News reported on Oct. 8. At 609 Main St., Thorpe's Wine & Spirits has new owners. Siblings Nick Fede Jr., James Fede and Jenna Wontka took over from Patti and Rob McGreen. The paper reported they plan to keep the existing staff while updating the layout and the wine section.
Chamber events like these aren't official EG350 events. The Chamber's schedule doesn't link them to the anniversary. Ideas like history-themed strolls are still only on the placeholder list. Whether the anniversary shows up on Main Street between now and spring depends on the volunteers who sign up this winter.
I grew up in Westerly and work out of Engel & Völkers Oceanside's office on Main Street in East Greenwich. Following a town's history in real time, one committee and one Saturday at a time, is one of the best parts of this job. If you'd like to talk about East Greenwich, where it came from or where it's heading in its 350th year, reach out to Brian Turano. Let's connect.
