Editing Keene, New Hampshire (section)

==Culture==

===Religion===
Keene has more than 20 churches, mostly Protestant, and one synagogue, Congregation Ahavas Achim. A significant landmark in downtown Keene is the [[United Church of Christ]] at Central Square, colloquially known in town as the "White Church" or the "Church at the Head of the Square". A second church on the square was [[Grace United Methodist Church (Keene, New Hampshire)|Grace United Methodist Church]], also known as the "Brick Church", but it is now privately owned and operated for secular purposes. The Grace United Methodist congregation moved to another site.

Keene is the seat of the [[Roman Catholic]] Parish of the Holy Spirit, whose pastor is the [[Dean (Christianity)|Dean]] of the Monadnock Deanery, a division under the see of the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Manchester|Diocese of Manchester]]. The parish has two churches in the City of Keene, Saint Bernard and Saint Margaret Mary. Keene has one [[Episcopal Church (United States)|Episcopal]] church, Saint James, which is within the [[Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire]]. Keene also has one [[Greek Orthodox]] church, Saint George, which is under the see of the [[Metropolis of Boston]].

The [[the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints|Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] building is home to the Keene Ward and is part of the Nashua, New Hampshire Stake.

===Festivals===

====Pumpkin====
[[File:Keene pumpkin festival 1.jpg|thumb|250px|A few of the tens of thousands of pumpkins on display at the 2000 Keene Pumpkin Festival]]
{{Main|New Hampshire Pumpkin Festival}}
Every October from 1991 to 2014, Keene hosted an annual pumpkin festival called the Keene Pumpkin Festival, locally known as Pumpkin Fest. The event set world records several times for the largest simultaneous number of [[jack-o'-lantern]]s on display. The first time was in 1993, when Keene set the record with nearly 5,000 carved and lit pumpkins.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.masslive.com/news/boston/index.ssf/2013/10/keene_nh_tops_bostons_world_re.html|title=Keene, NH tops Boston's world record with 30,581 jack-o'-lanterns|date=October 21, 2013|access-date=2016-09-06}}</ref> The tally from the 2003 festival stood as the record until Boston took the lead in 2006, but Keene reclaimed the world record in 2013, with a total of 30,581 pumpkins, according to [[Guinness World Records]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/most-lit-jack-o-lanterns-displayed|title=Most lit jack-o'-lanterns displayed|access-date=2016-09-06}}</ref> Besides the pumpkins stacked on massive towers set in the streets, thousands of additional pumpkins were installed along the streets of the city. [[Face painting]], [[fireworks]], music, and other entertainments were also provided.

After riots from college students (the majority of which were not associated with Keene State and were in attendance due to the publicity of the 2013 festival) nearby to the 2014 event location, the Keene Pumpkin Festival<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sentinelsource.com/news/local/mayhem-erupts-in-neighborhoods-near-keene-state/article_3c3e5678-ba70-50bd-9915-704c3b33991a.html |title=Mayhem erupts in neighborhoods near Keene State - SentinelSource.com: Local News |access-date=October 24, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20141019110146/http://www.sentinelsource.com/news/local/mayhem-erupts-in-neighborhoods-near-keene-state/article_3c3e5678-ba70-50bd-9915-704c3b33991a.html |archive-date=October 19, 2014 }}</ref> was moved to [[Laconia, New Hampshire|Laconia]] the following year and renamed the New Hampshire Pumpkin Festival.<ref name="Laconia-hosting">{{cite web |last1=Sexton |first1=Adam |title=It's official: Laconia will host this year's pumpkin festival |url=http://www.wmur.com/news/its-official-laconia-will-host-this-years-pumpkin-festival/32551994 |publisher=[[WMUR-TV]] |access-date=September 23, 2015 |date=April 24, 2015}}</ref> From 2017 onward (except for 2020 due to the [[COVID-19 pandemic in New Hampshire]]), the organizers of the 2011 through 2014 Keene Pumpkin Festivals, along with the 2015 New Hampshire Pumpkin Festival in Laconia, have run a new smaller, child-focused Keene Pumpkin Festival with a number of restrictions in place, promoting it as the "official" continuation of the Keene Pumpkin Festival.<ref name="letitshinepumpkinfest">{{cite web |url=http://www.pumpkinfestival.org |title=Let it Shine Pumpkin Festival |author=Let it Shine, Inc. |access-date=December 15, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171216041308/http://www.pumpkinfestival.org/ |archive-date=December 16, 2017 |url-status=dead |quote=Let it Shine, Inc., Nonprofit organizers of Pumpkin Festival 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2017 }}</ref><ref name="pumpkin-revival">{{cite web |last=Cuno-Booth |first=Paul |title=Scaled-down version of Keene's pumpkin festival a hit with many Sunday |url=http://www.sentinelsource.com/news/local/scaled-down-version-of-keene-s-pumpkin-festival-a-hit/article_bf1eee1b-a771-5d00-a4c4-eb278e8b3b5b.html |website=Sentinel Source |publisher=Keene Sentinel |access-date=November 13, 2017 |date=October 30, 2017}}</ref>

====Music====
In late August or early September the city hosts the Keene Music Festival. Several stages are located throughout the downtown area during the day's events, which are free to the public and sponsored by locally owned businesses. Visitors, mostly from the local community, roam the city's sidewalks listening to the dozens of bands.

====Pride====
Keene Pride Week and festival takes place during the second week of September every year in Downtown Keene. Central Square and parts of Main Street are shut down with over 5,000 people in attendance. It is one of the largest pride festivals in New England and features local, national, and international performers.{{Citation needed|date=March 2025}}

===In popular culture===
* The 1949 movie ''[[Lost Boundaries]]'', starring [[Mel Ferrer]], tells the true story of a [[African American|black]] Keene physician who passed as white for many years. The film won the 1949 [[Cannes Film Festival]] award for best screenplay.
* Much of the 1995 movie ''[[Jumanji]]'', starring [[Robin Williams]], was filmed in Keene in November 1994, as the movie's fictional town of Brantford. Frank's Barber Shop is a featured setting as well as the Parrish Shoe sign, which was painted for the film. The sign served as a focal point for a temporary Robin Williams memorial in the days following the actor's death on August 11, 2014.

===Music and theatre===
In 1979, First Lady [[Rosalynn Carter]] dedicated the bandstand in Central Square as the [[Edwin Eugene Bagley|E. E. Bagley]] Bandstand, after the noted composer of the [[National Emblem]] March, who made Keene his home until his death in 1922.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://hsccnh.org/time-lines-2/timeline-1970-1993/ |title=Timeline: 1970 to 1993 - Historical Society of Cheshire County |access-date=August 10, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150804040324/http://hsccnh.org/time-lines-2/timeline-1970-1993/ |archive-date=August 4, 2015 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref>

Many community groups perform on a regular basis, including the Keene Chamber Orchestra, the Keene Chamber Singers, the Keene Chorale, the Greater Keene Pops Choir, and the Keene Jazz Orchestra.

The Cheshiremen Chorus, a local chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society, meets every Tuesday at 6:30&nbsp;pm at the United Church of Christ, Central Square.

The Monadnock Pathway Singers are an all-volunteer [[hospice]] group based in Keene whose members come from many different towns within Cheshire County. They sing in nursing homes, hospitals, assisted-living centers and in private homes throughout Cheshire County.

Every year, the Keene branch of the [[Lions Clubs International]] performs a Broadway musical at the Colonial Theatre (a restored theatre dating back to 1924), to raise money for the community. Other theatres and auditoriums include the new [[Keene High School]] Auditorium and the county's largest auditorium, the Larracey Auditorium at [[Keene Middle School]], and The Putnam Arts Lecture Hall on the campus of Keene State. Keene Cinemas is the local movie theater located off of Key Road.

===Sports===
Keene is home to the [[Keene Swamp Bats]] [[baseball]] team of the [[New England Collegiate Baseball League]] (NECBL). The Swamp Bats play at [[Alumni Field (Keene)|Alumni Field]] in Keene during June and July of each summer. The Swamp Bats are five-time league champions ([[2000 NECBL season|2000]], [[2003 NECBL season|2003]], [[2011 NECBL season|2011]], [[2013 NECBL season|2013]], and [[2019 NECBL season|2019]]). They are consistently at the top of the NECBL in attendance, having led the league in [[2002 NECBL season|2002]], [[2004 NECBL season|2004]], and [[2005 NECBL season|2005]].

The Elm City Derby Damez roller derby league, members of [[USA Roller Sports]] (USARS), call Keene home while playing their officially sanctioned bouts in nearby [[Brattleboro, Vermont]]. They compete against many other women's flat track leagues around the northeastern United States.

The Monadnock Wolfpack Rugby Football Club now calls Keene its home.  They play in NERFU (New England Rugby Football Union) division IV at Carpenter Field, on Carpenter Street.  They will defend their undefeated championship 2018 season in the Fall of 2019.

===Images===
<gallery>
File:Two Arch Stone Bridge, Keene, NH.jpg|Stone Arch Bridge {{circa|1906}}
File:Griffin Estate, Keene, NH.jpg|Griffin Estate {{circa|1908}}
File:The Square, Keene, NH.jpg|Central Square in 1907
File:West Street in Winter, Keene, NH.jpg|West Street in 1910
Central Square from Above.jpg|Central Square looking south down Main Street towards Swanzey, NH
</gallery>

===Free Keene activism===
The city has become home to an active [[voluntaryist]] protest group known as Free Keene, which is associated with the [[Free State Project]].<ref name=Morales/><ref>[http://www.freekeene.com/ Free Keene website]</ref> Some Free Keene activists have been arrested for video recording in courtrooms as an act of [[civil disobedience]], in violation of the state's wiretapping law. In 2009, Keene's Central Square Park had become the center of daily 4:20&nbsp;pm smoke-ins which advocated the legalization of marijuana.<ref>{{cite web |title=Pot Smokers in Keene Protest Drug Laws |url=https://www.wmur.com/article/pot-smokers-in-keene-protest-drug-laws/5159320 |publisher=WMUR-TV News 9 |access-date=April 23, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=4:20 Cannabis Celebration Makes Sentinel Front Page Again!|date=September 26, 2009 |url=http://freekeene.com/2009/09/26/420-cannabis-celebration-makes-sentinel-front-page-again/|publisher=Free Keene|access-date=April 23, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Schlessinger |first=James B. |title=The Growth Operation for Freedom |date=April 10, 2010 |url=http://www.cannabisculture.com/v2/content/2010/04/09/Growth-Operation-Freedom |publisher=Cannabis Culture |access-date=April 8, 2011}}</ref>

Free Keene has encountered opposition from other Keene residents.<ref name=Morales>{{cite news |last=Morales |first=Andrea |title=Libertarians Trail Meter Readers, Telling Town: Live Free or Else |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/05/us/politics/libertarians-trail-meter-readers-telling-town-live-free-or-else.html?_r=0 |access-date=May 5, 2014 |newspaper=New York Times |date=May 4, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Is Keene Turning Into a Battleground for Activists, Police? |url=http://www.wmur.com/r/26937744/detail.html |publisher=WMUR-TV News 9 |date=February 21, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111223073903/http://www.wmur.com/r/26937744/detail.html |archive-date=December 23, 2011 |df=mdy-all}}</ref> While some of the activists' techniques can be relatively confrontational, and the WMUR report mentioned a tongue-in-cheek drinking party at a government building to protest open-container laws, others are significantly less so. For example, a common act by some Free Keene activists involves paying money into expired parking meters to help other citizens avoid parking tickets, which has created conflict between the meter pluggers and the parking enforcement officers. The close encounters with the "Robin Hooders" resulted in one PEO resigning his position and a lawsuit filed by the City of Keene citing harassment of their employees.<ref>{{cite web |title='Robin Hooders' face lawsuit for plugging parking meters |url=http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/local/new-hampshire/10010628202022/robin-hooders-face-lawsuit-for-plugging-parking-meters/ |publisher=WHDH-TV News 7 |date=May 14, 2013 |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131023060329/http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/local/new-hampshire/10010628202022/robin-hooders-face-lawsuit-for-plugging-parking-meters/ |archive-date=October 23, 2013|df=mdy-all}}</ref> In December 2013, the judge overseeing the case dismissed the city's arguments against the "Robin Hooders" on first amendment grounds, citing the public sidewalks' role as a traditional public forum.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sentinelsource.com/news/local/judge-cites-first-amendment-in-dismissing-keene-case-against-robin-hooders/article_40e36444-6dcb-5cc6-b6e2-a0bfa3e96930.html|title=Judge cites First Amendment in dismissing Keene case against Robin Hooders|first=Kyle Jarvis Sentinel|last=Staff|website=SentinelSource.com|accessdate=March 18, 2023}}</ref>

===International outreach===
[[Einbeck]], in Germany, is a partner city.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.ci.keene.nh.us/government/boards-commissions/partner-city| title=Partner City Committee| publisher=City of Keene| access-date=November 1, 2010| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101013150801/http://www.ci.keene.nh.us/government/boards-commissions/partner-city| archive-date=October 13, 2010| df=mdy-all}}</ref>

===Sites of interest===
* [[Dillant–Hopkins Airport]]
Listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]]:
{{col-begin}}
{{col-break}}
* [[Dr. Daniel Adams House]]
* [[Beaver Mills (Keene, New Hampshire)|Beaver Mills]]
* [[Cheshire County Courthouse]]
* [[Colony House (Keene, New Hampshire)|Colony House]]
* [[Colony's Block]]
* [[Noah Cooke House]]
* [[Dinsmoor–Hale House]]
* [[Elliot Mansion]]
{{col-break}}
* [[Faulkner & Colony Woolen Mill]]
* [[Catherine Fiske Seminary For Young Ladies]]
* [[Grace United Methodist Church (Keene, New Hampshire)|Grace United Methodist Church]]
* [[Keene Unitarian Universalist Church]]
* [[Sawyer Tavern]]
* [[Stone Arch Bridge (Keene, New Hampshire)|Stone Arch Bridge]]
* [[United Church of Christ in Keene]]
* [[Wyman Tavern]]
{{col-break}}
[[File:United Church of Christ in Keene NH.jpg|thumb|right|[[United Church of Christ in Keene]]]]
{{col-end}}