Issues → May/June 2010 → Travel → Rhode Island Bests 2010 →

Top 20 Rhode Island Events

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Call ahead to confirm dates, times, and admission prices. For hundreds of fairs, festivals, exhibits, shows, and other fun activities, go to: YankeeMagazine.com/events

MAY 1: CRANSTON, May Breakfast. Ring in the spring with a traditional New England May breakfast at Phillips Memorial Baptist Church. Feast on eggs, ham, johnnycakes, and baked beans, served on china, with juice and coffee or tea. May baskets filled with sweets will also be for sale. 401-467-3300; phillipschurch.org

MAY 8: SOUTH KINGSTON, East Farm Spring Festival. Visit the University of Rhode Island's 72-acre research facility and learn about "green" gardening, farming, and energy techniques. Exhibits, workshops, food, entertainment, and plenty of children's activities. 401-874-4453; uri.edu/cels/ceoc/east-farm-spring-festival.html

MAY 15: PROVIDENCE, Abraham Lincoln Visits the Blackstone Valley. All aboard the Providence & Worcester Railroad, departing from Providence's Amtrak station, for a ride with our 16th president. Hear Lincoln's historic Cooper Union speech, enjoy period music, and receive a signed commemorative print of an original painting of Lincoln by Peter Campbell. Passengers are encouraged to dress in period costume. 800-454-2882, 401-724-2200; tourblackstone.com

JUNE 4-6: BLOCK ISLAND, Taste of Block Island Weekend. Purchase a button for $5 and enjoy discounts at all shops and restaurants on the island. Take 10 to 20 percent off your tab at retail establishments; enjoy free drinks, chowder, or appetizers; sample wines; take a boat tour of New Harbor; and much more. 800-383-2474, 401-466-2982; blockislandchamber.com

JUNE 8: PROVIDENCE, Federal Hill Stroll. Walk the streets of the city's Little Italy and sample a variety of the area's finest in the culinary and visual arts. More than 30 restaurants, galleries, and shops participate. Call and reserve tickets early, as this event sells out quickly. 401-456-0200; federalhillstroll.com

JUNE 9: BARRINGTON, Bays, Beaches & Bouquets. Barrington Garden Club stages this flower show in six private homes. The starting venue is St. John's Church; don't miss the boutique and the horticulture judging. 401-245-8215

JUNE 12: CHARLESTOWN, Gardens by the Sea Garden Tour. Visit a dozen private areas along coastal Rhode Island, all of which are new to this biannual event. Begin at Cross Mills Public Library and pick up a map and brochure. 401-364-6211; crossmills.org

JUNE 12: WARWICK/CRANSTON, Gaspee Days Parade. One in a series of events celebrating the burning of the British revenue schooner HMS Gaspee, which helped incite the Revolutionary War. The parade winds along Narragansett Parkway in Warwick into Broad Street in Cranston. 401-781-1772; gaspee.com