On Saturday, June 10, downtown Portsmouth will once again embrace thousands of visitors for Market Square Day. The 29th annual event kicks off in Market Square at 9 a.m. with a 10K road race that draws, on average, 1,200 runners. An estimated 80,000 visitors attend the festival throughout the day, according to Barbara Massar, executive director of Pro Portsmouth, the non-profit organization that hosts the event.

Craft people, local businesses and food vendors set up shop on the streets downtown, while a series of musicians and performers take to outdoor stages. Musical artists include Craving, Pondering Judd, Amigo Blanco, Skamasutra and The Molenes. Dance companies include Ballet New England and Seacoast Civic Dance Company.

A pre-Market Square Day evening historic walk takes place on Friday, June 9 at 6 p.m., beginning at Market Square in front of the historic North Church.

A full schedule of events is available online at www.proportsmouth.org. Parking will be available at the Hanover Street Parking Garage for a flat fee of $5 from the hours of 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. and $3 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. A free shuttle service provided by Laidlaw Transit/Pro Portsmouth will run from the Pease Tradeport to Russell Street, across from the Sheraton Harborside in downtown Portsmouth, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Over 200 volunteers make Market Square Day happen. To help out with this year’s event, contact Liz Rubin at 603-610-5530 or This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it