BETHEL – The Bethel Historical Society will sponsor a house and garden tour on Friday and Saturday, June 18 and 19, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m each day.

Nearly a dozen houses in the town’s historic district and beyond are included in the tour.

The Historical Society will again sponsor the annual community picnic, which will begin at noon on the grounds of the Dr. Moses Mason House and feature music by the Portland Brass Quintet.

If the weather is inclement, the picnic will be held at the Middle Intervale Meeting House.

In Dr. Mason’s day, beginning in the 1850s, Fourth of July orations and music were held on the grounds, and this event continues this tradition.

The Historical Society also plans a bonus this year – another brass musical event at 7 p.m. Saturday, July 31. Twenty-six members of the Yankee Brass Band, dressed in 1850s era fireman’s uniforms, will play music with Civil War brass instruments (saxhorns, cornopeans, cornets, ophicleides and over the shoulder, altos, tenors and basses) on the grounds of the Mason House, weather permitting, or at the West Parish Congregational Church if rainy. This concert is expected to last an hour and a half.

The members of the band, who come from throughout the United States, share a passion for early brass band music. They gather at Colby College during the last week in July and play in several Maine and New Hampshire communities.

The cost for the Historical Society’s house and garden tour is $15, which includes lunch. For further information, people can call (207) 824-2908 or (800) 824-2910.