Where is downtown Arnold? In November, it's 101 College Parkway. Between the first weekend of the month and Thanksgiving morning, almost every public event on the Arnold calendar happens at Anne Arundel Community College or at the Greater Annapolis Y next door at 1209 Ritchie Highway. That includes a mainstage play, a faculty art exhibition, a free family science night, a Saturday arts festival and a charity 5K.
Because it all happens in one place, the campus schedule sets the month. The theater runs on weekends, the gallery keeps weekday office hours, and the evening events fall on weeknights when the gallery is already closed. Planning November in Arnold mostly means learning when each building is open.
The month at a glance
| Date | Event | Where | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov. 6, 7, 8 | "Book of Days," AACC Theatre | Kauffman Theater, Pascal Center | 7:30 p.m. Fri. and Sat., 2 p.m. Sun. |
| Nov. 9 to Dec. 17 | AACC Visual Arts Annual Faculty Exhibition 2026 | Cade Gallery | Mon. to Thu., 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. |
| Nov. 10 | Writers Reading: Matthew Dow Smith | HUM 112 | 2 to 3 p.m. |
| Nov. 11 | STEAM Night | Kauffman Theater, Pascal Center | 5:30 to 8 p.m. |
| Nov. 13, 14, 15 | "Book of Days," second weekend | Kauffman Theater, Pascal Center | 7:30 p.m. Fri. and Sat., 2 p.m. Sun. |
| Nov. 14 | Illuminate Annapolis Mind-Body-Spirit-Arts Festival | Student Union | 10 a.m. |
| Nov. 19 | Visual Arts Student Portfolio Nights | CADE 219 | 6 to 9 p.m. |
| Nov. 26 | Y Turkey Trot Charity 5K, Arnold | Greater Annapolis Y and AACC campus | 8 a.m. per organizer |
The table shows a split that matters for planning. The play's six performances fall on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. The faculty exhibition is open Monday through Thursday only. A night at the theater and an afternoon at the gallery won't fit on the same day this month.
Opening night is Friday, Nov. 6
AACC Theatre's mainstage production of Lanford Wilson's "Book of Days," directed by Sean Urbantke, opens Friday, Nov. 6, at 7:30 p.m. in the Kauffman Theater of the Pascal Center for Performing Arts. The play follows Ruth Hoch, who tries to uncover the truth after a murder shakes a small Missouri town. AACC's description lists jealousy, religion, greed and lies among the forces in her way.
The run is two weekends. Evening shows are at 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 6, 7, 13 and 14, and matinees are at 2 p.m. on Sundays, Nov. 8 and 15. Tickets are paid and sold through AACC's Eventbrite page.
For now, this is the only fall production on the college's performance page. The music and dance sections say to check back for dates, so "Book of Days" is the one ticketed stage show on the November calendar so far. The Sunday matinees are the only performances that start in daylight.
The faculty show keeps weekday hours
The day after the play's first weekend ends, the Cade Gallery opens the AACC Visual Arts Annual Faculty Exhibition 2026. It runs Nov. 9 through Dec. 17. The gallery's fall visiting hours are Monday through Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and its exhibition page says more details are coming. No opening reception has been posted.
Those hours make the first full week the easiest time to pair the show with something else. On Tuesday, Nov. 10, from 2 to 3 p.m., the college's Writers Reading series hosts Matthew Dow Smith in room HUM 112. The reading ends with an hour and a half of gallery time left before the 4:30 p.m. close. Of all the November events on the Arnold campus, it's the one whose time slot falls inside the gallery's open hours.
The exhibition stays up into mid-December, so it outlasts the play by more than a month. Anyone who misses it in November still has the early weeks of December, as long as the visit falls on a weekday.
Weeknight evenings, after the gallery closes
The two weeknight events on campus both start after the Cade Gallery has locked up for the day.
- STEAM Night, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 5:30 to 8 p.m., Robert E. Kauffman Theater in the Pascal Center. The event is free and open to all ages, and it uses the same theater that hosts "Book of Days" on the weekends before and after.
- Visual Arts Student Portfolio Nights, Thursday, Nov. 19, 6 to 9 p.m., CADE 219. It's built for AACC students and Anne Arundel County high school art students, and it takes place in the same building as the gallery, after the gallery's hours.
STEAM Night is the event families are most likely to circle, given its free admission and all-ages billing. It falls on a Wednesday between the play's two weekends, so the Kauffman Theater is busy on all three of the next four days. Details are on AACC's STEAM Night page.
Saturday, Nov. 14, fills the campus from morning to night
Only one day this month has events at both ends. At 10 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 14, the Illuminate Annapolis Mind-Body-Spirit-Arts Festival is advertised at the AACC Main Campus Student Union. Its community-submitted listing on Patch says admission and workshops are free. The organizer posted this listing, not the college, so it makes sense to check with the organizer before going.
The same evening, "Book of Days" plays its next-to-last performance at 7:30 p.m. in the Kauffman Theater. One parking trip could cover a free morning festival and a paid evening show, with the day open in between.
The gallery is closed that day, as it is every Saturday.
Thanksgiving morning, on a closed campus
The month's last event shows best how the campus works as Arnold's public space. AACC closes from Thursday, Nov. 26, through Sunday, Nov. 29, for Thanksgiving, according to the college's November calendar. On the first of those closed days, the campus roads carry the Y Turkey Trot Charity 5K.
The race organizer's Arnold page says the event raises food and financial assistance for families. The route is a walk or run in and around the AACC campus, starting and finishing at the West Campus Drive entrance. Here's what the organizer's page lays out for the morning:
- Start time. The organizer's Arnold page lists 8:00 a.m. at the Greater Annapolis Y, 1209 Ritchie Highway. Charm City Run's event listing shows 8:30 a.m., so confirm the time with the Y the week of the race.
- Packets. The organizer strongly recommends picking up shirts and bibs ahead of time because Thanksgiving-morning lines can be long. You can pick up packets for friends and family if you have their first and last names.
- Parking. Parking is free at the Y and on the AACC campus. It's not allowed on the racecourse.
So on a day the college is closed, its campus is still the racecourse and the second parking option for a start line at the Y.
Coffee before, crab cakes after
Nothing on the campus calendar includes dinner, so the eating happens elsewhere in Arnold. Two spots carry recent local recognition.
Rise Up Coffee at 1296 Bay Dale Drive lists daily hours of 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. That covers an early coffee before an 8 a.m. race start and an afternoon stop around a Sunday matinee. What's Up? Media named Rise Up its local coffee shop winner in its Best of Annapolis 2025 results. Check holiday hours before counting on it for Thanksgiving morning.
For a full meal, The Point Crab House & Grill at 700 Mill Creek Road posts current hours and takes online orders. The Severna Park Voice's 2026 dining guide lists it as a 2026 Best Crab Cake winner. It's a natural place to talk over Ruth Hoch's small-town mystery after a Friday or Saturday show, as long as its posted hours line up with a 7:30 p.m. curtain.
From Nov. 6 to Thanksgiving morning, almost every public event in Arnold uses the same parking lots on College Parkway. I'm Colleen, and I keep track of local calendars like this one because the details that make a November weekend in Arnold easy also come up when someone is weighing life on the Broadneck Peninsula. If you have questions about Arnold or anywhere in Anne Arundel County, Colleen Smith is glad to help. Let's Connect.
