Taunton's Liberty & Union Weekend Ends at Downtown's Newest Address
October 15, 2026
October 15, 2026
Taunton's yearly nod to its 1774 flag now takes up most of a Saturday. History has the daytime and downtown's bars and restaurants have the evening. The last stop on this year's route is a restaurant that only held its soft opening in September. It sits inside a building that has stood at Cohannet and Winthrop streets since around 1880.
The festival marks an old act of defiance on the Green. The route it lays out runs through old downtown addresses that local owners have spent this year bringing back.
The festival's own account puts the event on October 21, 1774. That day, according to Liberty & Union's history page, Taunton residents raised a "Liberty and Union" flag to protest British policy, one of the earliest public acts of colonial resistance. Organizers say colonists stitched the words "Liberty & Union" onto a British Union Jack and ran it up on Taunton Green.
The anniversary falls on a Wednesday this year, and the celebration is set for the Saturday before it, October 17. The Old Colony History Museum is framing the 2026 edition around the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution. It describes Taunton as one of the first communities in the colonies to publicly raise a flag against British rule.
That framing matters because 2026 is the year the anniversary is everywhere. Plenty of towns will run a reenactment this fall. Taunton's version gives the history its own block of the day, then sends the crowd a few streets over to spend the evening at local businesses.
The weekend starts the night before the festival. The museum's Tavern Night fundraiser is set for Friday, October 16, at the museum, and the Tavern Night page promotes brews from Berkley Beer Company. The page doesn't list a start time, so check it closer to the date.
Saturday runs in two shifts:
| Time | What | Where | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. | Liberty & Union Day: Revolutionary War reenactors, demonstrations, traditional crafts | Old Colony History Museum and Church Green | Free |
| 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. | Guided museum tours, no registration, meet in the first-floor gallery | Old Colony History Museum | Free |
| During festival hours | Tours of First Parish Church | Church Green | Free |
| 5:30 p.m. check-in | Liberty Libations Pub Crawl, six downtown stops | Starts at Trescott Street Gallery, 8 Trescott St. | $10, 21+ |
For families, the 2026 activities page lists a scavenger hunt. Kids turn in the completed hunt for a prize while supplies last. Refreshments come from Alex Ice Cream and Cap'n Mike's Tiki Bar.
The evening belongs to the Downtown Taunton Foundation. According to the city's event listing, the Liberty Libations Pub Crawl checks in at Trescott Street Gallery and then visits six stops in order:
Admission is $10, which covers a themed keepsake. Each stop has prizes, and registration runs through downtowntaunton.org.
The sixth stop was still months away from opening when summer started.
In July 2024, the Taunton Daily Gazette described it as a circa-1880 former commercial building. At the time, owner Bob Bastis was redeveloping it into three upscale apartments, including a penthouse on a newly added fourth floor.
The ground floor is now a restaurant. In July 2026, the Gazette reported that Flatiron Provisions, Inc. was slated to open in September and was marketing itself as a "modern delicatessen with old-world soul." The same Gazette report, republished by AOL, identified Bastis as Taunton's deputy fire chief. It described the plan as a deli during the day and a place for social food at night.
By late September the pitch had shifted a little. Community Connections reported on September 25 that the Downtown Taunton Foundation and Taunton Business Improvement District had announced a soft opening, with Bob and Pam Bastis welcoming visitors. The announcement called the restaurant a "modern bistro with old world soul." According to that report, the foundation's own message read:
"Opening soon for lunch and evening small bites. We can't wait to see how they add to the energy downtown. Keep an eye out for opening details!"
As of that report, regular hours hadn't been announced. Check the restaurant's website before planning a lunch around it. The site lists 2 Cohannet Street and describes a day-to-evening menu of specialty sandwiches, shareable plates, flatbreads, boards, desserts and signature drinks.
The details are local all the way through. Community Connections says the kitchen plans slow-braised meats, imported cheeses, and house-made pickles and sauces. The craft beer, wine and cocktail list includes drinks called the Central Fire Old Fashioned and the Silver City 75. Taunton master finish carpenter Jack Crowninshield is credited with the custom woodwork throughout the room, down to the charcuterie boards.
So a crawl that commemorates a homemade flag ends in a building that's roughly 146 years old, owned by the city's deputy fire chief, with woodwork by a Taunton carpenter.
Flatiron Provisions isn't the only 2026 opening in a downtown space with a history. In April, the Gazette reported that a new diner would bring breakfast and lunch back to a long-used diner site on the Green. That became Triple T's Diner at 19 Taunton Green. The Gazette profiled owner Amanda Hill in May and noted that she had spent most of her life working in restaurants. City records show the diner's pre-opening inspection on April 21, 2026, and a re-inspection a week later.
Both 2026 openings follow the same pattern. A local operator takes over an address downtown already knows. One is a longtime diner site on the Green and the other is a former commercial building that the Gazette described as coming back to commercial life. For a Saturday visitor, that means breakfast at the diner, the 11 a.m. museum tour, the festival on Church Green, and a crawl that ends at Cohannet and Winthrop, all downtown.
The Liberty & Union date is the start of downtown's fall calendar. Here's what the Downtown Taunton events page and the festival organizers have posted so far:
The festival's activities page still shows last year's program, so wait for the 2026 lineup before planning around specific December activities.
From the October flag celebration to the December lighting, the Green carries downtown's busiest dates of the fall. The difference this year is that two more storefronts around it are open, or about to be, when the crowds arrive.
Our team at Ricardo Real Estate Solutions is based in Berkley, one town over from the Green, and we follow how downtown Taunton's older buildings find new uses. We pay attention to openings like these because they shape how a neighborhood works day to day. If you own a home near downtown and want to know how that activity factors into its value, ask us for a free home valuation.
We go beyond traditional real estate by offering hands-on knowledge, strong negotiation, and a results-driven approach that ensures every decision is backed by expertise.