Summer has returned to the Seacoast, and exciting events are well underway - far too many to list in a single sitting.

So we’ll highlight the most exciting events of the Seacoast’s summer. For more information on each event, be sure to pick up the latest copy of the Beach News as each date approaches.

June

June sees the return of the Master Sand Sculptors at Hampton Beach, who are already starting to work on their sandy masterpieces. The event lasts from June 18 to June 30.

Free nightly performances return to Hampton’s famous Seashell Stage, featuring old favorites and new performances.

Fireworks illuminate the beach every Wednesday night, weather permitting. The Hobie Cat Regatta fills the sea with sails off Hampton Beach this Saturday and Sunday, June 18-19.

Across the border entertainment can be found at the center of Salisbury Beach on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights.

This summer in Portsmouth the Prescott Park Arts Festival features "Into the Woods" from June 25 to July 29, and "The Wizard of Oz" from July 31 to August 21 on stage in the evenings (weather permitting), as well as a wide selection of music and dance performances throughout the summer.

July

July heats up with activities, sparked off by fantastic Fourth of July fireworks in towns across the region. If you miss out, don’t worry ? the town of Exeter, once the Revolutionary War Capitol of New Hampshire, holds its fireworks and Revolutionary War Festival two weeks after the Fourth of July to commemorate the arrival of the Declaration of Independence.

The Miss Hampton Beach Pageant takes place at the Hampton Seashell Stage on Sunday, July 31st. Who will it be this year?

At Strawbery Banke in Portsmouth the past comes alive at Chatauqua, a special free event where scholars take on the personas of Teddy Roosevelt and Thomas Edison, to name a few notables.

The event takes place from July 25 to July 27.

As the busy month of July winds down, be sure to go to the 38th annual Stratham Hill Fair happening from Thursday, July 28 to Sunday, July 31 at the Stratham Hill fair grounds.

August

Newburyport Massachusetts is a fine place to wrap up July and welcome August during their week-long Yankee Homecoming celebration, which goes from July 30 to August 7 featuring plenty of old fashioned fun.

The dog days of August return, and with them comes the Hampton Beach Children’s Festival, a fun week-long event that lasts from August 15 to August 19.

The first-ever Hampton Beach Idol Competition takes to the Seashell Stage on the Weekend of August 27-28.

September

There’s one final hurrah for summer after Labor Day -- the Hampton Beach Seafood Festival. This famed three day long event features the finest food and crafts that can be found on the Seacoast as half of Ocean Blvd is converted into a pedestrian mall. This event, coming September 9-11, might be the final big event on the Seacoast for the summer, but be sure to stop by afterwards -- many places remain open well into October, and a surprisingly large number are open all year long.