Haverhill is set to take center stage on live television this Friday, August 14, as Boston 25's Zip Trip broadcasts from the grounds of Winnekenni Castle between 7 and 10 a.m. The morning will include local vendors and a live audience, with organizers already warning that parking near the historic hilltop landmark will be tight.
According to the Haverhill Police Department, visitors can park in an overflow lot at the bottom of the hill, since the castle's main gravel lot is expected to fill up quickly. The City of Haverhill has confirmed those same logistics in more detail, noting that Haverhill Public Schools Transportation will run a free, continuous shuttle service from an overflow lot at the bottom of Castle Road to help manage the crowds, according to an announcement from the City of Haverhill. The city's schedule also lays out the broadcast structure for the day: early news segments run from 7 to 8 a.m., followed by the main live Zip Trip broadcast from 8 to 10 a.m.
A Broadcast Tradition Over Two Decades in the Making
Zip Trip is not a one-off gimmick. The live morning show series produced by Boston 25 News, WFXT, has been running since 2003 and has visited more than 100 Massachusetts communities to spotlight local residents, businesses, and student performers, per Music Drives Us. Haverhill's stop is part of a seven-town lineup for the 2026 season, running from Foxborough to Framingham, that the station first announced back in April, according to Boston 25 News. Haverhill landed as the tour's sixth stop of the summer.
The visit also comes with a business angle. Lamacchia Realty has scheduled a live real estate market segment with broker Chris Rochon at 8:20 a.m. during the Haverhill broadcast, part of the agency's broader multi-town Massachusetts real estate tour alongside Boston 25 News, the company said in a Facebook post.
Why Winnekenni Castle Fits the Spotlight
The choice of venue carries its own story. Winnekenni Castle was built between 1873 and 1875 by chemist Dr. James R. Nichols, who used native New England glacial boulders to prove that ordinary farm rocks could serve as effective building material, according to Atlas Obscura. The name Winnekenni comes from an Algonquin term meaning “very beautiful,” which Nichols chose for the summer home he built on a hill overlooking Lake Kenoza, according to the City of Haverhill.
The city acquired the castle and its surrounding estate in 1895, turning it into Haverhill's first public park. That civic role nearly ended in 1969, when a fire gutted the castle's interior. Local residents responded by forming the nonprofit Winnekenni Foundation to restore and manage the landmark for public and cultural events, according to the Haverhill Public Library. That restoration effort is part of why the site can host a large-scale broadcast today.
Today the castle sits within the 700-acre Winnekenni Park Conservation Area, which wraps around Lake Kenoza and includes 9.42 miles of multi-use recreational trails, per the City of Haverhill. It remains Haverhill's oldest public parkland, a detail that adds some historical weight to Friday's cameras and crowds. Organizers are encouraging attendees who plan to join the live audience to arrive early and wear local school or community gear.
