Town Common will be the site of games, music and dancing as the selectmen and Needham 300 celebrate the rededication of Town Hall following its year-long restoration on the eve of Needham’s 300th birthday.

On Nov. 5, from 12:00-2:00 p.m., festivities will begin with La Carnival, featuring carnival games and street performers for children of all ages. There will be balloon entertainment, a bubble zone, face painting and over a dozen carnival games. This event is sponsored by Needham 300, the non-profit committee appointed by selectmen to celebrate Needham’s tercentennial.

Olin College is also getting involved with a Lego Project. Olin community members have constructed a 15,000 piece replica of the newly renovated Town Hall that will be on display. The first 300 kids will receive a 13-piece Lego version of the Needham 300 banner that’s been flying on light poles all over the downtown area. Participants will also have chance to lay some Lego bricks down on a specially designed mosaic for Needham’s 300th. Self-guided tours of the newly restored Town Hall are available between 12:00 and 3:00 p.m.

At 2:30 p.m., Paulette’s Dancers will perform a patriotic salute. This exciting troupe and Needham staple has been involved with previous Needham 300 events and also performed during 250th anniversary events in 1961.

At 3:00 p.m., residents are invited to participate in the first ever “All Town Sing” of a song composed in honor of Needham’s 300th birthday by nationally known songwriter Nick Page. “Circled By A Circling River” is an original folk song written just for the occasion of Needham’s 300th birthday. All fourth and fifth grade students in town are learning the song and are being invited to come to the Town Hall at 3:00 p.m. and help everyone in town take part in singing. Nick Page himself, along with Needham's Elementary Honors Chorus and Needham Middle School Treble Choir, will be leading everyone in this history making event. In addition, Page will be bringing a variety of other appropriate folk songs to the community to help in the celebration.

At 3:30 p.m., the formal rededication ceremonies begin. Selectmen will formally dedicate the newly refurbished Town Hall which has undergone a year of renovations. The renovations have been careful to preserve the antique characteristics of the building which was erected in 1902 and designed to mirror Independence Hall in Philadelphia where the Declaration of Independence was signed. A time capsule, to be opened in 50 years, will be interred in the walls of Town Hall as a final official signal of this historic year. The Ceremony will include a commemoration of the laying of the cornerstone by the Norfolk Lodge, A.F. & A.M.

Later in the evening, Needham 300 is planning two gala events.

A mini gala will precede the late night festivities for people who don’t like to stay out late. It will be held from 5:00-7:00 p.m. in the renovated grand hall on the second floor of Town Hall. Tickets for this two hour, early bird event are $39.

Then, at 8:00 p.m., the glittering Needham 300 gala will begin with registration at Town Hall. Ticket holders will take a shuttle to Greene’s Field where a tent will host 1,000 guests drinking and dancing until 1 am. There will be a cash bar, live music and hors d’oeuvres. Dress for the event is “creative semi-formal” allowing for those who would like to dress in period attire. Tickets are $79.

Tickets for both the mini gala and the grand gala can be purchased by cash or check only. Order forms will be located at The Needham Bank, Needham Free Public Library, Town Hall, Roche Bros, Sudbury Farms, the Senior Center and the Web site at www.Needham300.org.

Needham 300 is a nonprofit committee appointed by the selectmen and made up of Needham residents planning a year of festivities to celebrate the anniversary of Needham’s founding on Nov. 6, 1711.