Downtown New Bedford Goes Back in Time for Filming of AMC Series

If you were walking in downtown New Bedford on Tuesday, you might have thought you'd entered a time warp.  New Bedford's famous cobblestone district looked more like the 1930s that the 2020s.

This was because production is in full swing on the AMC television series Invitation to a Bonfire.

According to Deadline.com, the series is a "psychological thriller set in the 1930s at an all-girls boarding school in New Jersey."  Based on a book by the same title, Invitation to a Bonfire is filming its first season, and the production has brought it to the seemingly timeless streets of New Bedford.

It really is stunning what the production crew has been able to pull off over the past week. The storefronts look so true to the period they are trying to portray.

On Wednesday, however, we got our first glimpse at some of the show's actresses casually walking down William Street dressed in their throwback dresses and shoes.  Some sharp-dressed gentlemen in 1930s suits, ties and fedoras were also gathered at the corner in front of the Custom House.

We also got a chance to see some of the antique cars that will be used in the filming of the series.

Anne Louro, who serves as New Bedford's assistant city planner and preservation planner, was thrilled and posted these terrific photos.

"I’m so proud that the City of New Bedford has had the foresight to preserve its historic downtown which shares its boundaries with the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park," she wrote. "Our uniquely cobblestone streets and beautiful historic storefronts have value not only to residents and visitors but to Hollywood as well."

Over the past 12 months, New Bedford has been home to the filming of the Paul Giamtatti film The Holdovers, fishing movie Finestkind and now Bonfire.