It hosted the state's annual pumpkin festival from 1991 to 2014, several times setting a world record for most jack-o'-lanterns on display.

In 1735, colonial Governor Jonathan Belcher granted lots in the township of "Upper Ashuelot" to 63 settlers who paid £5 each (equivalent to US$1,358.9 in 2023).

[8] In 2011, Massachusetts man Thomas Ball immolated himself on the steps of a courthouse in Keene to protest what he considered the court system's abuse of divorced fathers' rights.

The highest point in Keene is the summit of Grays Hill in the city's northwestern corner, at 1,388 feet (423 m) above sea level.

New Hampshire Route 9 leads northeast to Concord, the state capital, and west to Brattleboro, Vermont.

A limited-access bypass used variously by Routes 9, 10, 12, and 101 passes around the north, west, and south sides of downtown.

The majority of the snowfall in Keene comes from nor'easters, areas of low pressure that move up the Atlantic coast and strengthen.

For example, record rainfall and flooding with the axis of heaviest rain (around 12 inches (300 mm)) near Keene occurred in October 2005.

[21] In the New Hampshire Senate, Keene is included in the 10th District and is represented by Democrat Donovan Fenton.

On the New Hampshire Executive Council, Keene is in the 2nd District and is represented by Democrat Karen Liot Hill.

At the secondary level, Keene serves as the educational nexus of the area, due in large part to its status as the largest community of Cheshire County.

Keene is the seat of the Roman Catholic Parish of the Holy Spirit, whose pastor is the Dean of the Monadnock Deanery, a division under the see of the Diocese of Manchester.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints building is home to the Keene Ward and is part of the Nashua, New Hampshire Stake.

The event set world records several times for the largest simultaneous number of jack-o'-lanterns on display.

[36][37] In late August or early September the city hosts the Keene Music Festival.

Several stages are located throughout the downtown area during the day's events, which are free to the public and sponsored by locally owned businesses.

Visitors, mostly from the local community, roam the city's sidewalks listening to the dozens of bands.

The Cheshiremen Chorus, a local chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society, meet every Tuesday at 6:30 pm at the Hannah Grimes Center at 25 Roxbury Street.

The Monadnock Pathway Singers are an all-volunteer hospice group based in Keene whose members come from many different towns within Cheshire County.

The Swamp Bats play at Alumni Field in Keene during June and July of each summer.

The Elm City Derby Damez roller derby league, members of USA Roller Sports (USARS), call Keene home while playing their officially sanctioned bouts in nearby Brattleboro, Vermont.

[39][40] Some Free Keene activists have been arrested for video recording in courtrooms as an act of civil disobedience, in violation of the state's wiretapping law.

In 2009, Keene's Central Square Park had become the center of daily 4:20 pm smoke-ins which advocated the legalization of marijuana.

[39][44] While some of the activists' techniques can be relatively confrontational, and the WMUR report mentioned a tongue-in-cheek drinking party at a government building to protest open-container laws, others are significantly less so.

The close encounters with the "Robin Hooders" resulted in one PEO resigning his position and a lawsuit filed by the City of Keene citing harassment of their employees.