Here are five festivals worth a visit while vacationing in Vermont this summer:
Strolling of the Heifers Weekend, June 3-5, 2011
Green Expo and Dairy Fest
Brattleboro, Vermont
The main attraction of this event begins at 10 am on Saturday, June 4, with a parade of over 100 heifers wearing flower garlands accompanied by their young farmer friends. After the parade, the Dairy Fest and Marketplace will celebrate Vermont’s dairy industry and the Green Expo will showcase “green” living techniques such as recycling and sustainable building materials. Music will be performed throughout the day with a community contra dance on Saturday night. For more details about the festival, see Jill Arnel's article "Heifers Stroll In Brattleboro, VT".
9th Strawberry Festival, June 26, 2011
Cedar Circle Farm
East Thetford, Vermont
For a true localvore experience, nothing beats a visit to a Vermont farm. Over the past decade, Cedar Circle Farm in East Thetford has become a leader in community outreach. Their 7th annual Strawberry Festival will feature pick your own organic strawberries, live music and horse-drawn wagon rides and strawberry foods – homemade shortcake, ice cream, cheesecake, smoothies and more.
17th Annual Vermont Brewers Festival, July 15 – 16, 2011
Waterfront Park
Burlington, Vermont
The Vermont Brewers Festival will feature 30 craft beer brewers from Vermont, other New England states, New York and Quebec. This festival will also take place in Burlington’s Waterfront Park.
10th Annual Killington Wine Festival, July 22, 2011
Killington, Vermont
The Killington Wine Festival is notable for providing a tasting of over 300 wines provided by 30 winemakers. Area restaurants will also be sponsoring special meals paired with festival wines.
Third Annual Vermont Cheesemakers Festival, July 24, 2011
Shelburne Farms, Shelburne, Vermont
Over forty artisanal cheesemakers are scheduled to participate in the Vermont Cheesemakers Festival. In addition, the festival will feature wines and other artisanal foods from Vermont. The festival will take place at gorgeous Shelburne Farms near Lake Champlain. The cost to attend is $35 per person until June 30 (price then goes up to $40). Attendance is limited and the festival usually sells out. The Festival will offer the following seminars:
- Discovering Vermont Wines with Sean Buchanan & Sam Gugino
- Aged Cheddar & Beer: Pairings from Vermont with Mike Colameco
- Cheese & Charcuterie: Vermont Fermentation with Chris Bailey & Matt Jennings
- Home Cheesemaking with Marc Druart
A special feature of the festival is the Vermont Artisan Food Open Studio Day which will take place on Saturday, July 23 when a variety of Vermont creameries, vineyards and breweries will have open houses. The website features a map of Vermont showing the location of the various venues participating in the Open Studio Day.
Vermont has been a leader in the localvore movement and now features more than a dozen farmer's markets throughout the state. For a complete list of farmer's markets, visit the Vital Communities website.
Jo Ann Woodsum - I am an attorney specializing in commercial real estate leasing transactions. I write romance novels under the pen name Joie Sonrisa (as ...
