Montpelier, VT – With Vermont’s morning weather forecasted at a comfortable 66F and an abundance of featured July events (66), summer is in full swing across the Green Mountain State! Visit the VermontVacation.com Travel Planner for the complete roster of 300 July events and Happy Independence Day!
Vermont Symphony Orchestra TD Bank Summer Festival Tour
July 2 – 6, Across 6 Vermont communities
The Vermont Symphony Orchestra presents “Let’s Dance!” featuring music from the world of dance – from waltzes to swing and polkas to salsa. The 1812 Overture, marches, and fireworks conclude the show. http://www.vso.org/
Yellow Barn’s 45th Anniversary Season: Music School & Festival
Month-Long, Putney
Yellow Barn presents an international community of musicians in a five week series of extraordinary public performances. Each season’s repertoire is unique, spanning a wide range of eras and genres, offering infinite insights into chamber music. www.yellowbarn.org
Exhibition of Jane Ashley Paintings
July 5, Grafton
Jane Ashley, noted Vermont landscape artist, will feature her latest works in oil and pastels in the Upper Gallery of Hunter Gallery of Fine Art for the month of July. www.hunterartworks.com
Country Auction for Cats
July 5, Newport
The country auction to help local animals is back by popular demand. Fun and unique items. www.FFFVT.com
Plymouth, Vermont in the Civil War
July 6, Plymouth
Howard Coffin, noted historian and author, presents a program about Vermont’s role in the great conflict, with focus on Plymouth. A Vermont Humanities Council event. http://historicsites.vermont.gov/directory/coolidge
NER Vermont and Big Town Gallery Summer Reading
July 6, Rochester
This summer gathering celebrates live readings, creating a link between two of Vermont’s most lively reading series from one side of the Green Mountains to the other. The reading is followed by a catered reception in the garden. www.nereview.com/ner-vt-reading-series
Chris Bohjalian: Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands
July 7, Burlington
Bestselling author Chris Bohjalian will be interviewed on the library stage. Win Rock & Roll Book Tour t-shirts and the chance to have a character named after you in Chris’s next novel. Jody Picoult says, “If you need any proof that fiction can scare us, move us, and break our hearts simultaneously – look no further.” www.phoenixbooks.biz
Heritage Craft Week
July 7 – 12, Brownington
The Old Stone House Museum in Brownington is offering a full week of Early American Decorative Arts Classes taught by professional teachers. Come and spend a day or the entire week learning a new skill & bring home a beautiful completed project. www.oldstonehousemuseum.org
Stowe Free Library Annual Giant Book Sale
July 8 – 27, Stowe
Stowe Free Library Giant annual book sale with books sorted into over 25 categories. New this year are adult classics. The sale will have a separate display and sale area for kids, with books priced by the bagful. Most adult books are $1-2. www.stowelibrary.org
Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival
July 9, 11 & 18, Burlington
The festival’s 10th anniversary season features works from Slavic musicians, the British Isles and “Heavenly and Earthy.” Arrive early for pre-concert talks by festival pianist Juliana Osinchuk. www.gmcmf.org
Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, Jr.
July 10 – 12, Lyndonville
The audience will be transported to a French town, where Belle yearns for something more than her provincial life. When her father Maurice becomes lost in the woods, he seeks shelter in an old castle but is soon taken captive by the master of the house, a horrible Beast. Belle surrenders her freedom to save his life and, by taming the Beast, teaches him the meaning of love. www.vermontchildrenstheater.com
Four Days of Dog Shows
July 10 – 13, Tunbridge
Green Mountain Dog Club and Woodstock Dog Club sponsored Good Old Fashion Dog Shows, with obedience, conformation and rally. Best Puppy and Best Veteran competitions. Ice cream social, barbecue and live music. www.greenmountaindogclub.org
Blues in the Night
July 10 – 27, Montpelier
26 tunes tell the sweet, sexy and sorrowful tales of three women with the lying, cheating, snake of a man who done them wrong. Music by Bessie Smith, Ida Cox, Duke Ellington and Harold Arlen. www.lostnationtheater.org
Middlebury Art Walk
July 11, Middlebury
Stores and businesses become galleries displaying the work of dozens of area artists. Art will turn up in restaurants, on the town green, and in other exciting and unlikely places. Visit downtown Middlebury on the second Friday of every month. www.middleburyartswalk.com
Natural Dye Workshop
July 11, Washington
An introduction to using local plants as natural dye. Spend the morning gathering plants and flowers. Our dye baths will brew while we enjoy brownbag lunch on the porch. After, the magic begins as we dye sample skeins of yarn! http://www.grandviewfarmvt.net/fiber-classes-retreats.html
Foodways Friday at Billings Farm & Museum
July 11 – Oct. 17, Woodstock
Visit the 1890 Farm House kitchen and learn about seasonal produce from the heirloom garden and historic recipes every Friday during the summer and fall. Take home a different recipe every week! www.billingsfarm.org
Islands Bike Tour
July 12, South Hero
Join Vermont Farm Tours for the annual Islands Bike Tour. Choose a 10 or 25-mile loop with stops at farms, art studios, and vineyards. Return to Snow Farm for wine tasting, free massage, and live music. www.VermontFarmTours.com/biketour.html
Rockin’ at the Dorset Quarry
July 12, Dorset
The Manchester Journal described the Don’t Leave Band as “…one of southern Vermont’s most resilient, revered and respected rock bands, performing an ageless, unique blend of time honored rock and roll built around powerful vocals and contagious energy.” www.dorsetvt.com
Bird Walk
July 12, Groton
Warblers, thrushes, vireos are some of the possible birds you may see. www.vtstateparks.com/htm/groton-nature.html
Zephyr Concert
July 12, Ferrisburgh
Zephyr is a four-piece Americana band, with a mix of guitar, bass, keyboards, fiddle, mandolin, accordion, djembe, harmonium. www.vtstateparks.com/htm/buttonbay.htm
Saturday Night Music
July 12 & 19, Townshend
The park ranger will lead a fun evening of music at Townshend State Park. Bring your own instrument and sit in, sing along, or just kick back and enjoy. www.vtstateparks.com/htm/townshend.htm
French Heritage Day
July 12, Vergennes
Franco-American music, French Canadian fiddling, learn French response songs, step-dancing, re-enactors, French food, antique vehicles & engines, traditional craft demonstrations, and much more. www.FrenchHeritageDay.com
Sixteenth Annual Bach Bash
July 12, Rochester
Rochester Chamber Music Society and professional and amateur musicians celebrate the music of Bach. www.rcmsvt.org
Return the Juice to your Writing Workshop
July 12, Orwell
Inertia, physical or mental, is no laughing matter to a writer. If you are stalled, trying to begin a piece of writing, stuck midway, this workshop led by author and poet Daniel Lusk may be the push you need. http://historicsites.vermont.gov/directory/mount_independence
Maple Jam performs at Brandon Music
July 12, Brandon
Maple Jam specializes in Grade A Fancy vocal arrangements of sweet love songs and swinging big band favorites. With their trademark rich blend of voices and smooth jazz harmonies, their repertoire ranges from classic jazz and swing to pop and ballads. www.brandon-music.net
2nd annual Grafton Food Festival
July 12 – 13, Grafton
The second annual Grafton Food Festival is a food-lovers event celebrating local food and farms in southern Vermont. Enjoy cooking demonstrations from top chefs and local food samples. On Sunday, enjoy a farmer’s market and breakfast featuring the festival’s food vendors. www.graftoninnvermont.com
35th Anniversary RAVE Car Show & Flea Market
July 12 – 13, Rutland
Auto related flea market, car corral, handcraft and new item vendors, food, music, kid’s coloring contest, silent auction. To celebrate 35 years, this year is a Top 50 Show with several specialty awards! Saturday night, a dance at the Holiday Inn-benefits RRMC Bone Marrow Donor Program. www.ravecarclub.com
Wood-Fired Pizza Night at the Farm
July 12 – Aug. 9, Washington
Join the wood-fired pizza picnic at Grandview Farm, the second Saturday in July and August! Please contact us a week in advance to pre-order your pizza. www.grandviewfarmvt.net/fiber-classes-retreats.html
Early Vermont History Storytelling Afternoon
July 13, Burlington
Storytelling for children and adults alike! Vermont authors Nancy Means Wright and Lee Kemsley talk about their new historical novels set in early Vermont. In Wright’s “Walking into the Wild,” for middle grades, siblings in 1782 look for their father, captured by the British. Kemsley’s book, The Hunger Year, for older teens and adults, is about adventurous Magen and the effects of the year 1816, when it snowed every month. www.historicsites.vermont.gov/vt_history/archeology
Concert by Guitarist Peter Griggs
July 13, Highgate
Peter Griggs performs a program entitled “The Guitar in America.” www.holytrinityswanton.org
“Full Duty” Exhibit Highlights Tour with Howard Coffin
July 13, Windsor
Explore the exhibit, “Full Duty: The Civil War Collection of Howard Coffin” as he shares how he found the objects and relates the stories and anecdotes of his years collecting them. This is final season of the exhibit and the closing opportunities to hear Coffin speak on Vermont’s role in the Civil War. www.americanprecision.org
Midnight Madness
July 17, Bennington
All the stores downtown stay open until midnight and they offer the biggest sales of the year. Downtown is alive with music and the most festive crowds of the year as well! www.betterbennington.com
The Old Country Fiddler: Charles Ross Taggart
July 17, Dorset
From Topsham, Vermont, Charles Ross Taggart went on to a forty-year career performing nationally on countless stages, including the famous Red Path Chautauqua circuit. Fiddler Adam Boyce portrays Mr. Taggart near the end of his career, circa 1936, sharing recollections of his life interspersed with live fiddling and humorous sketches. A Vermont Humanities Council event. www.dorsetvthistory.org
One Regiment’s Story in the Civil War: The Ninth Vermont
July 17, East Corinth
From guarding Confederate prisoners incarcerated at Camp Douglas, Illinois, to the woods of coastal North Carolina and finally to the gates of Richmond, the 9th Vermont Regiment earned a reputation of being well-disciplined and steadfast under fire. Civil War historian Donald Wickman offers listeners their tales. A Vermont Humanities Council event. www.blakememorial.org
West Side Story
July 17 – 19 & July 25-26, Lyndonville
Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is transported to modern-day New York City, as two young idealistic lovers find themselves caught between warring street gangs, the “American” Jets and the Puerto Rican Sharks. www.vermontchildrenstheater.com
Southern Vermont Dance Festival
July 17 – 20, Brattleboro
The festival offers a wide range of dance classes, workshops and lectures, performances, formal and informal concerts, free community events including outdoors performances and live music. From professionals to dance enthusiasts, from the belly dancer to the ballet dancer this is a great opportunity to take classes with world-renowned faculty and experience moving performances. www.southernvermontdancefestival.com.
Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
July 17 – 26, Weston
Weston Playhouse Theatre Company presents a hilarious comedy set in present day Bucks County, Pennsylvania, where three middle-aged siblings grapple with their lives in the company of a soothsaying cleaning woman, a sexy boy toy, and a star-struck ingénue. Winner: 2013 Tony for Best Play. www.westonplayhouse.org
Vermont Pride Theater Summer Festival
July 18-20 and 25-27, Randolph
Vermont Pride Theater at Chandler presents its 4th annual Summer Pride Festival of LGBT plays. The goal of the festival is to build bridges of understanding between LGBT Vermonters, their families and friends, and the wider community. http://www.chandler-arts.org/events.php?event=298
HEALING: a dance/dream theater production
July 18 – 20 & July 25-27, Sharon
HEALING is a dance/”dream theater” production about how we heal mind, body and spirit set against the backdrop of the four elements: earth, air, fire and water. Music is under the direction of Grammy winning Producer Jim Rooney. Bring a picnic and absorb the atmosphere of the Star Mountain Amphitheater. www.flockdance.org
The Goshen Gallop
July 19, Goshen
All ages can race through the rural roads of Goshen and trails of Blueberry Hill. Race entry fee includes BBQ meal, goodie bag and prizes. Spectators welcome – everyone can enjoy the entertainment and the meal can be purchased separately. Free T-Shirt to 1st 100 entries. www.facebook.com/events/514140911956639/
Do Good Fest
July 19, Montpelier
The National Life Group Do Good Fest is a daylong, family friendly music festival featuring five bands, children’s activities, food vendors and displays by nonprofit organizations. Proceeds benefit the Cancer Patient Fund at Central Vermont Medical Center’s National Life Cancer Center. www.DoGoodFest.com
4th Annual Jericho Plein Air Festival
July 19, Jericho
The festival is designed to bring both art creators and the public together. Approximately 75 New York and New England artists will participate in this year’s festival. An exhibit of work created during the festival will be held at the gallery July 20 – August 10. www.emilegruppegallery.com
Irasburg United Church Fair
July 19, Irasburg
Come to the Church Fair for crafts, auction, music, baked goods, children’s games, strawberry shortcake, chicken barbecue, parade and fireworks at dusk. www.irasburgchurchfair.com
Stars and Stripes Festival and Parade
July 19, Lyndonville
Huge hour long parade at 10 am. Over 40 crafters and vendors in the park. Music by the Crunchy Western Boys, vendors, crafts and more in the park all afternoon. Park Dance with the BelAirs. www.lyndonvermont.com
TRI-OBSTACLON™
July 19, Benson
Non-traditional triathlon: Mountain bike single track & gravel roads, swim, mountain bike back to start & finish with a run on our 5K or 10K obstacle course at Shale Hill Adventure Farm. www.shalehilladventure.com
Discover Dorset Concert on the Green
July 19, Dorset
Barry Hyman and the Natural History jazz combo play experimental improvisational music, mostly acoustic, with influences from all over the globe and from every period in human history and evolution. www.dorsetvt.com/
The Windsor Chair: Its Craft & Trade
July 19, Windsor
Furniture maker George Ainley demonstrates the technique of creating the “Windsor” chair, a style developed in the 18th century and still popular today. http://historicsites.vermont.gov/directory/old_constitution
Hubbardton Town 250th Anniversary Day
July 19, Hubbardton
The Town of Hubbardton celebrates its 250th anniversary of the town charter with fireworks and activities for all ages. http://historicsites.vermont.gov/directory/hubbardton
Rock River Artists Open Studio Tour
July 19-20, South Newfane
The 22nd annual Rock River Artists’ Studio Tour starts at the Old Schoolhouse in South Newfane, where the 17 participating artists present their group show. With map provided, visitors have the option to visit every artist’s studio, all within short driving range of South Newfane. http://www.rockriverartists.com/
National Ice Cream Day at Billings Farm & Museum
July 20, Woodstock
Celebrate the great American dessert and help make and sample four flavors of ice cream. There will be horse-drawn wagon rides to enjoy as well. www.billingsfarm.org
Addison County Architecture in 1814
July 20, Ferrisburgh
The Robinsons of Rokeby doubled the size of their home 200 years ago, adding a restrained Federal style addition. Art historian Glenn Andres will help us celebrate with an illustrated tour of neighboring buildings. www.rokeby.org
Moonlight in Vermont Astronomy Night
July 20, Hubbardton
On the 45th anniversary of the first lunar landing, enjoy the waning moon and night sky with the Green Mountain Alliance of Amateur Astronomers. They bring telescopes and reveal the magic of moon and starlight. Bring binoculars, blankets and flashlights. We provide marshmallows. http://historicsites.vermont.gov/directory/hubbardton
Lyra Summer Music Workshops Concerts
July 21-30, Randolph
Guest artists and faculty of the Lyra Summer Workshop will perform classical music at a variety of locations. www.lyrasummermusic.com
October Mourning
July 23, Randolph
October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard.” Ms. Newman, a well-known author, will be at the reading and will be signing books at the reception afterwards. Admission is by donation and all proceeds will benefit the Matthew Shepard Foundation. www.chandler-arts.org/events.php?event=298
Statues of Liberty: A Sesquicentennial Exhibit/Celebration
July 23 – Oct. 13, Strafford
This exhibit features photos and interpretive descriptions of the sculptures of notable figures from all of the 50 United States, including life-sized images of the statues of Abraham Lincoln, Ethan Allen, Daniel Webster and Rosa Parks. http://historicsites.vermont.gov
2014 Iron Adventure Run
July 24 – 26, Ludlow
Harley Davidson riders and other motorcycle enthusiasts travel to the Okemo Valley region for an exciting three-day event. From the array of colors, motorcycle models, lights and chrome, visitors will have an opportunity to experience some of the finest motorcycles on the road. www.ironadventurerun.com
Musical Comedy DAMN YANKEES
July 24 – Aug. 3, Hyde Park
Light, fast-paced and devilishly clever, DAMN YANKEES is the show that proves “You Gotta Have Heart!” A baseball fan sells his soul to the devil to become a great player and lead his team over those “damn Yankees!” www.LCPlayers.com
Stoop Stories
July 24 – Aug. 3, Weston
In this riveting drama, Obie-winning actress and playwright Dael Orlandersmith takes us on a remarkable tour of New York City by embodying a gallery of intriguing characters – from the everyman to the extraordinary – all from a single uptown stoop. www.westonplayhouse.org
Bookstock
July 25, 26 and 27, Woodstock
In its sixth edition, Bookstock 2014 will outdo itself with a remarkable roster of poets, including three former U.S. Poet Laureates. Laureate Billy Collins will be a special guest, and fellow laureates Louise Gluck and Charles Simic are festival headliners. http://bookstockvt.org/
Vermont’s Deerfield Valley Blueberry Festival
July 25 – Aug. 3, Wilmington
Events include: Blueberry Jell-o Slip and Slide, Blueberry Splash Family Boat Parade, Blueberry River Float, Blueberry Parade and Craft Fair, Blueberry Block Party. There will also be blueberry specials and deals and the local shops and restaurants. www.vermontblueberry.com
Guided History Walk on Lake Champlain Bridge
July 27, Addison
Learn about what you’re seeing while walking across the Lake Champlain Bridge. State historic site managers Thomas Hughes from Crown Point, NY and Elsa Gilbertson from Chimney Point lead a guided walk. Meet at the Crown Point Museum. http://historicsites.vermont.gov/directory/chimney_point
Point CounterPoint Faculty Concert
July 28, Middlebury
The faculty of Point CounterPoint chamber music camp and Diana Fanning will perform for the annual Constance Holden Memorial Concert. www.pointcp.com
2nd Annual Killington Chili Cook-Off
July 31, Killington
The Killington Chili Cook-Off returns for its second year. Last year’s event attracted hundreds of chili enthusiasts to the region. Stop by and enjoy chili from the best local restaurants and enjoy live entertainment by the Chad Hollister Band! www.discoverkillington.com/signature-events-in-killington-vermont/chili-cook-off
A Chorus Line
July 31 – Aug. 23, Weston
This legendary blockbuster musical provides stirring glimpses into the lives of a group of dancers auditioning for spots in a Broadway chorus line. With show-stopping songs, jaw-dropping dances, and heartfelt stories, it’s not to be missed! www.westonplayhouse.org
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