The Gilfeather Turnip Festival celebrates the delicious locavore tubers.
Market Madness Street Fair
Downtown Springfield
http://www.springfieldonthemove.net
Sept 5 • Maybe an old fashioned Street Fair is just what’s needed to celebrate and honor the close of a fabulous Vermont Summer. Low key, easy fun that doesn’t involve reservations, packing a bag, planes or trains. Come be a “local” for a day, we want to meet you. Local brew tent, BBQ, music all around and 40-50 vendors to answer all or most of what you’re looking for (and some that you didn’t realize you had to have) – ranging from farmer’s market staples, fresh and local meats, produce, baked goods, arts & crafts, jewelry, knitted and hand sewn items, together with fun sand art for the kids (young and old), photo booth, ice cream, nostalgic signs, t-shirts, cotton candy, fried dough …more. Antique tractors, classic cars, kid’s corner games, face painting, youth vendors, obstacle course and performer Troy Wunderle of Circus Smirkus fame.
Puppets in the Green Mountains
Brattleboro, various venues
http://www.puppetsinthegreenmountains.com
Sept 11-20 • A 10 day festival of puppetry and unusual theater that brings international artists and local community together through a variety of performances, workshops, dialogues and other special events. This year, the festival events all address the theme of immigration and “otherness.” Produced by Sandglass Theater, this will be the Ninth edition of the Puppets in the Green Mountains festival, having presented over 75 companies from 20 countries, over almost 20 years.
Springfield Steampunk Festival
Great Hall and The Hartness House
http://www.Springfieldvtsteampunkfest.com
Sept 11-13, opening ceremonies 7p at the Hartness House, 30 Orchard St. • A Vermont Arts Council official event, the first annual Springfield Steampunk Festival – a fantasy retro-futuristic weekend featuring famed performers, workshops, musicians, tea dueling, Stargazer’s Ball, Absinthe Tasting, Thereminist performance, Victorian era bike ride, trader’s bazaar, Steampunk fashion show, time machine photo booth, telescope observatory tour, talks and more. Presented by the Steampunk Society of Vermont and the Hartness House, the festival features musical groups including Venus Lens Cap, Rusty Belle, HUMANWINE, Ida Mae Specker & The Honest Mistakes, Suitcase Junket and Tritium Well. The Springfield Steampunk Festival is a perfect example of the creative economy at work. Springfield is recovering from the loss of manufacturing and the economic recession. The festival highlights Springfield’s rich history of industry and innovation as part of the Precision Valley. Tickets and full schedule at the website.
Food, Farm and Photography
The Bunker Farm, 857 Bunker Road, Dummerston,
http://thebunkerfarm.com/ | 802 262-1222 to register
Sept 12, 10:30a- 1p • Tour this family farm that is conserved with the Vermont Land Trust through their Farmland Access Program. Learn from the farmers about the meats, vegetables, annuals, perennials, maple products, and firewood they produce. Make photograms and cyanotype prints in the sun from plants and food grown on the farm with photographer John Willis, who is matched with this property for VLT’s new artistic initiative: Eyes on the Land. Lunch is available. Preregistration encouraged; contact Cara Gauthier at (802) 262-1222 to register.
Brattleboro Bacon Fest
Fairgrounds in Guilford
http://www.facebook.com/brattleborobaconfest
Sept 12, 11a • Come by the Guilford Fairgrounds to enjoy all things bacon! There will be bacon beer, along with samples from many different vendors.
BMH Touch a Truck
Brattleboro Memorial Hospital
Sept 12, 9a-1p • Do you remember as a child being fascinated by trucks? Have you watched your grandchildren sit mesmerized watching as a dump truck raises its bed and the tailgate opens and dumps its contents? Have you had to stop your car so your son or daughter could see the tree trimmer or road grader? Well, Brattleboro Memorial Hospital is once again hosting Touch a Truck. More than 50 trucks will be converging in the Brattleboro Memorial Hospital parking lot to provide an opportunity for kids to “touch a truck” and raise funds for Brattleboro Memorial Hospital.
Vermont Wine & Harvest Festival
West Dover and Wimington
http://www.thevermontfestival.com
Sept 18-20 • Set in the backdrop of our world renowned Vermont fall foliage, attendees of the Vermont Wine and Harvest Festival will discover, savor and enjoy Vermont vintners, small specialty food producers, chefs, painters, publishers, cheese makers, potters, jewelers, photographers and farmers.
River Valley Kids Fair
Brattleboro Common
http://www.windhamchildcare.org
Sept 19, 11a-4p • Come by for fun family events, including entertainers, games, bouncy houses, face painting and more.
Bennington Quiltfest
Mt Anthony Union Middle School, Bennington
http://www.benningtonquiltfest.com
Sept 19-20 • Show offers new quilts, demonstrations, queen size quilt raffle, challenge quilts, special exhibits, many vendors and mouthwatering fare from the Quiltfest Cafe. Our featured quilter and lecturer, Joan Ford of Humminbird Highway and author of Scrap Therapy and Scraps Plus One, will give one lecture at 1pm on each day of the show. You will also find our Consignment Boutique open with a large selection of items for sale.
Brattleboro Literary Festival
Various locations in Brattleboro
http://www.brattleboroliteraryfestival.org
Oct 1-4 • “The 14th Annual Brattleboro Literary Festival, October 1-4th, 2015, is shaping up to be one of the most anticipated, inspiring events of the region this fall. This year we celebrate the 150th birthday of literary icon, Rudyard Kipling. With the spirit of his storytelling surrounding the festival, you are invited to downtown venues to feel the spark as over 50 critically acclaimed authors arrive to talk about their stories, answer questions and autograph their books.
“This year’s literary greats include New York Times best-selling authors Francine Prose, Bill Clegg and Ann Beattie; National Book Foundation’s 5 Under 35 winner Dinaw Mengestu, 2014 and 2015 Pulitzer Prize–winning poets, Vijay Seshadri and Gregory Pardlo; Story Prize winner and National Book Award finalist Jim Shepard, O’Henry Prize–winner Bill Roorbach, National Book Award-winner William Alexander, a collection of knitting literati from Ann Hood’s eagerly awaited anthology; and a tribute Sunday to the late Galway Kinnell, who was a supporter of the festival for many years. Ten authors will share their personal stories in the form of memoirs that explore the landscape of our lives. And the Literary Death Match, of course…need we say more?”
Fallapalooza
Downtown Bennington
http://www.betterbennington.com
Oct 24, 11a-4p • Bring the Kids Store-to-Store Trick-or-Treating for gifts and games between 11a and 3p. Then enjoy the Bennington Farmers’ Market, wagon rides, gift vendors, children’s activities and live entertainment.
Gilfeather Turnip Festival
Wardsboro, Main Street
http://www.friendsofwardsborolibrary.org
Oct 24, 10a-3p • Join the whole town for Gilfeather turnip soup and turnip recipe tastings at the Turnip Café, outdoor soup kiosk, farmer’s market, craft vendors, 1000 + lbs of turnip, turnip seeds, turnip cookbooks, festival tee shirts, turnip-theme gifts, live music & entertainment. Enter the Turnip Contest! Awards for the largest Gilfeather turnip grown from seed or seedling, in or out of town & most creative name – enter yours to win.
10th Annual ITV Fest
Mount Snow, Dover
Sept 24-27 • ITVFest (the Independent Television and Film Festival) is the original public festival and network of the world’s best independent television pilots, webseries and short films. Every September, we bring together over 1,000 filmmakers, actors, writers, directors, producers, financiers, Hollywood executives and general public fans to relax and connect in the Vermont mountains.
Brattleboro Film Festival
Various locations, Brattleboro
http://www.brattleborofilmfestival.org
Oct 30-Nov 8 • The Brattleboro Film Festival presents films from the USA and around the world that inform, challenge, entertain, and inspire, emphasizing viewpoints and characters often unseen in mainstream media. Partnering with local organizations, the Brattleboro Film Festival ( BFF ) produces and promotes special events, spotlighting issues to raise awareness, facilitate dialog, and increase audience diversity through community participation.
SOVT Restaurant Week
Various locations around Manchester
http://www.sovtrestaurantweek.com
Oct 30-Nov 8 • The SoVT Restaurant Week is a special limited time menu event at participating fine-dining restaurants in Vermont’s Windham and Bennington Counties. Diners can enjoy a 3-course lunch or dinner at a reduced price compared to the regular menu selections.
