Musicians perform at the Manchester Music Festival.
A summer explosion of cultural events
Southern Vermont’s summer awaits. Its mountains, lakes, and rivers beckon; its back roads invite bike rides and meandering walks, all nourishment for the outdoors enthusiast. For an aesthetic feast, though, check out Southern Vermont’s ever-growing menu of arts offerings, from world-class classical music to dynamic little theatre; circus, and puppetry to top-shelf drama; fine art to outstanding jazz. Summer in Southern Vermont is a feast for the senses.
Established and revered players such as Marlboro Music Festival and Weston Playhouse—especially now with its new Second Stage—have given younger arts organizations inspiration, and now with these anchors no one should be surprised Routes 5, 7, and 30 describe what looks more and more every year like an arts corridor such as one might enjoy in the Berkshires.
The Bedford Dance Ensemble performs at the Southern Vermont Dance Festival.
Dorset Theatre boasts name players and new works, as does Oldcastle in Bennington. Upstarts such as Rock River Players and Southern Vermont Lyric Theatre aim to tap talent from every arena, while Main Street Arts happily sticks its neck out to create one-of-a-kind theatre.
Just over the line from Brattleboro in West Chesterfield, New Hampshire, Actors Theatre Playhouse delivers highly acclaimed theatre that’s edgy, excellent, and intimate.
As theatre artists of note happily glom onto these verdant places, so do musicians. Marlboro Music Festival earns its stature among top American summer musical festivals, and we note its influence on the offerings of the Brattleboro Music Center.
Marlboro’s is an institution devoted to artistic excellence and to developing new leaders who illuminate all areas of music. It’s where the concept of having master artists play together with exceptional young professionals was born.
Don’t just take our word for it. A BBC reviewer recently waxed, “Loving expressiveness sums up the music made at this place. The New Yorker mused Marlboro is “the classical world’s most coveted retreat.”
Young festivals such as Green Mountain Bluegrass & Roots Festival round out a scene rich not only with Marlboro’s music but also with that heard at the Yellow Barn and at Manchester Music Festival. It’s a joy to hear the Vermont Symphony on the lawn at Grafton Pond. What a fine tradition that is! And if you look carefully, you’ll find exquisite harmonies from Village Harmony and world-class jazz from Vermont Jazz Center (VJC).
One VJC fan recalled a “pinch me” moment not long ago: “I’m hearing this in Brattleboro!? Boy, did I pick the right place to move!” And it only gets better.
Up the road in Putney, Sandglass Theater, as an internationally known theatre company combining puppets with music, actors, and visual imagery, offers training and performances. Catch them at the Retreat Farm on Memorial Day Weekend.
Over the past couple decades several performing arts venues have sprung up and taken hold in this fertile arts landscape:
Next Stage in Putney offers music, theatre, and literary events—as well as a great dance now and then. 118 Elliott in Brattleboro is a venue rented by a wide range of fine and performing artists in a convenient location and a comfortable setting.
Vermont Arts Exchange in Bennington hosts an eclectic range of events from zydeco and folk-rock to community arts programs.
The Retreat Farm in Brattleboro will host part of the Southern Vermont Dance Festival, as well as Farm to Ballet this summer.
This is in addition to a Sandglass Theatre performance of Punschi on Memorial Day weekend. Even the Wardsboro Town Hall is cutting its teeth as a new venue.
So many of our towns are home to great little galleries where one enjoys glimpses at art and craft unique to the area and beyond. For more visual arts eye candy, visit Bennington Museum, Brattleboro Museum & Art Center, (Manchester’s) Southern Vermont Arts Center, and the Great Hall in Springfield.
And while most artists and craftsmen’s tours run in fall and winter, the Rock River Artists are gearing up for their 26th Annual Open Studio Tour July 21 and 22 in the villages of Williamsville, South Newfane, and Newfane.
If you venture past Bennington and down into Massachusetts, you’re entering ArtCountry—a consortium of institutions including Clark Art Institute, Williams College Museum of Art, Bennington Museum, MASS MoCA, and the Williamstown Theatre Festival—which launched their collaboration last spring and are building upon the synergies created through their activities to provide added incentives and opportunities to attract visitors to the region.
New this year is the five-way ArtCountry Summer Pass, which for the first-time ever provides visitors with an opportunity to purchase discounted admissions to the participating museums as well as discounted tickets for the Williamstown Theatre Festival.
Just as the fresh air and verdant landscapes nourish the body every summer, the fine and lively arts nourish our minds, hearts, and creative spirit. Enjoy! —Annie Landenberger
How to get People to Move to Vermont: Listen to the Insiders
Gov. Phil Scott and the Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing (VDTM) recently announced the Stay-to-Stay initiative, which aims to lure more residents to The Green Mountain State.
The program kicked off in Southern Vermont in April in Bennington, Brattleboro, and Rutland as part of a networking package to connect guests to employers, entrepreneurs, and potential neighbors in local communities around Vermont. The program begins with a warm welcome hosted by a local chamber of commerce and opportunities to meet entrepreneurs and Realtors.
Many travelers—potential residents—are looking for more in-depth ways to experience familiar places or discover destinations off the beaten path. They’re looking for information about what the experience will bring them. And they want to be inspired.
What brings people to Southern Vermont? Why do they stay? What do they value? What do they enjoy doing that you might? What is it that makes this place so special? Is it the beauty? The wildlife? Is it the green hills? The valleys? The arts? The fresh air? The water?
Well, sure.
But it’s especially the people who have chosen to come here for all of those reasons. From the state’s earliest days, they come with ideas about what living the good life means to them and their families. They’re still here, and they keep coming: the people and the ideas and the creativity.
With this in mind, SO Vermont Arts & Living, for its part, will seek local residents—the insiders—to share their stories about Southern Vermont living. We’ll bring you things they love to do and the traditions that are important to preserve for generations to come. These stories will provide an endearing look at the quality of life here that’s best described by those who experience it.
We believe sharing this authentic, rich connection will show why this is such a remarkable place to visit, live, bring a business to, and settle down in. “Discover Southern Vermont Like a Local” will become a regular department of the magazine. —Lynn Barrett
Branding Southern Vermont
National research is tracking the growth in the cultural heritage tourism sector, and the news is good. More and more travelers—118 million plus—are seeking authentic experiences that immerse them in local culture. But it’s not just history they’re after; they also seek out the arts, all things culinary, unique lodgings and shopping, and explorations off the beaten track.
Vermont, with its historic buildings, working landscape, and myriad leisure activities, is a perfect cultural heritage destination. And because research reports that the cultural heritage tourist tends to take more trips per year, stay longer, and spend more than the average leisure travelers, this is indeed good news.
Here’s our take:
Localvore farms and businesses in the rolling, green hills are all part of what could be a unified Southern Vermont branding effort.
We see an opportunity for those who are marketing the Southern Vermont region to attract as new residents of the Green Mountain State those who want to immerse themselves into a community of people living in harmony with the environment and enjoying a rich quality of life.
This grassroots approach to marketing our region could complement the state’s program with a campaign that is fresh and current, one that highlights the environment, our efforts to recycle our historic buildings, and our determination to preserve our artisan traditions, geography, and foliage.
Such an effort to embrace Southern Vermont’s cultural and natural attractions, its beauty, and its lifestyle could brand the region that is wonderfully “evergreen” — green, fresh, current, lasting. It touches important Vermont themes such as Buy Local, Cultural Heritage, and the Scenic Byways, as well as our local regional themes of art and culture, food and fun, and nature and outdoors.
The underlying “evergreen” theme also subliminally suggests a business climate for sustainable industries and renewable energy, as well as increase support for preservation, product development, infrastructure improvements, and research and visitor service.
All these themes — themes reinforced in this magazine — could be lovingly synthesized into the essence of good living.
David Deen, a longtime state legislator and river steward, fishes in the Connecticut River. Deen is the author of our first Insiders column this issue.
The benefits of coming together to market the region under one umbrella “Life’s GreenR Here” and tapping into the green tourism niche can be far reaching. For communities, it can strengthen the local economy, promote resource protection, increase visitor expenditures, generate employment, preserve the unique character of a community, and increase community pride and awareness of community resources. A good program can also increase tax receipts, stimulate economic growth, and provide other benefits.
The concept of “evergreen” provides a unique opportunity to brand Southern Vermont in a way that has never been fully capitalized on regionally. It offers endless opportunities to capture the imagination of travelers, media, and partners, including the state itself, with its own tourism efforts.
We believe that we are on to something. Drop us a line with your thoughts, here at the magazine or in the comments on our Facebook page. Happy reading! —Lynn Barrett
