Spotlights
Spotlights
Brattleboro Literary Festival
Oct 14-16, various locations around Brattleboro,
brattleboroliteraryfestival.or
Celebrating its 10th anniversary with over forty established and emerging authors coming to Brattleboro. Experience the magical alchemy between readers and writers featuring NPR personalities Tom Bodett and Roy Blount, Jr., best-selling authors Julia Alvarez and Luis Alberto Urrea, National Book Award-winning poet Mark Doty, Caldecott Award winning-illustrator David Macaulay, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Thomas Powers, best-selling memoirists Mira Bartók and Melissa Coleman and special guest Ken Burns. In an extraordinary event, Janis Bellow and Benjamin Taylor will discuss Saul Bellow’s life and letters. Saul Bellow appeared at the first Brattleboro Literary Festival. Another very special event will feature two award-winning Quebec novelists, Monique Proulx and Kathleen Winter, sponsored by Montreal’s Blue Metropolis International Literary Festival. All events are free and open to the public.
8th Annual Vermont Fine Furniture & Woodworking Festival
Sep 24-25, Sat 9-6p, Sun 10-4p, Union Arena, Woodstock,
vermontwoodfestival.org
More than 60 Vermont furniture makers, bowl turners, carvers, cabinetmakers and more will be on exhibit at this year’s Fine Furniture & Woodworking Festival. Watch 
traditional methods of woodworking, purchase products made from our forests and see for yourself why Vermont woodworkers are rated second to none. On Saturday night, Celebrity Home and Style Designer Stephen Saint-Onge will speak at the Jackson House Inn, in Woodstock.
Art in the Park
Oct 8-9, 10-5p, Main St Park, Rutland
chaffeeartcenter.org
Come celebrate the 50th anniversary of Art in the Park, a signature event for central Vermont. Since 1961, artisans and craftspeople have been setting up their booths in Main Street Park in Rutland for scores of shoppers seeking art work and authentic handcrafted items. Come meet the artisans who ply their craft in wood, stone, clay, fiber, metal, glass, with cameras, or on canvas. Food, music, demonstrations, kids’ activities, and much more make this a family outing! Art in the Park, the oldest continuously running arts tradition in Vermont, is sponsored by the Chaffee Art Center, which is also celebrating its 50th year.
41st Annual Newfane Heritage Festival
Oct 8-9, Newfane Common,
newfaneheritagefestival.blogsp
One of “10 for the Road” Autumn events selected by the Philadelphia Inquirer in 2005. The 90-plus juried vendors sell hand-crafted items, e.g. quilts, ironwork, pottery, furniture, photography and art work, jewelry, clothing, and much more. A Farmers’ Market Area features displays of multi-colored mums, Vermont apples and apple cider, pumpkins, home-made fudge, Vermont maple syrup, and locally smoked ham.
Wild Night on the Catwalk: Compassion for Fashion, a benefit for Brattleboro Area Hospice
Nov 19, 7p, Brattleboro Area Hospice, 802 257-0775
Ask anyone to describe fashion in Vermont and you might receive a derisive snort. Vermont is better known for outdoorsy, practical wear highlighted by fleece, flannel and down—haute couture is as scarce as the elusive catamount. But the fashionistas at Experienced Goods Thrift Shops plan to change that at least for one night. Wild Night on the Catwalk promises to be a fundraiser like no other. Guests will enjoy an over-the-top runway show featuring designer-created wearable art fashions that have been re-imagined and repurposed to dramatize the Hospice recycling aesthetic. The evening will include a wild Not So Silent Auction of priceless, must-have destination experiences. To embellish the stylish and environmentally conscious theme, the event will be held at the modern architectural gem, The Currier Center at the Putney School.
Christmas in Weston
Dec 3, 11-4p, in the village of Weston westonvt.com
“An Old Fashioned Christmas Festival” with tours, rides, Santa, caroling and more. Experience the wonder of an Old Fashioned Vermont Christmas in the Village of Weston. Villagers and visitors can tour the Village, by foot or horse drawn wagon, stopping in to see many of the open galleries, museums and inns. Children will enjoy visiting Santa, making ornaments or participating in many other children’s activities at the Little School and Wilder Memorial Library. The 210 year old Parish Church will be decorated for the season and will host Christmas music and a community reading of A Christmas Carol hosted by the Weston Playhouse. The day will end with carol singing to the Village Green for the lighting of the Weston Christmas Tree.
