Amadou & Mariam & Blind Boys of Alabama Credit: Courtesy of The Band

Surround Sound

Saturday 30

Malian Afro-pop duo Amadou & Mariam team up with legendary gospel group the Blind Boys of Alabama for a stunning display of cross-Atlantic soul at the Flynn in Burlington. The two bands’ collaborative 2019 album, From Bamako to Birmingham, celebrates the musical connections between West Africa and the American South.

Knit the Ground Running

Through Saturday 30
“Matisse Plus” by Anne Standish Credit: Courtesy of Axel's Frame Shop & Gallery

Seventeen members of the Vermont Surface Design Association present Transitions,” a group exhibition at Axel’s Frame Shop & Gallery in Waterbury. Through knitting, stitching, quilting and other textile arts, these artists showcase a slew of sculptures and scenes that ask questions about change and experience.

Well Versed

Friday 29
Poem in Your Pocket Day Credit: Courtesy of Bianca Amira Zanella

Throughout April — National Poetry Month to you — businesses in Rutland have displayed the work of local wordsmiths in their windows. To close out the month, Phoenix Books poet-in-residence Bianca Amira Zanella leads a Poem in Your Pocket Day Poetry Walk, starting at the bookstore and exploring downtown. Poets whose work is on display are especially encouraged to join and read.

Dig Deep

Saturday 30 & Saturday 7
Day in the Dirt Credit: © Photographerlondon | Dreamstime

Gardeners from Burlington to Barre and Richmond to Rutland get together for Day in the Dirt, two days of volunteer landscaping at community plots across the state. Vermont Garden Network invites participants to build raised beds, spread mulch and plant pollenizers to start the growing season off on the right foot. Optional donations go straight to participating gardens and VGN programming.

May Day

Sunday 1
Milk With Dignity Credit: Courtesy of Rose Friedman

Migrant Justice marks International Workers Day with the Milk With Dignity Burlington March, a day of action demanding that Hannaford supermarkets commit to protecting dairy laborers’ rights. Farmworkers and consumers alike gather in the parking lot of the South Burlington Staples, then march to Hannaford for a picket line, rally and celebratory community meal.

An Affair to Remember

Opens Sunday 1
April Fools Credit: Courtesy of Habima Theatre

Visitors to Montréal’s Sylvan Adams Theatre at the Segal Centre for Performing Arts take in the steamy sights of April Fools: An Adult Rock Cabaret. A forbidden love affair rocks a woman’s sense of self and sexuality in this sensual musical spectacular that engages the audience in its iconic, empowering story.

Between the Lines

Wednesday 4
Marci Calabretta Cancio-Bello Credit: Courtesy of Margarita Corporan

Vermont Studio Center hosts poet and translator Marci Calabretta Cancio-Bello for a reading at its Red Mill Building in Johnson. The award-winning author of Hour of the Ox and translator of The World’s Lightest Motorcycle deals in tough, tender verse and complex ideas about culture, grief and wanderlust.

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Emily Hamilton was the calendar writer at Seven Days and Kids VT July 2021-August 2024. A native New Yorker, she moved to Burlington in March 2020 and, after a year indoors, threw herself wholeheartedly into Vermont's arts and music scene. She's a novelist,...