Fair Play
Friday 25
It’s the last of this summer’s St. J Final Fridays, but attendees will be too busy to feel any nostalgia. The downtown St. Johnsbury street fair and gallery stroll includes storytelling, live music, crafts, performances by Bread and Puppet, a fleet of food trucks, and a beer and mocktail garden. Singer-songwriter Diana DeMuth closes out the evening with a free show featuring her stunning vocals and original tunes.
Queer as Folk Art
Saturday 26
Art aficionados and fans of a fabulous fest celebrate rural queer life at Queer Arts Festival! (aka Queer AF!) on the Plainfield Recreational Field. Shoppers browse wares from over 50 vendors while taking in music, theater, circus performances, community art projects, games and crafts, and a kids’ zone.
In the Mood
Thursday 24-Sunday 27
The Stowe Jazz Festival brings the genre’s full range — from bebop and swing to Brazilian and Afro-Cuban — to the main stage at the Alchemist brewery, with additional shows popping up at locations around town. New York-based Festejation, virtuosic Oz Noy Trio, fusion group Henry Hey and Forq, and dozens of other artists get toes tapping and fingers snapping at free sets.
Song and Dance
Saturday 26
Beloved community tradition Barnard Street Dance returns with a free, nonalcoholic family fest outside the town hall. Afro-funk groovers Sabouyouma, roots rockers the Ben Kogan Band, contra dance leaders Blind Squirrel and jazz revivalists Route 5 Jive get the whole town moving and shaking while revelers enjoy games, boat races and a neighborly potluck.
Little City Soirée
Saturday 26
Vermont’s smallest city shows it has the biggest heart at Vergennes Day, a demonstration of civic pride with something for all ages. The fête kicks off with a pancake breakfast at the fire department and continues with road races, food and craft vendors, a bubble pit, wagon rides, a chicken barbecue, and live music on the bandstand.
Black Ties
Saturday 26
Vermont Racial Justice Alliance presents the fifth annual First African Landing Day, a celebration of the strength, resilience and contributions of the American descendants of slavery. Burlington’s Intervale Center hosts speakers, exhibits, ethnic food, dancing and a tribute to the 50th anniversary of hip-hop. Don’t miss the 1619 Traveling Exhibit at the nearby Richard Kemp Center.
Second Chances
Ongoing
Traveling collaborative exhibition “Inside Out: IncARceraTion” explores the connections between trauma, addiction, incarceration and resilience — and what reentry and community restoration can look like. On view at Montpelier’s T.W. Wood Gallery, these works by 40 artists, all incarcerated in West Virginia correctional centers, spark conversations about poverty, homelessness and mental health.
This article appears in Aug 23-29, 2023.
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