Cantrip Credit: Courtesy of Louise Bichan

Fiddle Me This

Sunday 3

The 31st annual New World Festival takes over Randolph’s Chandler Center for the Arts for 11 rollicking hours of music and community. Vermont’s Celtic and French Canadian heritage is on full display with acts including Québécois rockers Le Vent du Nord, Scottish foursome Cantrip and Montréal trad outfit Genticorum.

Ducks by the Truckload

Sunday 3
Mad River Rotary Duck Race Credit: © Atman | Dreamstime

Mad River Valley Rotary hosts Waitsfield’s wackiest, quackiest annual fundraiser: the Duck Race. More donations buy you more rubber duckies, which take off from the Lareau Park swimming hole and head down the river. The owners of the first 10 fake fowl to cross the finish line win cash prizes. Donations benefit the Rotary’s charity work with local organizations.

Picture Show

Thursday 31
And the King Said, What a Fantastic Machine Credit: Courtesy of Heretic & Plattform Produktion

For its latest monthly screening, the Vermont International Film Festival presents And the King Said, What a Fantastic Machine at the Main Street Landing Performing Arts Center Film House in Burlington. This new Swedish documentary draws on a stunning array of archival footage to paint a comprehensive picture of the history of photography and video and the ways they attract our attention.

Bard Knock Life

Saturday 2
Shakespeare Alive! A Bard-Based Variety Show Credit: Courtesy of Rick Russell

Stand Up Shakespeare, a collective of New York City actors who have become Green Mountain State icons over the years, returns to Union Christian Church at Plymouth’s Calvin Coolidge State Historic Site for its annual performance of Shakespeare Alive! A Bard-Based Variety Show. This year’s new collection of scenes, skits, soliloquies and songs remixes the Bard’s beloved tales.

Craft Masters

Saturday 2 & Sunday 3
Mad River Valley Craft Fair Credit: Courtesy of Valley Players

Artisans from across New England arrive to peddle their wares at the annual Mad River Valley Craft Fair at Kenyon’s Field in Waitsfield. Alongside live music, food and craft cocktails, shoppers peruse jewelry, paintings, pottery, woodwork and other artisan creations. Entry fees support local community theater company the Valley Players.

Beet the Rush

Tuesday 5
Old North End Farmers Market Credit: © Alisonh29 | Dreamstime

For local produce lovers, Burlington’s best open secret is the Old North End Farmers Market, which convenes at Dewey Park every Tuesday afternoon. Fresh local produce and prepared foods from vendors including Diggers’ Mirth Collective Farm, Richmond Chai, Tremolo Bread and Sabah’s House bring good vibes to the Queen City’s melting pot.

Paper Trail

Ongoing
“Get Juiced to It” by Rosa Leff Credit: Courtesy

Soapbox Arts in Burlington presents “Blown Away,” a solo show by Puerto Rican artist Rosa Leff. Leff’s intricate and brightly colored paper cutouts depict familiar urban sights — a discarded candy bar wrapper, a closed shoe warehouse, a cyclist speeding past a taco joint — with a distinct pop-art sensibility.

This article appears in Aug 30 – Sep 5, 2023.

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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,...