click to enlarge - Courtesy of Peter Jamison Media
- Ethan Nell in 'Accomplice'
Even while dealing with a global health crisis and social unrest, Vermonters continue to find ways to connect, learn and have a good time. From drive-in concerts to outdoor theater performances to livestream comedy shows, an abundance of activities abounds in the Green Mountain State. Here, we've compiled seven must-do events taking place between July 23 and 29. This list will be refreshed every Thursday morning, so be sure to check back each week.
This is just a small sampling of the state's in-person and virtual happenings transpiring in the coming days. Browse our
art,
calendar and
music + nightlife listings for more.
If you're planning or promoting an event in Vermont, please send details our way for a free online listing. Find our event submission form at
sevendaysvt.com/postevent.
1. Taking a Ride
The trailer for Teton Gravity Research's latest mountain bike film,
Accomplice, shows footage of top athletes such as Ethan Nell and Hannah Bergemann receiving their first bicycles as kids, revealing the origins of lifelong relationships between humans and their two-wheeled vehicles. Written and directed by Jeremy Grant, the film follows some of these same riders around the world as they complete stunts that defy both gravity and death on mountains, in forests and on cliff sides. Catch the flick from the comfort of your car at Colchester's
Sunset Drive-in on Thursday, July 23, starting at dusk.
2. Laugh Riot
click to enlarge - Matthew Thorsen ©️ Seven Days
- Nathan Hartswick and Natalie Miller
Miss getting your LOL on at Burlington's
Vermont Comedy Club? Owners Natalie Miller and Nathan Hartswick have kept the laughs coming throughout the coronavirus pandemic with their weekly online variety show
Talk to Us (Please)! Hop on the club's Facebook, YouTube or Twitch channels on Friday, July 24, at 8 p.m. for jokes, characters, celebrity guests and more streamed from the couple's home.
3. Sign of the Times
Bread and Puppet Theater performers are responding to present-day social and political challenges in the best way they know how: Through offbeat and subversive puppetry. The Glover-based theater troupe invites audience members to its rural farm for
Insurrection-Resurrection Services, a theatrical "lamentation for the thousands of unnecessary deaths caused by both police and virus." Grab tickets
online for a performance on Saturday, July 25, at 4 p.m. in Glover.
4. Signature Sound
"I'd like to think that when someone puts on one of my records they would know from the first notes, 'That's
Joe Louis Walker,'" says the American blues musician in his bio. From his 1986 debut
Cold Is the Night to 2020's
Blues Comin' On, the guitarist, singer and songwriter has cemented his spot as a genre mainstay. The "boundary-pushing blues rocker," as NPR described him, plays in Plattsburgh, N.Y., on Saturday, July 25, at 7:30 p.m. as part of the Curbside at Harborside weekly drive-in music series.
5. Play Outside
What could be a better setting for a socially distant theater performance than a two-acre apple orchard with rolling hills and a valley view? BarnArts Center for the Arts offers
Words in the Field, an al fresco presentation of monologues by BarnArts actors in the
Fable Farm Fermentory orchard in Barnard. The show benefits BarnArts and its community theater program. Audience members may
choose from two performances, at 4 p.m. or 7 p.m., on Sunday, July 26, replete with dinner and drinks. Preregistration is required.
6. Between the Lines
A list titled "Where to Start With Flannery O'Connor," published on the New York Public Library website, hails the 20th-century American author's work as "unique in tone and unmatched in craft." Some of O'Connor's most widely read works include her 1955 collection
A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Short Stories and the 1952 novel
Wise Blood. The 2020 documentary
Flannery reads into the life and work of the Savannah, Ga., native known for her Southern Gothic style. The doc is available for streaming from the
Vermont International Film Festival through July 31.
7. Fine Art
click to enlarge - Courtesy of Michael Levine
- "Racism Has No Refuge"
The
T.W. Wood Gallery in Montpelier is currently closed to the public due to the pandemic, but its
2020 Members Show must go on. This year, the annual exhibition is online only and on view through September 15. Visit the
twwoodgallery.org to browse prints by Heidemarie Holmes-Heiss, paintings by Joann DiNicola, collage by Michael Levine and works by 11 other Vermont creatives.