Vermont

Here are 10 summer festivals in Vermont to attend this year

Published

11 months ago

June 5, 2025

Press Room

Here are 10 summer festivals in Vermont to attend this year

Pitchfork Music Festival Will Not Return To Chicago In 2025

After 19 years, the Pitchfork Music Festival has announced it will not return to Chicago in 2025.

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Looking forward to spending time outdoors at a festival or fair this summer?

Luckily, Vermont has plenty of exciting festivals lined up to celebrate the season all summer long, from June through September. From food festivals to outdoor concerts to historical agricultural fairs, the state is sure to have the perfect festival for the whole family to enjoy.

Here are 10 festivals in Vermont to attend this summer.

Vermont State Fair

The Vermont State Fair, Vermont’s oldest agricultural fair, will return this summer for the 179th time. Hosted by the Rutland Agricultural Society, this five-day event will include live entertainment, carnival rides and food trucks, as well as agricultural demonstrations like animal races or tractor shows.

Hours and ticket information for the 2025 Vermont State Fair will follow in the coming weeks.

When: Tuesday, Aug. 12 through Saturday, Aug. 16

Where: 175 S Main St., Rutland

Do Good Fest

Back in Montpelier this July is Do Good Fest, a charity music festival that benefits the Vermont Foodbank. This year, Do Good’s headliner is Grammy award-winning band The Fray, who will be joined by the Plain White T’s and Sammy Rae & The Friends.

Along with the big concert, this festival will also have two dozen food trucks, a beer garden, a donation drive and a fireworks show. General admission to Do Good Fest costs just $5, but all size donations are accepted. Children ages five and under enter for free.

When: Saturday, July 12 from 2-9 p.m.

Where: National Life Group, 1 National Life Dr., Montpelier

Quechee Hot Air Balloon Festival

Head over to the 45th annual Quechee Hot Air Balloon Festival for a dreamy weekend of hot air balloon rides through the scenic Upper Valley sky. As the longest-running hot air balloon festival in New England, this event also features live music, a kids zone and over 50 artisan vendors of local foods and goods.

Tickets, which cost $25 for adults or $5 for children, include admission for the whole weekend, so guests may come and go throughout the three-day festival. Balloon rides are sold separately.

When: Friday, June 20 through Sunday, June 22. Hours are 3-8 p.m. on Friday, 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday and 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday.

Where: Quechee Green Park, 70 Village Green, Quechee

Vermont Blueberry Festival

Nothing says summer like fresh blueberries, and Southern Vermont’s Deerfield Valley is celebrating the popular fruit with a 10-day festival.

The area-wide festival will feature various blueberry-themed events, including a blueberry parade, a blueberry kids fair, a blueberry craft fair, a blueberry parade, blueberry planting classes, a blueberry dessert competition and a blueberry pie eating contest. Additionally, the festival will be accompanied by lots of live music, farmers markets and special blueberry-infused creations from local restaurants and bars, including blueberry chicken tacos, blueberry pancakes and blueberry lemon martinis.

While most of the events for the blueberry festival are free, some may have individual costs. A full schedule with details can be found online.

When: Friday, July 25 through Sunday, Aug. 3.

Where: Various locations in Deerfield Valley

Champlain Valley Fair

Close out summer at the 103rd Champlain Valley Fair, coming to Essex Junction at the end of August. The iconic fair has plenty of agricultural demonstrations and competitions, cooking competitions, carnival rides and games, a demolition derby and more.

The ten-day fair also features a different entertainment act each night, including Lil Jon, Dustin Lynch and Gabriel Iglesias this year.

Tickets are now available online, with single-day admission starting at $12 for adults and $6 for children. Concerts and rides are sold separately.

When: Friday, Aug. 22 through Sunday, August 31. Gates open at noon on weekdays and 10 a.m. on weekends.

Where: 105 Pearl St., Essex Junction

Vermont Brewers Festival

Established in 1991, the Vermont Brewers Festival is a popular two-day craft beer event located on the picturesque shores of Lake Champlain. While sipping on beer from over 30 craft breweries, guests can shop from local food and goods vendors, enjoy live music and play lawn games like giant beer pong.

Tickets cost $60 in advance or $65 day-of. Each ticket includes 15 tabs to use as drink tickets, with five extra tickets available for purchase inside. Designated driver tickets are also available for $22 on-site only.

When: Friday, July 18 from 5:30-9:30 p.m. and Saturday, July 19 from noon to 4 p.m. or 5:30-9:30 p.m.

Where: Waterfront Park, 10 College St., Burlington

Art in the Park

Each summer, the Chaffee Art Center hosts an Art in the Park Festival showcasing fine art, photography and crafts from local artists. The free festival also includes specialty foods, children’s activities, live music and demonstrations of artworks in progress.

When: Saturday, Aug. 9 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, Aug. 10 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Where: Main Street Park, 5 S Main St., Rutland

Burlington Wine & Food Festival

Burlington is celebrating summer with the perfect festival for wine lovers – a day of wine tasting and food sampling on the shores of Lake Champlain. The festival will feature wines from all over the world, including Italy, Spain, France and right here in Vermont, as well as artisan cheeses, meats and chocolates.

Admission costs $80 per guest for advance tickets or $95 on the day of the event. The price of the ticket includes all food sampling, wine tasting and on-site presentations.

When: Saturday, June 21 from 12:30-3:30 p.m. or 5-8 p.m.

Where: Hula Lakeside, 50 Lakeside Ave., Burlington

Best of Vermont Summer Festival

Back for a fifth year, the Best of Vermont Summer Festival is a newer festival that celebrates summer with live music, craft beverages, artisan products, specialty foods, antique tractors and kids activities. Ticket and scheduling information for this fair will be published online when made available.

When: Saturday, Aug. 23 and Sunday, Aug. 24 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Where: Okemo Field at Route 103 and Bixby Road, Ludlow

Burlington Discover Jazz Festival

In early June, jazz music will fill the streets of downtown Burlington for the 42nd Burlington Discover Jazz Festival. Musical acts will range in everything from local high school bands to a closing night tribute to Alice Coltrane, one of the most influential women in jazz.

Ticket prices vary depending on the specific show. All tickets can be bought online.

When: Wednesday, June 4 through Sunday, June 8

Where: Various locations in downtown Burlington

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Vermont

Wrong-way driver stopped on I-89, charged with DUI

Published

2 hours ago

April 19, 2026

Press Room

Wrong-way driver stopped on I-89, charged with DUI

BOLTON, Vt. (WCAX) – A wrong-way driver was safely stopped on Interstate 89 overnight Sunday.

Vermont State Police say just before 12:30 a.m., they stopped the car near marker 77, near Bolton.

The driver, Denise Lear, 60, of Revere, was charged with driving under the influence and gross negligent operation.

Lear is expected in court Monday.

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Vermont

Women’s Lacrosse Bested in Burlington by Vermont – University at Albany Great Danes

Published

14 hours ago

April 18, 2026

Press Room

Women’s Lacrosse Bested in Burlington by Vermont – University at Albany Great Danes

Score: UAlbany 4, Vermont 14

Location: Virtue Field | Burlington, Vt.

Records: UAlbany (10-5, 5-1 America East) | Vermont (8-6, 4-1 America East)

Short Story: UAlbany women’s lacrosse fell to the Vermont Catamounts on Saturday afternoon.

Key Stats

Grace Cincebox recorded a total of 14 saves with 13 goals allowed for a .565 save percentage.

Ravan Marsell led the Great Danes with two points on one goal and one assist.

Four different UAlbany players scored in the contest.

Reggie Williams was the team’s leader with three ground balls.

Delilah Mile caused a team high three turnovers.

How It Happened

The Catamounts came out of the gates hard and heavy, scoring all three goals between both sides in the first quarter.

Vermont would take an 8-0 lead in the second quarter before Amanda Williamson found the back of the net on a women-down goal to put the Great Danes on the board and make it 8-1.

The Great Danes would allow one more goal in the first half to trail 9-1 after 30-minutes of play.

Grace Cincebox would enter the half with 10 saves.

Riley Forthofer started the Great Danes off in the second half to make it a 9-2 game, before Vermont put up three more goals to take a 12-2 lead entering the final quarter of play.

Mya Carroll and Ravan Marsell both scored on back-to-back free-position goals to make it a 12-4 game.

The Catamounts finished the game with two more goals to take the win 14-4.

Up Next
The Great Danes will next have a bye week and wait to see the outcome of next week’s Vermont vs UMass Lowell game to see who will host the America East Tournament.

Social Central: Stay up to date with UAlbany women’s lacrosse by following the team on Instagram (@UAlbanyWLax), Facebook (UAlbany Women’s Lacrosse), and X (@UAlbanyWLax) for all of the latest news and highlights throughout the year.

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Vermont

Vermont lands two cities in America’s top 15 happiest list

Published

1 day ago

April 18, 2026

Press Room

Vermont lands two cities in America’s top 15 happiest list

Is creativity the missing key to better health?

Research suggests creative activities like art, music and crafts may benefit mental health as much as other key health habits.

Here’s another reason Vermont is the best New England state: It’s home to one of the top 5 happiest cities in the United States.

Plus, it has another within the top 15.

Massachusetts, on the other hand, doesn’t even break the top 50. Nor, does Connecticut or Rhode Island.

The personal finance website analyzed 182 of the largest cities in the country, and ranked Boston 63rd overall. Although the city is home to some of the nation’s top universities, high-ranking hospitals, and well-regarded companies, it didn’t break the top 50.

To get the rankings, WalletHub compared the cities using 29 metrics, including life-satisfaction index, depression rate, poverty rate, job security, and acres of parkland per 1,000 residents. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, and cities were assigned an overall happiness score.

Here’s a look at how the cities ranked.

South Burlington is No. 4 happiest city, Burlington is No. 11

South Burlington came on top for Vermont in WalletHub’s list of the happiest cities in the United States, ranking at No. 4. In scored very high for emotional and physical well-being coming in at the No. 4 spot, which made up for coming in No. 48 for community and environment. It was No. 9 for income and employment ranking. That gave it a total happiness of score of 70.15

Burlington wasn’t far behind at all, taking the No. 11 spot on the list and a happiness score of 67.54. It’s highest score was for income and employment ranking where it came second. It ranked No. 13 for community and environment and No. 21 for emotional and physical well-being.