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Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day all March long at these Vermont events

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Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day all March long at these Vermont events


When is St. Patrick’s Day? Here’s why we celebrate the holiday

Who was Saint Patrick and why do we celebrate him? Here’s what to know about St. Patrick’s Day.

March is almost here, meaning warmer weather and St. Patrick’s Day are just around the corner, and Vermont is getting ready to celebrate.

The state’s large Irish population leads to celebrations all month long, from parades to festivals to skiing challenges. With festive Celtic music, traditional Irish dancing, decorated floats and of course, lots and lots of green, Vermont is sure to have a St. Patrick’s Day event for everyone.

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Here’s a roundup of St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in the greater Burlington area that will keep you celebrating the Irish holiday all March long.

Burlington Irish Heritage Festival

Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day throughout March with the Burlington Irish Heritage Festival, a cultural month-long festival that gathers local musicians, dancers and artists for events that celebrate Irish-American culture in Burlington.

This year’s 30th annual festival kicks off on Sunday, March 2 with ceili dancing from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Richmond Free Library Community Room. Music concerts, language learning sessions, poetry readings, dance performances and more will take place up until the headline event, a concert from The Murphy Beds at Contois Auditorium on Sunday, March 16.

A full schedule of events for the festival can be found on the Burlington Irish Heritage website.

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PaddyFest

Rí Rá, an authentic Irish pub, offers another multi-day celebration in Burlington.

From March 10-17, the pub will be jam-packed with events for PaddyFest, including live music, Irish dance performances, Guinness glass engraving and rugby game watches, all while a special St. Patrick’s menu is available to snack on.

Rí Rá is located on 123 Church St. A full schedule of events for St. Patrick’s week can be found here.

The Lucky Leprechaun Challenge

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Want to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day on the slopes? Head to Smugglers’ Notch Resort in Jeffersonville on Sunday, March 16 for the Lucky Leprechaun Challenge.

From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., skiers who head down Morse Mountain can collect raffle tickets from a leprechaun, with extra tickets offered for wearing green. All tickets should be submitted at FunZone 2.0 by 3:30 p.m., with prize drawings beginning at 3:45 p.m.

Food and drink specials will also be available from ReFuel Café for all participants. Smugglers’ Notch Resort can be found at 4323 Vermont Rte. 108 in Jeffersonville.

Saint Albans St. Patrick’s Day Parade and Festival

Back for its 11th year, the Saint Albans St. Patrick’s Day Parade will take place on St. Patrick’s Day itself, Monday, March 17. The parade will start at the top of Taylor Park and make its way to City Hall.

There, a parade afterparty will keep the festivities going all day long, with music, dance, shamrock tattoos, Irish food and even green punch.

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S.D. Ireland Truck Parade

Burlington’s Church Street Marketplace will also host a parade on St. Patrick’s Day, where the S.D. Ireland construction company parades over 15 cement trucks down the Marketplace in an annual celebration that raises money for cancer research.

The marketplace’s parade will start at 3 p.m. on Monday, March 17.



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Vermont’s regular deer season starts Nov. 15

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Vermont’s regular deer season starts Nov. 15


MONTPELIER — Hunters are gearing up for the start of Vermont’s traditionally popular 16-day regular deer season that begins Saturday, Nov. 15 and ends Sunday, Nov. 30.

A hunter may take one legal buck during this season if they did not already take one during the archery deer season. The definition of a legal buck depends on the Wildlife Management Unit (WMU). A map of the WMUs is on pages 24 and 25 of the 2025 Vermont Hunting & Trapping Guide available from license agents and highway rest areas.

In WMUs C, D1, D2, E1, E2, G, I, L, M, P, and Q a legal buck is any deer with at least one antler three inches or more in length.

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In WMUs A, B, F1, F2, H, J1, J2, K, N, and O a legal buck is any deer with at least one antler with two or more antler points one inch in length or longer.

“The greatest numbers of deer continue to be in western regions of the state and other valley areas,” said Vermont Fish and Wildlife’s deer biologist Nick Fortin. “The Green Mountains and Northeast Kingdom offer more of a big woods experience with fewer, but often larger, deer.”

Vermont hunting licenses include a buck tag for this season and a late season bear tag (for Nov. 15-23), cost $28 for residents and $102 for nonresidents. Hunters under 18 years of age get a break at $8 for residents and $25 for nonresidents. Licenses are available on Fish and Wildlife’s website and from license agents statewide.

“I am urging all hunters to wear a fluorescent orange hat and vest to help maintain Vermont’s very good hunting season safety record,” said Vermont Fish and Wildlife Commissioner Jason Batchelder.

A 2025 Deer Season Hunting Guide can be downloaded from the department’s website at https://www.vtfishandwildlife.com/. The guide includes a map of the Wildlife Management Units (WMUs), season dates, regulations, and other helpful information.

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Hunters are required to report deer in person at a big game reporting station during the regular season. Online reporting will not be available. This requirement allows biologists to collect important information from as many deer as possible.

Hunters who get a deer on Nov. 15 or 16 can help Vermont’s deer management program by reporting their deer at one of the biological check stations operated by Fish and Wildlife Department personnel listed, including the Bennington Fish Hatchery.

Hunters who do not go to a biological reporting station are asked to provide a tooth from their deer. Tooth envelopes and tooth removal instructions are available at all big game reporting stations. Each tooth will be cross sectioned to accurately determine the deer’s age, and the results will be posted on the Fish and Wildlife website next spring.



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Vermont seeks new developer for locked juvenile facility

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Vermont seeks new developer for locked juvenile facility


Vermont is seeking a new developer to build a 15-bed locked facility for youth involved in the criminal justice system. The request for proposal comes a few months after the Department for Children and Families dropped its plans to build the facility in Vergennes.

The RFP, issued Oct. 17, puts the responsibility for finding a location, as well as securing any local permits or zoning changes, on the developer.

Vermont hasn’t had a permanent facility for justice-involved youth since closing Woodside Juvenile Rehabilitation Center in 2020 amid allegations that staff used excessive force against kids.

The state has struggled to replace Woodside, encountering local pushback in Vergennes and, before that, in Newbury, where it first attempted to build a six-bed facility.

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More from Vermont Public: Lawsuit, regulatory reports allege ‘dangerous’ restraints of children at Woodside

The lack of a secure youth facility has meant more juveniles have been held in adult prisons, according to the Department of Corrections. From Oct. 1, 2024, through Sept. 30, 2025, there were 26 youth held in Vermont prisons, said Jordan Pasha, DOC’s director of classification. That’s up from 20 the previous year and 13 the year before that.

Most youth accused of a crime are placed in the custody of the Department for Children and Families, and their cases play out in family court, which is confidential. But there are about a dozen more serious offenses, such as murder and sexual assault, that can result in a youth being charged as an adult. In those cases, a juvenile can be held in prison while their case plays out.

Federal regulations require that kids be held in “sight and sound separation” from adults in prison, which often means they are held in what amounts to solitary confinement.

DOC officials say their facilities are not set up to hold youth.

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“If it [was] something that we no longer had to do, I think our staff would be very happy about that,” said Haley Sommer, DOC’s director of communications.

One 16-year-old was recently held at Marble Valley Regional Correctional Facility in Rutland for 19 days. He told child welfare advocates that he was alone in a cell for 10 to 16 hours a day, and described the experience as “inhumane,” according to Matthew Bernstein, the state’s child, youth and family advocate.

“I think that any policymaker, indeed, any Vermonter should find it unacceptable that we can’t offer young people something better,” Bernstein said.

That youth was eventually transferred to Red Clover, a temporarily locked four-bed facility DCF opened in Middlesex last year.

More from Vermont Public: Temporary facility for justice-involved youth could open by September, but hurdles remain

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Since it opened, Red Clover has been full 57% of time and the average length of stay is about 41 days, according to the office of the youth, child and family advocate.

Deputy Defender General Marshall Pahl said he’s generally been pleased with the conditions at Red Clover, but he’s concerned about how long youth are being held there.

“It’s a temporary detention facility,” Pahl said. “As we start using it for holding kids for weeks instead of days, or months instead of weeks, all of a sudden it’s really an inappropriate facility.”

DCF officials did not agree to an interview, but in a written statement said that a situation like a youth being held for an extended period of time in an adult prison highlights the need for a new locked youth facility in Vermont.

Objections remain to the state’s plans, however. Bernstein, the child, youth and family advocate, said a 15-bed facility is too big for the state, pointing to Red Clover’s utilization data.

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“I think it pretty strongly indicates that we should pause,” he said. “We should slow down a little if we’re talking about building a brand new 15-bed facility from scratch.”

Bernstein said the state should prioritize community-based programs for kids — ones that keep them out of locked facilities.





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US Route 7 in Leicester closed due to crash, delays expected

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US Route 7 in Leicester closed due to crash, delays expected


LEICESTER, Vt. (WCAX) – US Route 7 in the town of Leicester, just south of Salisbury, is closed due to a crash, according to Vermont State Police.

The closure notification was sent out Sunday at 3:30p.m.

The New Haven Barracks issued a traffic notification stating the closure is expected to last for an undetermined amount of time. Specific details about the crash are not yet available.

Police said updates will be provided as when they can.

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Motorists should expect delays in the area or seek alternate routes, according to the notification. Police advised drivers to use caution.



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