The 7 Best Vermont Events This Week: February 12-19, 2025 | Seven Days

Illuminated Manuscripts

Saturday 15

Winterdeep, Treewild’s family-friendly sound, light and art installation at All Souls Interfaith Gathering in Shelburne, enhances the outdoors with projections of seasonal poetry. As folks of all ages saunter down the meandering trail, ambient music, illustrations and larger-than-life paper lanterns adorn the landscape — all generated by Vermont artists and musicians.

Funny Girls

Thursday 13-Sunday 16

Richard Curtis’ 2003 rom-com Love Actually begins with a simple plea — open your eyes to love. Homegrown all-female comedy group Stealing From Work leans deeper into that request with Love … Well, Actually at Off Center for the Dramatic Arts in Burlington. The offbeat, irreverent sketch show asks viewers to confront the deluge of messy and weird that love brings with it.

Sensory Special

Friday 14

Epicurious valentines revel in Dining in the Dark, Gold Restaurant’s unique culinary experience in Burlington. The multisensory adventure affords foodies the rare opportunity to abandon sight (via low lighting or blackout mask) in pursuit of heightened gastronomic enjoyment. Partial proceeds benefit the Vermont Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired.

Waiting in the Wings

Friday 14-Sunday 16

Northern Stage’s New Works Now festival in White River Junction and Hanover, N.H., reinforces the org’s mission of developing, nurturing and mounting works by up-and-coming American playwrights. This year’s staged readings include taut drama Intimate Surveillance by Catherine Stewart and farcical madcap comedy Wonder! A Woman Keeps a Secret by Talene Monahon.

Sowing Seeds

Saturday 15

Vermont educator and “horticulture therapist” Maggie Herskovits launches her first book, An Urban Field Guide to the Plants, Trees and Herbs in Your Path, at the Hive on Pine in Burlington. The guide introduces readers to more than 50 plants found within the confines of concrete jungles — and inspires folks to consider with wonder how life still teems in unexpected places.

Oh, Sappy Days!

Opens Saturday 15

Prepare your taste buds for late winter’s gooey gift, ’cause it’s that time of year again. During the weeklong Magic of Maple event at Billings Farm & Museum in Woodstock, guests learn about our region’s maple traditions and history, witness sap flowing straight from the source, and delight in sugar on snow demos.

Cold Play

Through February 23

The Brattleboro Museum & Art Center showcases the annual “Artful Ice Shanties” outdoor exhibit at Retreat Farm, a place-based honoring of New England’s ice fishing history, coupled with innovative artistic talent. From dawn to dusk, visitors drop in to admire the expressive structures. February 22 brings a lighthearted awards ceremony for more notably inventive efforts.