Summer is the perfect time to celebrate all that we love about the Upper Valley and festivals are the perfect way to do this.
Each summer you can fill your weekends with fun.
Grab your local favorite snack at the Food Truck Festival, taste a freshly picked strawberry swimming in whipped cream at the Claremont Strawberry Festival or admire the kaleiscope of colors at the Quechee Balloon Festival.
Here’s at list of dates that our festivals usually fall on.
SNSC Strawberry Festival
June 15, 2019. The Special Needs Support Center hosts an annual strawberry festival in Lebanon. There will a strawberry dessert tasting contest, a bbq and beer garden at Salt Hill, live music, raffle, and activities for the kids. Cost: $8, 5 and under free. Time: 11 am – 3 pm
Quechee Balloon Festival
June 14-16, 2019. The Quechee Balloon Festival is a site to behold! As it celebrates its 40th year in 2019, it can Over twenty balloons create pops of vibrant color across the sky. You can watch as they drift along or ride in one yourself. There are multiple flights throughout the weekend to get a chance at this unique opportunity.
Art in the Park
June 15, 2019. Art in Park Festival in Canaan on the green. Local artisans will sell their art and crafts. 9 am -3 pm.
Summer Revels
June 22-23, 2019. Take part in the annual event that celebrates art, music, and story telling at Summer Revels. Bring yourself, a friend, or the whole family for an evening of fun. 5:30 – 8:30 pm. Free.
Lebanon Food Truck Festival
June 21-22, 2019. Lebanon Food Truck Festival. A new favorite to the local festivals. It is so well attended that they made it a two day event because tickets sold out so quickly. Thirteen of our favorite food truck vendors we know and love (and maybe you don’t and want to try) will be attending. There will be a line for samples and a line to order off their menu. Cost: One day pass: $8 age 6-12 $5, Two day pass: $15, ages 6-12 $9 Under 5 free. Time: Friday 5-9 pm, Saturday 11-3 pm.
Enfield Fair
June 22, 2019. Enfield Family Fair at Huse Park.
Solstice Fest
June 22nd, 2019. Ride or run the trails at Mt. Ascutney in Brownsville, VT for Sport Trails of the Ascutney Basin’s annual event. There will be guided rides, runs, and hikes if you’re interested. VINS and the National Park Service will be onsite to offer fun nature and ecology activities. Enjoy food and live music as well from 4-10 pm. Cost: $40, ages 17-21 $20, 16 and under free. Time: 8 am – 10 pm.
Vermont Symphony Orchestra TD Bank Summer Festival
July 5, 2019. Vermont Symphony Orchestra TD Bank Summer Festival Tour. Enjoy music and fireworks at Suicide Six Ski Area in S. Pomfret. Bring a picnic or some lawn chairs and relax. Listen to Gershwin, Joplin, Bernsein, Copland, compositions by John Williams. Cost: $5-35. Time: 5:30 – 9:30 pm
Vinyl Music Festival
July 6, 2019. The American Vinyl Music Festival. An amazing collection of some of your favorite rock artist together in one band with special musical guests at Stage Road in S. Pomfret. You’ll find musicians from bands like Steely Dan, Boston, Wailers, James Brown Band, and Fosterchild. They’ll play hits from classic rock songs. Special guests include Mark McGrath from Sugar Ray, Matt Sorum from Guns N’ Roses, The Uptown Horns from the Rolling Stones, Brian Quinn from Candlebox and more. Locals Evelyn Cormier, who was on American Idol, and Jim Yaeger, a Woodstock local, will be performing as well. Cost: $20+ Time: 5 pm
Mountain Veg Fest
July 13, 2019. Montain Veg Fest is a plant-based food festival at Colburn Park in Lebanon. This festival will have speakers, cooking demos, vendors, activities, and entertainment. You can find a new pet, adopting a rescue animal. Cost: Free. Time: 10 am – 4 pm.
Norwich Fair
July 20-21, 2019. A fun family fair sponsored by the Norwich Lions Club on the green in Norwich. This fair is in its 31st year. A mix of rides for teens, rides for tots, and games to test your luck. The carpet slide is popular too. Grab some food at the fair vendors, an ice cream at Mac’s Maple, or just enjoy the morning parade. Kids also enjoy using the playground at the elementary school. Cost: no admission fee, just cost of purchases and rides at the fair. Time: TBD.
Bradford Fair
July 19-21, 2019. Bradford Fair in Bradford, VT. This fair has some unique activities that set it apart from other fairs around here: cornhole tournament, lawn mower and atv pulling, rodeo, monster truck rides, and motorcross sports. They also have traditional fair fun too: pet some animals, zoom on some rides, grab a snack at a vendor, and relax at a concert. For news and updates check out their Facebook page.
North Haverhill Fair
July 25-29th, 2019. North Haverhill Fair has rides, horse shows, pig racing, tractor pulls, concerts arts & crafts, horse shows where horses dance bow and more, tractor pulls, lumber jack contest, 4-H animal shows, classic car show, demolition derby, kiddie parade, face painting, milk mustache contest, North Haverhill’s Got Talent and more. Cost: $12, kids 5-12, $3, under 5 free. Time: Wed. 4-7:30 pm+, Thurs. 9 am – 8:30 pm+, Fri. 8 am – 8:30 pm+, Sat. 9 am – 8 pm+, Sun. 8 am – 4 pm.
Harpoon BBQ Festival
July 27-28th, 2019. Harpoon BBQ Festival in Windsor, VT. Over 30 participants from around New England are vying for your vote as the best BBQ. There’s live music to entertain you all day. Cost: $15 (ticket includes 1 beer/soda). Kids under 12 are free. Time: Sat. 11 am – 7 pm, Sun. 11 am – 5 pm.
Vermont Be True Yoga Festival
August 2rd-4th, 2019.Vermont Be True Yoga Festival in Fairlee, VT. This weekend long event is held at Milldale Farm Center for Wellness Enjoy open mic, meditation, spiritual rave, wellness workshops, inspirational speakers, hiking, horseback riding, paddle boarding and more. Come for the day or stay the weekend. Some activities and food are not included in your ticket purchase. Be aware this event is cash only and unplugged with no cell or wifi. Cost: $25-200+ Children under 12 are free. Time: Fri. at 1 pm to Sun. at 2 pm.
Cornish Fair
August 16-18, 2019. Our beloved family fair. 2019 will mark the Cornish Fair’s 70th anniversary! See oxen pulls, woodsmen competitions, horse shows, and antique tractors. See tools from over the years in the blacksmith and farm musuem. Take the kids to see the animals at the 4-H area. Zip along on a ride or just enjoy the view on the ferris wheel. Munch on fried dough or cotton candy. See the craft fair exhibits. Enjoy the evening entertainment and performers throughout the day. Take a helicopter ride. There’s so much to see and do, for a sampling of the weekend’s offerings here’s 2018’s schedule. There’s also an area dedicated to kids with water play, crafts, coloring, and more. It’s a must if you’ve never been. Cost: $12, ages 6-12 $3, under 6 free. There are also ride bracelets and weekend passes.
Vermont NanoFest
Aug 17, 2019. Vermont NanoFest at Tunbridge Fairgrounds, Tunbridge, VT. Twelve nanobreweries will be offering their products for you to try:
Brocklebank Craft Brewing (your hosts for NanoFest!), Bent Hill Brewing, Good Measure Brewing, Green Empire Brewing, Halyard Brewing Co., Hired Hand Brewing Co., Jasper Murdock’s at Norwich Inn, Kickback Brewing, Red Clover Ale Co, Saint J Brewery, Simple Roots Brewing, and Upper Pass Beer Co. There will be food trucks and local bands too which you can see on their website. Cost: $10 or $15 at the gate, non-drinkers and under 21 free. Beer Tickets: $1 per 3 oz pour. Offering 3, 6, 9, and 12 oz pours. CASH ONLY. Time: 12 – 6 pm
Central Vermont Chamber Music Festival
Aug. 24, 2019. The Central Vermont Chamber Music Festival will be held at the North Universalist Chapel in Woodstock, VT. They will be playing Beethoven. Cost: $10. Time: 4- 6 pm.‘
Brew fest
Aug 24, 2019. Come check out BrewFest in Colburn Park in Lebanon. There will be beer, live music, and games. Cost: $10+ Time: 12-4 pm
Quechee Games
August 25, 2018. 2019 TBD. Quechee Games are held on the polo field in Quechee. This event is hosted by the New England Scottish Arts Centre, which provides classes in bagpiping, highland dance, pipeband drumming, fiddle, and more in New Hampshire. The Quechee Games includes music, dancing, bands and parade, and athletics competition, and children’s games. Cost: $20, kids under 12 free. Time: 9 am – 5 pm.
Beyond Upper Valley
Grafton Food & Spirits Festival in Grafton, VT. July 7, 2019. Begins at 11 am.
History Alive spsonsored by the Hillsboro Fest and Fair Committee. Aug. 17-18, 2019. Come and see what life was like during the 1700s and 1800s. See musket and cannon fire, hands-on demonstrations like butter churning and stone wall building from re-enactors (in period dress) from all over New England. 9 am – 5 pm. $10 per adult. $5 per child. 5 and under free.
Apple Pie Crafts Fair. Held at the Newport, NH town common on Aug. 24, 2019. 9 am – 3 pm.
Festivals that happen in June, July, and August. 2019 dates TBD.
