09/14/24: This was the 3rd annual Whoopie Festival in downtown Rutland, VT; it's hosted by the…read moreChamber & Economic Development of the Rutland Region. The festival was located on Center St. and Merchants Row. Free parking can be found on street. There were many tents with bakers sharing their Whoopie Pie samples. Festival goers will need to purchase tickets to be able to get samples from each Whoopie Pie booth. They will then vote which one they liked best. The awards will be given to the bakers based on their Whoopie pies; there are three categories, Overall Best, People's Choice Award, and Most Creative. The booths will have whoopie pies and baked goods for purchase. There were many events happening throughout. They had box car racing where creatively made "cars" would cruise down the hill. There were bouncy houses, live performances, food trucks, family activities, and a cotton candy vendor. There were bakers making the largest Whoopie Pie in Rutland. They even had turf placed on the street with blocks, Cornhole, and other games for the kids. I've had so many samples and my favorites were the caramel apple whoopie and the pumpkin maple whoopie pie. The turnout was great; there were approximately 4500 people there; it definitely got crowded and hard to walk through at times. Overall, a fun event especially for those who love whoopie pies!

Love it here. Free…read morecompletely free - no admission fee, no parking fee. Very friendly people. Small business vibes. Follow your maps and once you cross the bridge they have tons of signs to direct you, hard to get lost. Trust they're hours, we showed up in the pouring rain and they're still open 9am-5pm weekdays. As soon as you walk in you'll get free samples. We sampled 5 cheeses and 2 grades of maple syrup - it sells itself. One cheese is made with unpasteurized milk - others include sharp cheddar, sage, smoked. Convinced me to try traveling home with cheese for the first time. Tons of products available for sell including from other farms as well. I recommend picking up some of the Red Kite Candy caramels they have there. If you liked it as much as me their factory is about a 30 min drive away. Other activities include petting animals (not in winter), walking trail, and self guided tour of their maple house. Wasn't able to do the trail in the rain but I would estimate you can do all of this in 2 hours. Not at all like Billings Farm if you're concerned about going to both or only have time for one. Billings has an admission fee, no samples of milk or cheese though the make both. More of a museum but they do have up close interactions with their cows (even in winter) for the kids, butter churning, candle dipping. Recommend Billing for taking kids on homesteading field trip, Sugarbush a quick stop for foodie/charcuterie person IMPORTANT: They do NOT sell sugarbush products at any of the stores in Woodstock so don't plan to buy more later and have regrets like us - we looked in every store and couldn't find it. Not sure about Quechee though. Products can also be ordered online and shipped

I'm a cheese head…read more So when my friend was making our itinerary for a trip to VT, I was really excited to try this place! Weather got a little hariy getting there with the slushy roads, but we made it! It's pretty remote location with no street lights, so if driving in the dark look for the signs to get there and trust your GPS. There's a large parking lot across from the entrance to the little store/shop. The shop is actually the owners old family home I belive. We arrived pretty much at closing time, but we were still welcomed warmly. We got a cheese & maple syrup tasting which was yum and informative, and the staff member that did it was really nice, I forgot her name, but see photo below. One of the cheeses has won a cheese competition, very cool. We also got to meet the owner, but she was busy getting Christmas orders together. I perused all of the cheeses I wanted and settled on 4. We got to try 2 out of the 4 from the cheese sampling. The nice lady that checked me out even gave me some nice to-go samples as well. The smoked cheese was my fav, and the sage. But I enjoyed them all. I was able to easily fly home to TX with them due to the cold weather of the season. After the tasting, we got to peruse the store. They have so much other stuff to buy in additon to cheese and maple, tons of knick-knacks and gifts and merch. We didn't get to explore the farm after since it was pitch black when we left, too bad. Enjoy!

Each Father's Day weekend this quaint little town in VT holds a fabulous Balloon Festival…read more Hot Air Balloons rise early at 6:00 am and 6:00 pm and hover just over the water. Swimmers from Lake Pinneo can enjoy the day at the beach and watch as they mirror off the water. Parking is available for a small fee. Admission Tickets are good for the entire weekend and Dad's get in Free on Sundays. Adults -- $10.00, Children 6-12 --$5.00 and children 5 and under are FREE!! The balloon are best to see early in the morning. So go in your sweats or PJ's with a blanket and coffee. The smell of bacon will call to you as they cook breakfast so bring some money to shop and buy food. There is a small area for little tots and young kids to play. There is also a small train ride that goes around the field. All of the little events for kids are paid by tickets at the ticket booth. The traffic in and out is slow moving so plan ahead. Route 4 is the only way in and out to this field.

Didn't see one balloon even inflated. I can understand not going up due to the weather, but they…read moreshould have had inflated balloons to at least look at. I've been to other balloon festivals and there is always at least one balloon inflated at all times. The 2 stages were right next to each other so events had to keep waiting for the other event to end. Buses back to parking lot were chaotic, people would wait in line got an hour, then a bus would pull up at the end of the line and let the people at the end board. And the bus could barely get out of the lot because of the confusion. Won't go again.

poorly organized, favorite events cancelled or greatly minimized. paid for a $140 for a dinner that…read moreran out of food before we got served any. After going for many years I doubt we will ever return.

Men in kilts tossing cabers, women in kilts throwing hammers, what's not to love?…read more Without a doubt the best highland games I've been to with marching bands, Celtic bands, venders coming from all over New England, Canada, and beyond. The food was awesome, where else can you find fast food haggis by the gallon? Something as simple as bread pudding made into something to die for by adding whisky sauce - OMG! Meat pies, bridies, sausage rolls, bangers, rumbledethumps, cock - leekie - soup, scotch broth, lamb stew, shepherd's pie, scotch eggs, shaved lamb on a roll, pasties. In yet another tent they had tons of seafood including scotch salmon, highland crab soup......but no finnan haddie or cullen skink - what's up with that???? Did I mention the whisky tasting? Didn't make it that far - too busy sampling the scotch ales! The games are spread out all over the place and you could easily spend a day (or two) here checking out all the clan booths, games, bands, singers, border collie contests, etc. You can even buy yourself a 100% legal title - a lordship or ladyship as you will by donating money to save the Scottish Highlands, well you actually purchase a few square feet of land and the titles come with it............Lord Fin of Glencoe, etc. Did I mention lasses in mini kilts?

I love the White Mountain Boogie and Blues Fest!! I've hit it for many years. I was there last…read moreyear in Aug 1016. My friends are there now and I wish I was too. I hope to make it back to next years Fest. The Blues are always great! (Friday, Saturday and Sunday). The food booths have delicious dishes. (Breakfast Burritos, Crab Cakes, Cheese Steaks, Burgers, Dogs and lots more.) The setting is awesome - camp ground The area is beautiful. The people are always friendly and fun. This is a great festival!! I've added a few photos from the 2016 fest

What a great annual event! The camp ground gets full, so book early! A wonderful vibe, everybody is…read morenice. The ticket prices are good for all the national and international talent they book to play each year. You can attend one day, or all three. There are vendors on site with food, drink, and crafts. You can bring your own cooler, and camp right there. If not, plenty of lodging in the area. For the musicians, they are truly treated like VIP's! The people that cook for the musicians KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING!!!! The food was plenty and they cook things to order. There clearly was a lot of preparation for this weekend. The people at the Backstage BBQ did a phenomenal job, I really can't say enough about them. For the attendees, there are many really good food options. Plenty of clean port-o-potties. And the fellow attendees are super nice, willing to share. This family runs a great festival and they just celebrated their twentieth year. I hope it never ends. This is what summer is all about.

As soon as I heard about the festival which holds the Guinness World Book Records for the most jack…read moreo lanterns lit at one time (30,581 to be exact), it immediately made its way to my bucket list. It took a few years, but I finally got there and it was just as wonderful as I had hoped, even in the cold rain! The weather added a bit of fog and mystery to this amazing annual festival in a quaint New England town. And really what's more perfect than a sweet little town with incredible foliage and perfect crisp, cool mountain air? The streets of town were absolutely filled with pumpkins! Everywhere we turned there was a new display to discover! Some kept We loved seeing them during the day, and then again at night. Make sure you plan to stay for both! Well worth it! Some shopping around town at both new and vintage stores, costume parade watching, fair and street food truck noshing, games and races for kiddos too. The entire town is one big festival! We enjoyed a seasonal, candle-lit dinner and sat outside where the wait staff were dressed for Halloween, and then it was time to head back to see the pumpkins lit at night! Seeing them all lit up was magical!! The Pumpkin towers was awesome! Don't miss that! I actually thought the bit of rain we experienced was perfect as the light from the Jack o lanterns reflected off the puddles! So even if the weather isn't perfect, don't let that stop you! I've been to a few pumpkin festivals and what I love about this one is they are all real! There's nothing more going on than the simple art of pumpkin carving. Street parking was easy to find. Everyone was super nice and helpful. The entire weekend was amazing! If you have the chance to go, make a weekend out of it!! *older photos did not sync with this review. Check 'em out!

Simply awesome. Every year, the festival seems to pull in some very surprising names. Whats better…read morethan wandering around Church St from one show to another? Wandering around the waterfront while enjoying the sunset & great jazz! The Discover Jazz Festival in Burlington is annually rated one of the best Jazz Festivals in North America. Quote from the Boston Globe: "Burlington Discover Jazz Festival is a cross between New Orleans (a jazz/funk programming mix) and Montreal (events involving the whole town)...What other Festival has concerts in city hall?"

This is by far the best of Burlington's festivals. It's a shame it tends to happen while the…read moreweather is still a touch cold and rainy but the jazz makes up for it. It's a huge bonus when the weather cooperates. If only they'd wait a week or two to have it.

I decided to visit Vermont with my girlfriend and it just happened to be the weekend that this Beer…read moreFestival was taking place. Naturally, since I love beer festivals, I had to buy tickets and attend this. We drove 5+ hours from Hudson County NJ, to see many places Vermont has to offer, which included all of there awesome beers and breweries, so this was perfect this festival was happening. We went to the Friday night session. We took and uber from our place to the event, so we can both drink the whole time. Tickets were $44, and included 15 tasting tickets as well as souvenir glass. Beers over 8% required 2 tickets. And you can purchase an additional 5 tickets inside the event for $10. Although it might not seem like alot, the 15 tickets last awhile, and you will be feeling nice from all the awesome beers you will have tried. So many good breweries were at the July 2019 event. I enjoyed getting to taste all of the best beers Vermont has to offer in one central location. This was such a fun event to attend. There are also plenty of food vendors, we bought some loaded tater tots and popcorn end of the night, as well as free water refills if you need it between beer sampling. I would recommend everyone attend this beer festival if your in the area. I would come back in 2020.

I love summer brew fest in Burlington! You buy your tickets and then can samples tons of beers from…read moretons of breweries during your session. You don't have to worry about not having enough tickets and you also get to keep your tasting glass! Great location down by Lake Champlain and makes for the perfect summer day. I met lots of people from out of town who come every year and rave about this fest! All the beer festivals (and other festivals in general) in Burlington are awesome. I recommend going, it's more than worth the ticket price!

I'm a local photographer who has used Patch Orchards multiple times without issue, until this week,…read morewhen I had a shocking experience with them. As usual, I arrived with my clients, politely said hello and stated I was there to take photos by the Christmas trees. Christine (whom I had never met) said nothing about rules or purchase requirements and explicitly told me I could take photos. Afterward, my clients warmed up with their baby in the car and planned to cut a tree, but Christine assumed we weren't buying anything and escalated the situation for no reason. I left with my clients down the hill to take a few last shots and as I was getting into my car, Christine brought her husband Mike down in his truck to "scare me off". They flew past me, tried to block me from leaving the road, yelled at me to "never be seen on the property again," and accused me of "taking photos without buying anything" as if that were a crime. It was aggressive, threatening and completely unprofessional. This is a farm open to the public - visitors are NOT required to make a purchase just for stepping onto the property. If they have rules for photos, they can communicate them like adults instead of resorting to intimidation and theatrics. I won't be returning (for my own safety), and others should think twice before giving them business. If you do visit, apparently you'd better buy something immediately, since that seems to be their unspoken rule.

I love coming here for the delicious apples and other produce, apple cider donuts, maple products…read more(maple creamees, syrup, butter, candy, to name a few). The apple cider donuts are tasty when you get them hot and fresh. Their apple cider, both fresh and hard, is tasty too. The family that owns the orchard is kind and personable. If you like corn mazes, theirs is worth checking out. The views are also top notch.