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CHESTER, Vt. — For more than 40 years, this annual event has been a hallmark kickoff to the fall foliage season, where thousands of people converge on Chester’s historic Village Green from all over New England to support Vermont artisans and businesses.
Visitors to this free outdoor event will find the center of town lined with delicious food, pottery, fine woodworking, fiber art, jewelry, photography, glass, and much more with something of interest for everyone.
In addition to many new vendors and returning favorites, we’ll have artisan demonstrations, field games, farm animals, raffle prizes, and lots of family fun activities. Last but not least, we’ve announced a fantastic lineup of musicians who will be performing live on stage shows both days.
Music lineupSaturday, Sept. 18: George Nostrand (noon to 2 p.m.), Moon Hollow (2 p.m. to 4 p.m.), M.O.D. (4 p.m. to 6 p.m.), Ali T. & The Band (6 p.m. to 8 p.m.)
Sunday, Sept. 19: Jamie Lee Thurston (noon to 2 p.m.), Western Terrestrials (2 p.m. to 4 p.m.), The Break Maids (4 p.m. to 6 p.m.)
Agricultural entertainmentThe Farm Olympic Games: Kicking off with Potato Sack Racing, open sign-up games will run all afternoon including Pumpkin Bowling, Corncob Darts, Haystack Maze, Egg Tossing, Giant Pumpkin Rolling, Polish Horseshoes, Cornhole, and more. Participation in the Farm Olympics automatically enters you into the raffle prize contest. The games will be on Saturday, Sept. 18, from noon to 4 p.m. and Sunday, Sept. 19, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Apple Cider Pressing: Marvin Campbell will be demonstrating, offering tastings, and selling fresh-pressed apple cider from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days.
Beekeeping Exhibit: Dancin’ with the Honeybees is an assembly and workshop program presented by Cliff Sunflower, owner of Honey Bear Farms with 25 years of beekeeping experience. As an environmental educator talented in audience communication, Cliff translates his knowledge into a program of creative dramatics that makes this exhibit an exciting educational event. The Beekeeping Booth will be set up from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. with a 35-minute program demonstration scheduled at 1 p.m. both days.
Worm Farm Exhibit: “We’re teaching kids respect for nature and how to care for things and hold them gently,” said Kim Ray. Little Diggers Worm Farm is an educational workshop created and ran by Lyric, 6, and Luca, 9, that teaches kids how to make their own worm farms. Little Diggers offers small batches of worms for mini worm farm kits, small start vermicomposting buckets, bait fishing worms, and a whole educational demonstration to go with it.
Cowboy Poet: Mark Munzert is known as the 2021 International Western Music Association Nominee for Poet of the Year, 2018 National Cowboy Poetry Champion, and a 2017 inductee to the Adirondack Cowboy Hall of Fame. From 11 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Sept. 18, Mark will be performing “poetic parlanand rhymsical recitin’ to make you smile, laugh, tear-up and ponder.”
Farm Animals: Goats from the Slippery Slope Goat Farm and sheep from Morse Brook Farm will be featured in the Ag Field with the other exhibits both days from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Morse Brook Farm will host a demo show of the sheep dog’s role in sheep farming at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. both days.
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