| VOLUME 28 | * * All Arts News On the Web * * | April 25, 2024 |
ArtBits always features a calendar of the goings on of Franklin County artists. Check out these events around Franklin County. Each issue includes the entire text of our weekly newspaper column. STUFF YOU SHOULDN'T MISS
Franklin County's arts and music gatherings bring new opportunities, gossip, "show-and-tell" and occasional workshops. There are also booked and acoustic Open Mic Nights that feature music, readings, and more from the best new artists in Vermont.
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The 57th edition of the Vermont Maple Festival this weekend brings a bucketful of events for the first (and sweetest) outdoor festival of the year. It happens in downtown St. Albans starting with the annual Maple Toast at noon tomorrow. "TOTALLY ECLIPSED BY VERMONT MAPLE"
The Festival is full of maple goodies and free entertainment for all ages.
HUGE PARADE
The Maple Festival Parade -- the biggest in Vermont -- on Sunday, starts at 12 noon. The parade stretches for miles with the BFA Marching Band and over 100 marching bands, fancy floats, bag pipers, clowns, dancers, fire trucks horses and tractors new and old, musicians, neat cars, probably the odd politician or two, scouts, and the ever-popular pooper scooper. The parade will march up Stebbins Street, over Main Street, past the Main Street Stage and Judging Stand, and down Lower Newton Street. Mike and Mary from Star 92.9 and Kwame from 95 Triple X will emcee the parade.
ARTS
The Village Frame Shoppe hosts a Sappy Art Show plus the annual Maple Festival Amateur Photo Contest all weekend. The theme is Totally Eclipsed by Vermont Maple. Judges check on a variety of criteria and pick a winner for each of the four categories (process, people, scenic, and using maple syrup). They will be open Friday 10 - 5 and Saturday 10 - 2.
Windows of downtown St. Albans shops are decorated with maple scenes, each trying to outdo the other to capture the honor of being named the business with the best maple display. Judging takes place on this year's theme, Totally Eclipsed by Vermont Maple.
SPECIAL EVENTS
The Antique Show is free at St Albans Town Educational Center with over 20 dealers with fine arts, furniture, glassware, kitchen collectibles, jewelry and vintage accessories, and much more. Open Saturday, 10 - 5, and Sunday, 10 - 4.
The Craft & Specialty Food Show fills the BFA Gym with homemade jewelry, hand sewn items, baked and canned goods, wood carvings, candles, herbs, writers and so much more. Open Friday 12 noon - 5 p.m., Saturday 10 - 5, and Sunday 10 - 4.
The Kids' Center will fill the BFA Performing Arts Center with Bryson Lang, the No Strings Marionette Company, and Facemania on Saturday at 10am-4pm
All entries for the Maple Cooking Contest will be judged by a team of sweet-toothed judges. At the Maple Exhibit Hall (St. Mary's Parish Hall) Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
Look for SACA (St. Albans Community Arts) in the City Hall Chamber Room on Saturday. Nichole and Jennifer will offer temporary tattoos, coloring pages, community drawing, and more.
The St. Albans Museum is open for the Festival with a display of Vermont Maple Sweet History. Open Friday 2 - 5 and Saturday 10 - 4. The elevator is still out of service with repairs scheduled to be completed in early May. The Museum will open for the 2024 season on May 24.
The free Teen Fest takes over St. Albans City Hall on Saturday from 10 - 6. There will be axe throwing, basketball, baseball, and obstacle course, an air frame game, whack-a-wall, connect 4 soccer, and Knock Them Down.
The UVM Timbersports Team brings two Lumberjack Competitions on Friday at 3 and 4 p.m.
There will be Vermont Maple Beverage Tasting at 14th Star Brewery on Saturday at 3 - 5. Sample craft beer, wine, cider, spirits, and more from bout a dozen maple beverage producers including 14th Star and Mill River Brewing. The 21+ ticketed event offers a limited edition sampling glass and drink tickets for samples. Find them on Facebook for more info.
The Vermont Maple Syrup and Maple Products contest, held in the Maple Exhibit hall in St. Mary's Parish Hall, is the largest maple contest in Vermont.
Taylor Park is also packed with events from Rockin' Ron the Friendly Pirate, Pipsqueak the Clown, balloon maker and face painter Little Fox Entertainment, the Aim High Canines, Facemania (also at the Craft show and at BFAP), and more.
MORE MUSIC, MORE ENTERTAINMENT
The fabulous entertainment for free on the Main Stage begins a weekend of free entertainment tomorrow at noon and runs through Sunday after the parade. Look for live music and dance every day. The stage is free! Click here for more info about the shows.
Friday
The Friday entertainment lineup on the free Main Street stage begins with April Cushman on the Main Street Stage at 1 p.m.
The RedNeck Castaway Band pays tribute to Kenny Chesney on the Main Street Stage. 4 p.m.
The Youth Talent Show fills the Bellows Free Academy Performing Arts Center on Friday at 7 p.m. The Show awards over $2,000 in scholarships to the participants and will also be broadcast on Northwest Access TV. Tickets can be purchased at the Exhibit Hall or at the door.
Saturday
The Electric Youth Dance Company takes over Main Street. This talented group of dancers in several age groups learn the fun and discipline of dance in St. Albans on the Main Street Stage. 10 a.m.
The Talent Show Winners strut their stuff on the Main Street Stage. 11:30 a.m.
Bluesman/singer-songwriter Jimmy Branca and the "Arrangements While You Wait" Quartet bring musical fireworks to the Main Street Stage. 1:30 p.m.
Boston-based collective East Coast Soul fills the street with soul and Motown through current hits. On the Main Street Stage. 4 p.m.
The Fiddler's Variety Show takes over Bellows Free Academy Performing Arts Center on Saturday at 7 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at the "office table" at the Exhibit Hall or at the door.
Sunday
Chris and Issy make Sunday the "acoustic day" on the Main Street Stage. 2 p.m. after the parade.
Click here for more mapley goodness.
SWANTON--The Vermont Abenaki Artists Association features certified fine, decorative, and performing artists officially labeled as "American Indian" under Federal law. Amy Hook-Therrien specializes in water colors and is inspired by nature. Click here for her story and a look at her work. ART ON THE WALLS
JEFFERSONVILLE--Bryan Memorial Gallery featured Susan Bull Riley's Milkweed & Monarchs for Earth Week in the gallery and on Facebook. The gallery has exhibits of the landscape painters of New England. The main showcase in Jeffersonville is open Wednesday-Sunday 11 - 4 and the Stowe Gallery is open Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday, 11 - 5, and Friday and Saturday, 11 - 6. Appointments are available. Call ahead (802.644.5100) to schedule or click here for more info.
MILTON--The Milton Artists' Guild hosts a Paint and Sip--April Showers Brings... led by Sylvia Oblak this evening at 6 p.m. The cost is $40 for members and $45 for non-members. Click here to register and for more info. ART YOU CREATE
SWANTON--The Swanton Free Public Library offers a Paper Sculpture Workshop with Barb in the Maker Space on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. This is a free art project thanks to a generous anonymous grant to the Swanton Arts Council. Space is limited and pre-registration is required. Email or call Barb Switzer (802.752.7917) or email the Library to register or for more info.
MORRISVILLE--River Arts hosts the in-person, April "Sip n' Slurry: Face The Vase" with Natalie Carr as the pottery twist on a Paint n' Sip on Friday at 6 p.m. Craft a personalized face vase while learning a passion for hand-building.
The cost is $55. Click here to enroll and for more info.
ST. ALBANS--Awaken Yoga & Creative Arts Studio and Kreations by Katherine offer a Good Night Gnome Paint and Sip on Friday at 6 p.m. The cost is $40. Admission includes all paint supplies and snacks. Fin them on Facebook to register and for more info.
ONLINE--Music-COMP Executive Director Stefanie Weigand talks about My Day in the Hills: The Story, Songs, and Soul of The Sound of Music at Brownell Library and online on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. "Register for this free event" for the link to the stream. Call Vermont Humanities (802.262.2626) or click here to register and for more info. HUMANITIES
MILTON--The Milton Artists' Guild has two workshops this week. WORKSHOPS & CLASSES
Social Sundays continue at the Milton Artists' Guild Art Center with free weekly art classes for families at MAG on Sunday at 1 p.m. Each week offers a different project. Stay for 30 minutes or the whole two hours. Click here for more info.
Tina Lesperance continues the six-week Workshop for those with Dementia and their Caregivers at MAG on Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. They will work on a different art/craft design each week through May 28. This workshop is free for participants thanks to a Vermont Arts Council grant for Creative Aging. Click here for more info.
JEFFERSONVILLE--Bryan Memorial Gallery hosts a Spring Watercolor Fling workshop led by Annelein Beukenkamp on Friday and Saturday at 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. The two-day watercolor workshop is an immersion in petals and pigments, covering negative painting, hard and soft edges, value, scraping, splattering, brush handling, plus many other techniques.
The cost is $300 less a discount for Bryan members. Registration is required. Click here to register and for more info.
COVID-19 is still here. Statewide hospitalizations edged back up to ten for the week ending April 6 as reported cases also increased. Four of those ten hospitalizations were in Franklin County! There were no deaths from the virus so the pandemic total remains at 1,144 in Vermont. COVID NEWS
CDC estimates that 97% of Americans have some level of immunity, from either vaccination or infection or both, but the fact many Vermonters have died or have been sick enough to require hospitalization this year alone remains worrisome. That Franklin County has less than 8% of the state population and accounts for more than one-third of those hospitalizations is more so.
Vaccines are available for COVID, the Flu, and RSV, the three main viruses that cause people to end up in a hospital. According to the state COVID-19 and Flu Vaccination Dashboard still just 17% of Franklin County residents have received the new COVID vaccine, still trailed only by Essex County. That compares to about 25% of Vermonters statewide who have had the latest COVID-19 vaccine and 43% of Vermonters who have gotten a flu shot. Vermonters have not moved those numbers much in February or March.
COVID vaccines are 100% free to everyone 6 months and older living in the United States, regardless of immigration or insurance status. The free shots are available via health insurance, Medicare, and through federally qualified health centers, pharmacies participating in the federal Bridge Program, or district health department offices. Free N95 masks are also available at many of the same locations. Pharmacies in Vermont may now give COVID-19 shots to kids ages 3 and older. Click here for more info.
Although the free program has been suspended, there are thousands of free testing sites. The state and many municipalities may still have home antigen tests, available in libraries and town halls or food pantries. Click here for more info.
Some health plans will also offer partial coverage of COVID-19 treatments such as Paxlovid but that will be plan dependent. As always, check with your insurer for specific information on your plan.
The Health Department still recommends following best practices. Call 855.722.7878 or visit healthvermont.gov for more info about the first or second dose and for booster shots of the vaccine.
My own plan remains unchanged, especially since our precautions have waned and the current JN.1 variant dodges all but the most up-to-date immunity. I got the COVID and Flu shots, and the boosters, and I still take precautions because neither vaccine nor "natural immunity" is 100% foolproof. I wash my hands. I double mask with a genuine N95 mask (not a bandana and not a "chin strap") plus a surgical mask everywhere I can't control the airflow. It isn't much of a burden and it mostly protects me from all the people without masks I see in stores and concerts.
Thursday, April 25 ON STAGE LIVE
SOUTH HERO--The Blue Paddle Bistro hosts Acoustic Thursday this evening at 5 - 7 p.m. Click here for more info.
NORTH HERO--The North Hero House hosts Karaoke Night in the Event Barn this evening at 6 p.m. Find them on Facebook for more info.
Thursday-Saturday, April 25-27
ESSEX JUNCTION--On Tap starts a long weekend of music with Cooper, Bob Recupero, tonight at 6 p.m. two shows Friday night, Matty & Me at 5 p.m., and then the Hitsquad returns for late night music starting at 9 p.m., plus two more shows live on Saturday night with Jerborn and Axe at 5 p.m., and Before this Time at 9 p.m. Call 802.878.3309 or email for more info. Click here to reserve a table.
Friday, April 26
COLCHESTER--Nick DiDonna plays the live and free Friday Night Live Music at the Spanked Puppy on Friday at 6 p.m. Find them on Facebook for more info.
ST. ALBANS--Off The Rails at One Federal often has live performances in the lounge on Friday at 6:30 p.m. Find them on Facebook for more info.
SHELDON--The Abbey Friday Night Music Series often has live performances on Friday about 6:30 p.m. The series continues in the Pub this week. Reservations are suggested. Find them on Facebook for more info.
Friday-Sunday, April 26-28
ST. ALBANS--The Vermont Maple Festival fills the Main Stage for a weekend of free entertainment. Look for live music and dance every day. The stage is free! April Cushman, The RedNeck Castaway Band, the Youth Talent Show, the Electric Youth Dance Company, Jimmy Branca and the Arrangements While You Wait Quartet, East Coast Soul, the Fiddler's Variety Show, and Chris and Issy make it a weekend to remember.
Scroll up for the rest of the story.
MARATHON, KEY COLONY BEACH, and KEY WEST--Summer Sounds and Inch Beach favorite Mark Shelton returns to the Florida Keys for three big shows. He will rock out the Marathon Yacht Club for members only on Friday. Inch Beach opens the gates for all his fans on Saturday. And he will spend Sunday at the Poinciana Church in Key West.
Inch Beach will host Mr. Shelton in a very special live Music by the Inch concert on Saturday at 5 - 7 p.m. We usually have no idea how many stars to expect when he shows up. "The KCB fans love Elvis but we'll also sing some gospel and maybe even have a visit from Captain Radical," he said.
Mark Shelton's astounding voice and dynamic performances leave audiences mesmerized. An International Elvis Hall of Fame artist, his The King Returns concert tours are internationally sold out. His shows have been featured on ABC News, CBS Inside Edition, Good Morning America, and more as well as globally in India, Fuji Television Network in Japan, and the Daily Mail in the U.K. The "Hillbilly Cat" has that Star quality to move from the 50s to the 70s with the King of Rock n' Roll as the perfect cap to April Music by the Inch. Follow him on Facebook for more info on this show and link to the other events.
JERICHO--The Jericho Café and Tavern fills the weekend with Live Music in April. The Smokey Newfield Project plays Friday. Canyon Dreams performs live on Saturday night. Music starts at 6 p.m. Find them on Facebook for more info.
ST. ALBANS--Twiggs often has shows on Friday and Saturday nights. This week they host Ryan Hanson on Friday and Tim Fitzgerald live on Saturday night. Music starts about 6:30 p.m. Call 802.524.1405 or find them on Facebook for more info. Click here to book a reservation or to visit the art on the walls.
Saturday, April 27
ST. ALBANS--Chris & Erica return to the Taphouse at Mill River on Maple Fest Saturday at 5:30 p.m. Find them on Facebook for more info.
ST. ALBANS--14th Star presents McMaple for Maple Fest with sweet and eclectic songs from classic rock, pop, alternative, and more on Saturday at 6 p.m. Find them on Facebook for more info.
SOUTH BURLINGTON--Higher Ground's 2024 Spring Fling Music Showcase features 90 Proof in a Franklin County festival with Bad Horsey and the Maple Grove Band on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Doors at 7. Admission is $15 in advance or $18 day of show. Click here for tickets and more info.
Wednesday, May 1
ST. ALBANS--14th Star presents Ryan Hanson for a night of acoustic covers and original music live in The Room on Wednesday at 6 p.m. Find them on Facebook for more info.
BURLINGTON--Nectar's presents Columbia Records artist (sort of) Wheatus with special guest Troy Millette on Wednesday at 8 p.m. Admission is $20-25. Click here for tickets and more info.
EAST FAIRFIELD--The 2024 Meeting House on the Green Summer Concert Season began with Michael Hurley in two sold out shows. Here's Mark Sustic's report: SUMMER MUSIC STARTS
"Michael Hurley's concert in East Fairfield, kicking off the summer concert season. A slice of the fabric in this part of northern Vermont. There's something nourishing about being at an event in/near/about your own geographic and cultural community, not having to explain where you're from, why you are there..... you are just there, with others. The concert was attended by a good mix of older folks who are familiar/friends with him and young folks interested in Michael's relevance currently, not solely nostalgia for the old hits. Michael was tuned in, rested, ever deeper into who he always has been. He sang, he played fiddle, guitar, and piano. He has a way of sneaking up on you, just when you think you've got it figured out, suddenly you're in his depth and unpredictability, meanings and a wide eternity, a collective landscape - initially it might be the surface stuff, then you're diving the depths with him :)) A quick sequence of fiddler snaps......"
ArtBits features a quick weekly peek at library events in and around Franklin County. That popular feature has a page of its own at the Franklin County Bookshelf here on the AAC site at AllArtsCouncil.org/books. We also take an occasional peek at the bookshelf or night stand of the folks you know in and around Franklin County. Those reviews can be found on the ArtBits Bookshelf. ON THE BOOKSHELF
Good News!There are so many events around the region that we miss some of them.Be sure to check these calendars for what's happening near you ... |
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Music!Links to the Summer Music series in Franklin County |
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