Summer is arriving on its own terms this weekend, and Vermont is meeting it with heifer calves on Main Street, Rudyard Kipling’s rhododendrons in bloom, Ben Folds alone at a grand piano, and puppet shows involving dreams collected from New York City. There is something happening in almost every corner of the state — here’s where to point your wheels.
Friday, June 5
La Traviata — Town Hall Theater, Middlebury (Addison County)
The Opera Company of Middlebury opens its spring production Friday night at 7:30 p.m. with Verdi’s La Traviata, and director Douglas Anderson has given it a fresh and pointed setting: the 1920s, when women were breaking every taboo in sight. Anderson places Violetta squarely in the Roaring Twenties — short skirts, public cigarettes, defiance of the men trying to hem her in — and suddenly this story about a woman refusing to be saved by society’s rules lands with new weight. The score remains one of opera’s most emotionally devastating. Opening night includes a prosecco reception following the performance, and free pre-show talks are offered one hour before curtain. Tickets through Town Hall Theater. (Also running Sunday June 7 at 2 p.m.)
“The City That Slept” — Sandglass Theater, Putney (Windham County)
Sandglass Theater kicks off its New Visions Summer Series with something genuinely unlike anything else on the Vermont calendar this weekend. Puppeteer Tom Tuke has developed a technique called “floating shadow puppets” — figures that move across a pool of moving water, casting projections that blur the line between performance and dream. The piece itself is built from dreams collected from New York City residents, rendered into a wordless, poetic landscape of lantern puppets, large-scale marionettes, and water-shadow imagery. Shows are Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. Tickets and information at sandglasstheater.org.
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Strolling of the Heifers — Gallery Walk Street Festival, Brattleboro (Windham County)
The big Strolling of the Heifers weekend (see Saturday for the parade) gets rolling Friday evening on Brattleboro’s Main Street with the Gallery Walk Street Festival — a culinary smackdown (the great Bread Pudding Cookoff returns), Farm Art exhibits, live music, and dancing in the street. This is the warm-up act, and it’s usually a good one. The whole weekend centers local farms and local food, and the Friday street scene is genuinely festive. More at strollingoftheheifers.com.
Dear Evan Hansen! — Haskell Opera House, Derby Line (Orleans County)
The Borderline Players bring this Tony Award-winning musical to one of Vermont’s most extraordinary stages — the Haskell Opera House, which sits directly on the U.S.–Canada border with the stage in one country and some of the audience in another. The show runs all weekend (Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m., Sunday at 3 p.m.) and tells the story of a teenager’s lie that spirals into viral fame and forces a reckoning between truth and belonging. Music and lyrics by Pasek and Paul, book by Steven Levenson. Tickets are $15–$25 through Catamount Arts.
Saturday, June 6
76th Annual St. Johnsbury Pet Parade — Main Street, St. Johnsbury (Caledonia County)
The Northeast Kingdom’s most wholesome tradition rolls into its 76th year Saturday morning. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m., the parade lines up at 9:30, and the whole glorious procession steps off at 10 sharp — leashed dogs, crated cats, costumed birds, the occasional reptile, and plenty of small children holding signs. This is the kind of community event that’s easy to dismiss on paper and impossible not to love in person. Register and find details at stjpetparade.com.
Strolling of the Heifers Parade & Slow Living Expo — Brattleboro (Windham County)
If you’ve never seen the Strolling of the Heifers parade, this is your year. Scores of heifer calves — groomed, decorated, and led by future farmers — come down Brattleboro’s Main Street at 10 a.m. sharp, followed by farm animals, marching bands, tractors, floats, and an assortment of surprises that changes every year. After the parade, the crowd migrates to the 11-acre Slow Living Expo: food, music, dance, demonstrations, a craft show, and exhibits all tied to the organization’s mission of farm and food innovation. It’s a full day, it’s free to watch the parade, and it’s one of those Vermont events that earns its reputation. More at strollingoftheheifers.com.
Naulakha Estate & Rhododendron Tour — Dummerston (Windham County)
One of the most unusual events on the Vermont spring calendar: the Landmark Trust USA opens Naulakha — the Dummerston estate where Rudyard Kipling wrote The Jungle Books and Captains Courageous in the 1890s — for self-guided tours through its spectacular rhododendron gardens. The estate is normally only accessible to overnight guests. The centerpiece is a football-field-length Rhododendron Tunnel, plus Kipling’s carriage house and the newly rehabilitated stable. You can sit at the desk where the books were written. Saturday tours run 1–4:30 p.m.; Sunday tours run 10 a.m.–4 p.m. Tickets are $25 and must be purchased in advance — timeslots sell out. landmarktrustusa.org.
Lamoille Valley Dance Academy: “The Wicked Wizard of Oz” — Spruce Peak Arts, Stowe (Lamoille County)
Over 100 dancers from across Vermont take the Spruce Peak Arts stage for this year’s Lamoille Valley Dance Academy production — a mashup of the classic Oz story and the world of Wicked, blending Dorothy’s journey with the origin story of Elphaba and Glinda. Two performances Saturday: 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. LVDA productions sell out every year, so don’t sleep on tickets. Spruce Peak Arts.
Met Live in HD Encore: El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego — Catamount Arts, St. Johnsbury (Caledonia County)
For those who missed the live transmission of the Metropolitan Opera’s season finale, Catamount Arts is screening the encore Saturday at 1 p.m. American composer Gabriela Lena Frank’s first opera is a magical-realist portrait of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera — on the Day of the Dead, Frida leaves the underworld to reunite with Diego, and they briefly relive their tumultuous love before their final farewell. It’s the first opera by a Latina composer ever commissioned by the Met, and it was praised for a score that “bursts with color and fresh individuality.” Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts. Tickets are $16–$25 at Catamount Arts.
Ben Folds (Solo) — Paramount Theatre, Rutland (Rutland County)
Ben Folds brings his “Ben Folds & A Piano” tour to Rutland’s Paramount Theatre Saturday night at 7 p.m. The Paramount is a perfect room for a solo piano show — intimate, storied, and built for exactly this kind of thing. Folds has been doing these solo tours for years and they’re consistently one of the better concert experiences going: no band, no backup, just one guy at a Steinway who can make a piano sound like a full rock show when he wants to. Lobby doors open at 6 p.m. Tickets $100–$130 at paramountvt.org.
Sunday, June 7
La Traviata — Town Hall Theater, Middlebury (Addison County)
The Opera Company of Middlebury’s La Traviata has a 2 p.m. matinee Sunday — a good option if you missed opening night, or if you went Friday and just need to hear it again. Sung in Italian with English supertitles. Free pre-show talks one hour before curtain. Town Hall Theater.
🍽 FYIVT Eats: Mr. Up’s — Middlebury 🍽
A new feature: alongside our weekend picks, we’ll be dropping in honest, firsthand reviews of Vermont restaurants worth your time and money. No press dinners, no comps — just locals eating out.
If you’re making a day of it in Middlebury — say, catching La Traviata at Town Hall Theater — you’re going to need a meal, and Mr. Up’s is worth building your timeline around.
One of the restaurant’s biggest draws is its atmosphere. Diners can enjoy outdoor seating along the river or choose from several comfortable indoor seating areas. The setting is casual and welcoming — not the kind of place where you feel like you have to earn your table — and the staff is consistently friendly, attentive, and accommodating without being intrusive.
On our visit, my wife ordered the Chicken Cordon Bleu sandwich with sweet potato fries. The sandwich was loaded with flavor and generously sized — so generously sized, in fact, that she eventually removed the top bun and finished it with a fork and knife. Not because it was difficult to eat, but because she didn’t want to leave any of the delicious chicken cordon bleu behind. The sweet potato fries were equally enjoyable, and the portion offered real value for the price.
I went with the steak dinner with vegetables and horseradish coleslaw. Everything was cooked right, and the horseradish coleslaw deserves a specific callout — it added a sharp, flavorful kick that complemented the steak in a way you don’t always see on a plate like that. It’s the kind of detail that tells you someone in the kitchen is paying attention.
Between the riverside setting, attentive service, generous portions, and reasonable prices, Mr. Up’s remains a solid choice for locals and visitors alike. If you’re heading to Middlebury this weekend, plan dinner here before or after the show — you won’t be scrambling for a table if you call ahead.
Brunch Beats! The Miller Brothers — Green Mountain Natural Foods, Newport (Orleans County)
The Northeast Kingdom’s Brunch Beats series continues Sunday morning at Green Mountain Natural Foods in Newport, with The Miller Brothers playing from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. It’s exactly what it sounds like: live music with brunch, informal and community-centered, the kind of thing that makes Newport feel like a town worth driving to. More at discovernewportvt.com.
Sunday Sessions: Switchel — Lawson’s Finest Taproom, Waitsfield (Washington County)
Lawson’s Finest keeps its summer programming rolling with a Sunday Session featuring Switchel, 3–5 p.m. at the taproom on Carroll Road in Waitsfield. The Mad River Valley taproom is one of the best outdoor hang spots in the state on a summer afternoon — grab a Sip of Sunshine and settle in. lawsonsfinest.com/events.
Local Curator Series: A Few Fine Gents, Technicolor LTD & Man Made Tragedies — Stage 33 Live, Bellows Falls (Windham County)
Stage 33 Live — the volunteer-run, 40-seat listening room in a former factory on the Connecticut River — launches its Local Curator Series Sunday night at 7 p.m. Bellows Falls native Ezra Holloway has assembled three bands for a show he promises “will be loud”: A Few Fine Gents (a fusion jam band from Westchester known for improvisational range), Technicolour LTD (a Brattleboro band drawing from ’90s alt post-rock and post-punk), and Man Made Tragedies (a power trio that brings punk energy and raw emotion to original material). In a room with 40 seats, there’s no such thing as a bad view. Advance tickets $15 at stage33live.com; $20 at the door if available.
Get out there — June in Vermont doesn’t wait around, and neither does the rhododendron bloom.
Dave Soulia | FYIVT
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