VT Folklife Guest Presenters at Middlebury College
Educators from Vermont Folklife have recently been invited as guest presenters to several classes at Middlebury College as part of the college’s Mellon Foundation–funded project, Migrant Justice in Vermont and Beyond. With support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’s Humanities For All Times initiative, the College seeks to bring students and faculty together with community partners to explore migration, storytelling, and social justice through research and public humanities work.
Young Tradition Touring Group - January Field Note
January update from the Young Tradition Touring Group! Led this year by Ethan Tischler and Alex Kehler, these twenty-four talented traditional musicians aged 12-19 hail from Vermont, Maine, Massachusetts and Québec. Touring Group members play fiddle, harp, guitar, cello, ukulele, whistle/flute, and piano accordion. . . and they all sing, too!
VT Community Fellows Spotlight: Alexis Yamashita
Meet some of the Vermonters taking part in the first cohort of the Vermont Community Fellows Program! In this blog post Alexis Yamashita of Essex Junction, VT shares what she’s learned through her research exploring seed saving practices in Vermont communities.
Announcing the Vermont Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program 2025/26
We are excited to announce the latest cohort of master artist/apprentice pairs for the 34th year of the Vermont Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program (VTAAP)! Thirteen projects from around the state received support, including stone carving in Barre, a Nepali youth dance group in Chittenden County, willow basket making in Plainfield, VT, and more!
VT Community Fellows Spotlight: Jeanette Gyukeri
Meet some of the Vermonters taking part in the first cohort of the Vermont Community Fellows Program! In this blog post Jeanette Gyukeri of Middlebury shares what she’s learned through her research with her home community, asking the question, “Who does Middlebury’s Main St. exist for?”
Halloweening
When the air grows colder and the darkness begins to settle down upon us, our intrepid archivist dons his favorite shroud and squirms his way into the crypt (aka “the archives”) in search of Halloween treasures to share.
Young Tradition Touring Group - Notes from our first rehearsal!
The Young Tradition Touring Group recently gathered for our first rehearsal of the 2025-26 season at the Montpelier Performing Arts Hub. Read all about the kick off meeting!
VT Community Fellows Spotlight: Paul and Katherine
Meet some of the Vermonters taking part in the first cohort of the Vermont Community Fellows Program! In this blog post Paul Kramer of Montpelier and Katherine Leung of Milton share about the research they’ve been doing with and in their respective communities.
Square Dance at the Fair…and in the Archives!
On Tuesday, August 26th at the Champlain Valley Fair, Vermont Folklife’s own Mary Wesley will be calling a square dance for the masses in an attempt to break the standing Guinness Book’s record for the world’s largest square dance. This inspired us to delve further into Vermont Folklife’s and other archival collections to feature a few items that illuminate the presence of square dance and social dancing in the state.
Touring Group New England 2025 Tour Recap
We are still glowing from all the joy that was had by the Touring Group on this past April's tour of New England. Each day of the tour offered more opportunities for learning, performing, and giving this group's gift of music and song to the communities of Maine, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire.
Upon the Retirement of Susan Creighton, Associate Archivist
Wherein VT Folklife Archivist, Andy Kolovos, reflects on Susan and her many contributions.
The 2025 Young Tradition Festival celebrates Vermont’s many music and dance cultures
Vermont Folklife's 2025 Young Tradition Festival takes place Friday May 9th and Saturday May 10th at Contois Auditorium in Burlington. Friday evening features a Community Dance Party (potluck at 5:30 pm, dancing at 7:30 pm). Events take place throughout the day Saturday, and conclude with a concert by the Pine Tree Flyers—four of the finest voices in New England's traditional music scene—with an opening act from the Young Tradition Touring Group (7:00pm).
Touring Group March Update
The Young Tradition Touring Group has been preparing for the April Tour of New England since September, and now it is right around the corner! At this point in the season, Touring Group musicians have come together for seven full-day rehearsals, three concert performances, a contra dance, and several workshops. It is exciting to see their growth as individual musicians and to hear their performance set become tighter and more nuanced–more harmonies, clear voices, and settled arrangements.
Touring Group Winter Update
The Young Tradition Touring Group wrapped up rehearsals at the Montpelier Performing Arts Hub in January, grateful for such a welcoming space. Beyond learning the repertoire, rehearsal highlights included a basement sing-along of holiday favorites, many improvisational moves on the dance floor, frisbee out on the lawn, and a hilarious full-group game of rock paper scissors evolution-style. Think crouching like an egg, flapping like a chicken, and making T-Rex dino arms—sadly there is no photographic evidence!
Vermont Community Fellows Program Launches!
The Vermont Community Fellows Program (VCFP), a partnership between Vermont Folklife and Conversations from the Open Road, is a three-year initiative to build statewide capacity for community-based, action-oriented field research. This year the program accepted 15 applicants into its first cohort. Over the next 12-18 months, the Fellows will receive in-depth training to inform and guide their ongoing work with the people and places that matter to them most
Did You Know? - Tony Barrand and the Atwood Family
Tony Barrand was a professor of anthropology, as well as an avid folk dancer, musician, and collector of traditional material. In his later years, he came across the music of the Atwood family of West Dover, VT. He eventually partnered with folk musician Keith Murphy to create a series of recordings capturing this music.
Partner Profile - Mary Simons
The recently launched Vermont Community Fellows Program is a partnership between Vermont Folklife and Conversations from the Open Road. CFTOR founder Mary Simons has worked with Vermont Folklife for over a decade, the relationship evolving from thought partners, to collaborators on a wide variety of projects. We are thrilled to be partnering with Mary on the Vermont Community Fellows Program, where she will be mentoring primarily student fellows over the next two years.
Touring Group Fall Update
Beginning in September and continuing through December, one Saturday a month Touring Group musicians travelled to the Montpelier Performing Arts Hub to make music and friends while rehearsing this season’s repertoire. A lucky few aren’t traveling far this fall as they live right in the Montpelier area, but some come from quite a ways to participate - from Brattleboro to Burlington and as far away as Maine. That’s a lot of mountains crossed to get to rehearsals! Group members are ages twelve to eighteen and play fiddle, 5-string banjo, harp, ukulele, guitar, and keyboard. They all sing, too!
