2026 Young Tradition Touring Group - Adventures in Sweden!
Vermont Folklife’s Young Tradition Touring Group journeyed to Sweden this spring for a performance tour and immersive cultural exchange. Below, Young Tradition Vermont Director Ian Drury and Touring Group Manager Christina Kennedy reflect on the Touring Group’s experiences aborad!
Archival Connections for Multilingual Educators and Learners
Kate and Mary (Exec. Director and Dir. of Education at Vermont Folklife) were honored to take part in a professional development event hosted by the Vermont EL (English Learners) Leaders Collaborative and the Department of Multilingual Learners of the Burlington School District. “Come to the Table,” brought together Multilingual Learner Specialists (MLLs) specialists and educators from across the state to share resources, build relationships, and strengthen support for immigrant and refugee students and families.
Young Tradition Festival 2026: That’s a Wrap!
Vermont Folklife’s 2026 Young Tradition Festival on May 8 and 9 brought young artists and multi-generational performances into spaces across Burlington. This year’s event lineup welcomed hundreds of participants and audience members to dance, play, listen, and learn alongside local artists representing Tibetan, Bhutanese Nepali, New England, Québecois, Scandinavian, Irish, West African, Mexican, and other cultural traditions present in Vermont communities.
From the Archives
Vermont Folklife is excited to announce the acquisition of a new collection for our archive, the Diana Mara Henry One Room Schools and Schoolteachers Collection. Diana Mara Henry is a Vermont-based photographer and photojournalist who, over a career spanning more than 50 years, has created a significant body of photographic work on topics including antiwar activism, political campaigns, and the Women’s Movement of the 1970s and 80s, among many other subjects.
Gather ‘Round—A new Vermont Folklife Program Continues to Grow!
Vermont Folklife recently received a grant from the Turrell Fund to support the continued development of our innovative early childhood music and movement program: “Gather ‘Round.” This Field Note shares the research and pilot activities accomplished in the pilot year of the program (generously supported by Building Bright Futures) and gives a glimpse of what’s to come!
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.
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.
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?”
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.
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).
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.
Congratulations to Bob Hooker on 18 marvelous years at VT Folklife!
After 18 years at VT Folklife, Bob Hooker is retiring! Bob has been an indispensable part of the organization for many years, filling more roles than we can count, a small number of which include: greeting everyone who walked through the doors of our Middlebury gallery; conducting mailings and thanking donors; organizing, decorating, and managing our building; and planning and executing our winter Gingerbread House exhibit.
The Vermont Community Fellows Program Connects Youth and Adults to Address Complex Local Issues
Vermont Folklife and Conversations from the Open Road announce the Vermont Community Fellows Program (formerly titled Youth Community Action Corps), a three-year initiative to build statewide capacity for community-based, action-oriented field research. In Fiscal Year 2024, Senator Bernie Sanders secured $665,000 in Congressionally Directed Spending for this program through the National Historical Publications and Records Commission. Sanders was proud to secure this federal funding so that young people can help tell the story of Vermont for generations to come. Applications for the first cohort of Fellows will be accepted from November 1 to December 15, 2024.
Press Release: Vermont Folklife Moves from Middlebury Building to Boost Statewide Impact
Vermont Folklife plans to sell the historic John Warren building in Middlebury, which has been its home since 2006. The sale of the building will advance Vermont Folklife’s goal to better serve constituents across the entire state.
Reflecting on a Year of Listening
For the past nine months, Vermont Folklife has been hosting events around the state that invite people to come together and share the experience of listening–deeply–to voices, sounds, and songs from across the state and across the years. Called “Listening Parties,” these events are a bit like DJ sets of audio drawn from the Vermont Folklife Archive. Since October 2023, people in Lincoln, Burlington, Manchester, Windsor, Winooski, and Waitsfield have joined us for this community listening experience.
Applications now open for 2024-2025 Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program
Vermont Folklife is pleased to announce the 33rd year of its Vermont Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program (VTAAP). With funding from the National Endowment for the Arts through a partnership with the Vermont Arts Council, this program supports the continued vitality of Vermont’s living cultural heritage. Information about the program is available in fourteen languages spoken within the state, including Dari, Pashto, Somali, Nepali, Spanish, and Ukrainian.
“Turkeys and the moon brought us together.” — A very special meet-cute
It’s February 14th, St. Valentine’s Day, a time to celebrate love in all its forms. Here at Vermont Folklife, we often mark this sentimental season by turning our microphones towards friends and neighbors who are in love to ask the simple question, “How did you meet?” This year, we found one in an unexpected place, during an interview for an oral history project centered around the hunting and wildlife management of wild turkeys in Vermont,