Events & Festivals in Montpelier

Three days of award-winning indie features and documentaries projected inside the warmly lit Savoy Theater. Smell the buttered popcorn mingling with fresh-brewed coffee as filmmakers take the stage for Q&A sessions.

Crunch across frozen Hubbard Park trails at sunrise, binoculars clouding with every breath, while recording chickadee and barred owl calls for Cornell's global tally. Hot cocoa handed out at the end tastes faintly of cinnamon and pine smoke.

Steam clouds billow from evaporator pans as sugarhouses on the edge of Montpelier welcome visitors for sugar-on-snow parties. Listen to the hiss of syrup hitting shaved ice and taste the instant maple candy curl around a sour pickle.

Montpelier's marquee cinema event unspools ten days of environmental docs and Vermont-made shorts. The State House lawn hosts twilight screenings where you'll hear cranked projectors and smell cut grass mixing with buttered kettle corn.

Local authors read beneath the gold dome while the scent of lilacs drifts from nearby gardens. Expect pop-up poetry typewriters clacking on State Street and free book-swap boxes lining the sidewalks.

A downtown road race that starts at the granite steps of the State House, drops past cafés, and finishes beside the Winooski's misty spray. Cowbells and cheering echo off brick façades as runners sprint the slightly downhill course.

Fife whistles pierce the summer air as vintage tractors roll down Main Street, followed by kids on red-white-blue bikes. Evening bursts above the river reflect purple and gold on the water while the smell of sulfur drifts downstream.

Hoppy steam rises from pop-up taps set along State Street's closed-off blocks. Sip farmhouse ales while funk bands play on a flatbed stage and food trucks fire cumin-scented falafel.

Downtown restaurants set up tasting stations on the State House lawn, handing out bite-size lamb sliders and maple-brined pickles. Hear clinking forks and acoustic guitar as the sun warms the golden dome.

Dogs in bandanas prance down Main Street, toenails tapping on brick. Applause mixes with tail-wagging splashes at the kiddie-pool finish line, where pups slurp vanilla ice cream donated by a local creamery.

Ox pulls, jam contests, and bluegrass echo under a striped tent outside City Hall. Sweet kettle corn smoke curls around prize-winning pumpkin displays you can heft for heft contests.

Leaves crunch under sneakers on a 10K loop that climbs Hubbard Park 's switchbacks, rewarding runners with river valley reds and golds. Cool air tastes faintly of apple cider from nearby orchard steamers.

Hand-thrown pottery glows under string lights in the Union Elementary gym while fiddles scrape out reels. Smell beeswax candles and fresh cider doughnuts mixing with pine plank floors.

Hundreds of costumed revelers in pointed hats parade down State Street, broomsticks clicking on pavement. Local pubs serve smoking dry-ice cocktails while bass lines thump from open doorways.

Drums echo off granite façades as color guards march to the State House steps for an 11 a.m. wreath-laying. Crisp air carries the faint metallic scent of polished bugles.

Inside the warmed Grange Hall, twinkle lights reflect off jars of pickled beets and hand-spun wool. Bluegrass pickers keep toes tapping while you sip mulled cider that prickles with cloves.

Battery candles flicker on the State House portico as voices rise in 'O Tannenbaum,' breath clouding in frosty air. The golden dome glows overhead while church bells peal across the snowy common.