August in Vermont features a long string of one-day events…cider fests, wine fairs, even a wrestling match at a brewery. We’ve got a lengthy stretch of them this week. Here are some things worth planning around…

The run-up starts with Vermont Open Farm Week, back after a year off in 2025. Farms across the state open up for tours, tastings, and one-off events going strong through this weekend. Highlights include an opportunity to visit with cashmere goats at Avalon Farms in Alburgh on Saturday… an artisan market at Snow Farm Vineyard on Saturday…and orchard tours at Hackett's Orchard in South Hero all weekend. NOFA-VT has the full day-by-day schedule on their website, if you’d like to plan a route.

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For something fun and different tomorrow night, August 7, Shelburne Vineyard is hosting “live band karaoke” from 7 to 9 p.m….the surf rock band Barbacoa plays backup, while anyone willing steps up to sing. No experience is required, and walk-ins are welcome, though a reservation gets you a table. Bring chairs or a blanket to set up in the vines if the weather holds…if it doesn't, the whole thing moves into the barrel room.

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Zenbarn and Strawberry Hill Farm are presenting Strawberry Jam on Saturday the 8th, with a full day of music lined up and a sponsor list that reads like a “Who’s Who” of the Waterbury/Stowe food and drink community. You can also purchase a VIP ticket for access to a private, catered garden party beside the main stage, with all day food and non-alcoholic drinks by Wolfpeach, a wine tasting with Ellison Estate, a cash bar and comfy seating.

And just down the road a bit, Cold Hollow Cider Mill in Waterbury is hosting Cider Fest…its one and only big event of the summer, happening from 11 to 5. Enjoy live music and games alongside the mill's famous cider, plus smoked ribs, wings, and bratwurst off the grill. Lake Champlain Chocolates, Jed's Maple, and Mad River Distillers are among the Vermont vendors setting up alongside them. Admission is free.

Also on Saturday…Local Maverick is celebrating 35 years of Vermont Flannel and 45 years of Vermont Teddy Bear with an 80s-and-90s themed birthday bash at the teddy bear factory in Shelburne from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. The family-friendly daytime festivities include mini golf, face painting, a bouncy castle and food vendors, while the ticketed evening party includes a cocktail bar from The Pinery, food trucks, ice cream, music and a drone light show at sunset. Tickets were still available at press time.

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Wednesday the 12th gets us over the hump with a few opportunities for live music with your food and drink. Shelburne Farms continues its Community Concert Series this week with The Romans in the Farm Barn Courtyard…gates open at 5 p.m., music starts at 6, and you can bring a picnic or buy food on site.

In downtown Burlington, Halvorson's is hosting its own Courtyard Music Series the same night: Fiddlehead Brewing is presenting Campfire Jack from 6:30 to 9 p.m. in the beautiful courtyard behind their Church Street restaurant, with proceeds benefiting AgeWell Vermont. The series has raised more than $172,000 for local nonprofits since it started in 2020.

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Outstanding in the Field, the touring farm-dinner series that's been setting up tables since 2008, returns to Ellison Estate Vineyard in Grand Isle on Friday, August 14th. Guests tour the estate's organic and biodynamic vineyard (sheep included) before sitting down to a meal built around peak-summer Vermont ingredients and the vineyard's cold-climate wines. Jordan Ware and Cindi Kozak of Frankie’s are handling the food duties, alongside guest farmer Ben Pomykala and beer by Zero Gravity

Also that same evening, Paul Mazza's in Essex runs its on-farm farmers market from 4 to 7 p.m, with a full lineup of artisans and farm vendors…last month's drew around 700 people, and organizers still have an opening for a food truck or two if anyone wants to jump in.

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And it’s a very big weekend up in Stowe, with two anchor events taking place from the 13th to the 16th. A Taste of New England returns to Spruce Peak, with guest chefs from across the region paired with those from the resort's own kitchen. Thursday's Taste of Vermont dinner has already sold out, but the Friday and Saturday events still have tickets available: Friday’s First Taste tasting-and-mingling event features bites from a dozen featured chefs, while Saturday's Chef Collaboration Dinner, will bring in acclaimed chefs from across New England and wine pairings from Rare Wine Co.

Our friends at the Stowe Jazz Festival also return August 14 through 16, with a mainstage lineup all weekend on Weeks Hill Road. There’s also plenty of music to be had at bar, restaurant and hotel venues throughout the village, with musicians booked throughout the weekend at the Alchemist, Doc Pond’s, American Flatbread, Cork and Piecasso, among others. Order dinner that weekend in Stowe, and there's a decent chance a band comes with it.

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Well, here’s a twist we’re not writing about every week…Switchback Brewing's courtyard will evidently turn into, yes, a wrestling ring on Saturday the 15th for Switchback Slam, a team-up with Green Mountain Wrestling…they handle the matches, Switchback handles the food and beer. Get your tickets here, and give me a full report!

Also on that same Saturday, the Capital City Farmers Market in Montpelier is running its annual Youth Vendor Day from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 133 State Street, with young entrepreneurs selling alongside the market's usual vegetables, pasture-raised meat, cheese, and maple syrup. Come meet the next generation of Vermont makers, artists, bakers, growers, and innovators.

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Sunday the 16th is another busy day, starting early. Soda Plant Sunday, the monthly market hosted by Haymaker Buns, runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the South End, with local vendors, coffee, food, and free live music at 266 Pine Street.

By afternoon the action shifts to wine. Vinous Rebellious, the Vermont Grape & Wine Council's all-Vermont wine fair, returns to Lincoln Peak Vineyard in New Haven from 1 to 4 p.m. for its second year, pouring wine and cider from more than a dozen Vermont producers alongside food from Monti Verdi. Tickets are on sale now.

In Winooski that afternoon, Salt & Bubbles and Howl Bier are teaming up for Tra Vicini from 2 to 8 p.m. It’s built around the Italian "quattro mani" tradition…Italian wines by the glass, small plates, and pints of Birrificio Italiano's Tipo Pils shipped in from the Alps. Salute!

And just across the circle in Winooski, Four Quarters Brewing is hosting a “Build a Bouquet” workshop with Burly Blooms from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. For just $10 to $20, you can create and take home a bouquet from flowers grown just a few blocks from the taproom. It's the first event in a new series called “Brought to You By the Intervale,” built around the farms and food producers working that stretch of land.

Summer keeps on doing its thing in Vermont. Pick a day, follow your stomach, report back.