First Annual Fiddlehead Festival
Planned for May 5 at VTC

This year, the coming of spring will be greeted with a new festival celebrating agriculture and the arts in central Vermont. On Saturday, May 5 the first annual Fiddlehead Festival will be celebrated on the campus of the Vermont Technical College in Randolph Center.

At 9 a.m. that day, tractors will begin to converge on the VTC campus from all directions. They will be lined up in formation at the front of the campus where a new maypole is being erected. A blessing for the season and maypole dance will begin the festive morning, which will also include storytelling, music and presentations on topics as diverse as heirloom seeds and foraging and cooking with wild edibles.

Judd Auditorium will also be arranged to accommodate up to 20 vendors. Preference will be given to local vendors who want to offer food, books, information, and crafts. A free information table will also be offered to any local organization who wants to distribute their information to those attending the festival. Vendors will offer their goods from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Potential vendors can contact John Lutz at 728-6212 for an information packet and sign-up form.

Another event will give teams of local farmers an opportunity to show their skill in the Fiddlehead Festival Tractor Obstacle Course.

There will be a Farmer’s Lunch at 12:30 p.m. This reasonably priced lunch will offer good food and an opportunity to meet your friends and neighbors from the community. During the lunch we will be feted with live music and door prizes for light-hearted contests will be presented.

After lunch, the auditorium floor will be cleared for an old fashioned Barn Dance featuring the legendary music and calling of Dudley Laufman. In addition to storytelling and other educational presentations, there will be an afternoon schedule of farmstead activities featuring antique engines, chicken plucking, hand milking of cows, plowing demonstrations, a sugarhouse tour, pasture walk, and a tour of the VTC farm buildings.

The activity will move to downtown Randolph in the late afternoon with a gallery exhibit of Vermont art at the Chandler Gallery, a nature walk on the Randolph floodplain, local church suppers, and an evening concert performance by George Woodard and Friends at Chandler Music Hall. An organic dairy farmer, actor, and filmmaker, Woodard will present a memorable evening of music and commentary, which is always anticipated by sell-out audiences.

Watch the April 26 issue of The Herald for your copy of the 24-page program guide with the full schedule of this year’s Fiddlehead Festival events.

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