Second Fiddlehead Fest
Unveils New Events

The upcoming 2008 Fiddlehead Festival, will again be held on the VTC campus in Randolph Center on Saturday, May 3, and will celebrate agriculture, the arts, and the (expected) return of spring.

Again this year, there is free admission to all events, except for the farmers’ lunch and an evening concert performance at the Chandler Music Hall.

This year’s festival will see the return of many popular events and the introduction of several new festivities. New for 2008 is a tent that will feature local farmers market tables and a tent for children’s activities on the VTC front lawn area.

The first children’s parade will begin at 9:30 a.m. All area children are invited to participate, gathering at the Randolph Center Church parking area at 9:10. Bright spring costumes are suggested and children are invited to bring bikes or wagons to carry the youngest participants.

After the children’s parade has moved to the center of activities, the popular tractor cavalcade will follow. Last year more than 30 area farmers participated, driving their tractors, new and old, large and small, before the appreciative audience in the reviewing stand.

Tractor owners who have not already been contacted and who want to participate, should call Sam Lincoln at 728-4273 to register their interest.

Next comes the reading of poetry by Miriam Herwig, the Maypole ceremony, a blessing for the season, and remarks by Roger Allbee, Vermont Secretary of Agriculture. Area children, accompanied by music, will wind the colorful ribbons around the Fiddlehead Maypole, a white cedar pole harvested from a nearby Randolph Center woodlot.

After the Maypole ceremony is completed, a wealth of interesting events will follow:

Children’s ent activities will include face painting, searching for pennies in a haystack, art with recycled objects, live animals (including alpacas and oxen), and storytelling.

The 2008 tractor obstacle course will see four teams of local farmers testing their tractor skills to see which team can complete the tasks in the shortest time.

The morning will also feature music, crafts, and educational presentations in the farmers’ market tent, Judd Auditorium, Old Dorm Lounge, and Conant Hall. Local vendors will display and sell their wares. The popular Wild Edibles program will again be offered.

Sheep Dog Herding

New to Fiddlehead this year will be Steve Wetmore and his popular demonstration of sheep dogs herding lambs, offered twice during the day. Another new feature will be a session by John Howe describing his experiments to create solar-powered tractors.

The farmers’ lunch, which proved popular last year, will begin at 1 p.m., with live music, local food, and good conversation. Door prizes will be presented.

After 3 p.m., the activity will move to downtown Randolph so that attendees can view the current gallery exhibit at the Chandler Gallery, and participate in a nature walk on the Randolph floodplain.

This year’s evening Fiddlehead Festival performance at Chandler Music Hall will feature Banjo Dan and His Mid-Nite Plowboys.

A limited number of vendor tables remain. If interested, phone 728-6212 or e-mail info@fiddleheadfestival.com.

The full schedule and other information about the Fiddlehead Festival can be found at fiddleheadfestival.com or by calling 728-6212.