The Brookfield Old Town Hall Market Day on Sunday, Aug. 21 has expanded to include even more activities and fun for all ages, beginning at 1 p.m.

While the main floor of the Old Town Hall will bustle with a farmers market, thanks to the Floating Bridge Food and Farms Cooperative, the front of the hall will be the venue for the Brookfield Library's annual book sale.

All afternoon, a wide variety of food and crafts will be available for bids at the silent auction that will run until 7 p.m. Children will have the chance to be decorated by a team of face-painters. Bring your own creative ideas, or choose one of ours.

Then, as festivities move from the Old Town Hall to Ariel’s Restaurant, another celebration will blossom in the newly-renovated Hippo Park, as sculptor Jim Sardonis and hippo-lovers from throughout central Vermont gather at 5 p.m. to commemorate the 30^th anniversary of the hippo statue that graces the bank of the pond, next to the Floating Bridge. Many locals have fond memories of climbing on the beloved hippo mother and baby—or laying wet towels across the hippo bodies to bake in the afternoon sun. The Brookfield Community Partnership and the Brookfield Historical Society are co-sponsors of the “hippo celebration.”

Finally, you won’t want to forget to leave time to peruse the farmers’ market and to enjoy join the wood-fired oven dinner and pizza at Ariel’s Restaurant from 4-7 p.m., plus live music by Patti Casey and Susan Reid.