Manchester, VT | August 6 through August 9 

Photo courtesy of the Manchester Business Association

Bargain hunters, art and music lovers, fashion enthusiasts, and weekend travelers are invited to experience one of Manchester's favorite summer traditions as the Annual Manchester Sidewalk Sales return. For four days, Manchester's sidewalks will come alive with incredible deals, special promotions, sidewalk displays, and one-of-a-kind finds from participating retailers, boutiques, galleries, and specialty shops throughout town. From designer fashions and home décor to outdoor gear, kitchen essentials, gifts, and Vermont-made products, shoppers will discover exceptional savings while enjoying the charm of one of New England's premier shopping destinations. The celebration continues into the evening of August 7, when the Town of Manchester’s StreetFest brings live music, local vendors, family activities, and more excitement to downtown. To view the list of Sidewalk Sales retailers and more, visit here.

Manchester, VT | July 30 & July 31, 9am to 5pm

Manchester Community Library (MCL) invites the public to help create a new community mural inspired by its ongoing Between Two Worlds: Exploring Jewish Culture and Religion through Yiddish Literature series, a national Public Libraries Program organized by the Yiddish Book Center (YBC). Through the program, the YBC provides grants, resources, and training to libraries hosting groups and related programs that use Yiddish literature as a starting point for conversations about religion, assimilation, identity, immigration, and belonging. Community members may drop in at MCL to participate in the mural painting. No experience is needed. A benefit concert sponsored by Green Mountain Media Group and supporting the Bennington County Multicultural Community Center (BCMCC) will take place alongside the mural on the lawn on July 30 at 6:30pm. Tickets will be available on site only for $25/person or $35/couple. Children under 12 are free. 

Arlington, VT | July 30 through August 2

The OM Festival returns for its fourth year with an expanded focus on local children, teens, and families. In response to the need for more youth activities in the Manchester and the Mountains region, all children under 12 receive free admission for the four-day weekend. This year introduces the Kids’ Castle Tent and free youth programming Friday through Sunday. Families from surrounding communities are welcome. Visit The OM Festival check-in desk inside the West Mountain Inn 15-20 minutes before class to sign a waiver and receive free wristbands. Families may also explore and shop the Vendor Village at no charge. Visit here to see the full breakdown of events for children and teens!

Londonderry, VT | TONIGHT, July 29, August 5 & August 12, 6:30pm

Get your craft on with Vermont Macramé this summer! Vermont Macramé specializes in teaching unique and fun macrame classes for adults and kids ages 6+. All skill levels are welcome, and no experience is needed. Workshops on offer this season will focus on earrings (July 29), plant hangers (August 5), and wall hangings (August 12). Classes take place at Mountain Community Arts with students gathering together in comfy clothes with their own snacks and drinks, or perhaps some fries or other treats from the New American Grill right next door. Make macramé and make some new friends! Class registration is $45, with all materials included.

Manchester, VT | August 1, 12pm to 3pm

Send it, Splash it, Sink it! Hope Unity Belonging (HUB) is hosting a skateboarding contest, cannonball contest, and foul shot competition to benefit the Northshire Coalition for Neurodivergent Adults at the Manchester Rec Park. There will be pool access all day for registrants! HUB enriches lives through community integration and learning opportunities in an environment that promotes maximum independence. There will be first, second, and third place winners in each category. The cost is $20 per event or $50 for all three.

Sunderland, VT | August 1, 1pm to 3pm

Thinking of participating in the Shires 1-Minute Film Fest or want to learn to produce a short film, but don't know how to get started? GNAT-TV can help! They’re hosting a free filmmaking workshop for anyone interested in learning more about the filmmaking process, open to ages 10 and up. Teens and adults are welcome. The workshop is open to all aspiring filmmakers; participation in the Shires 1-Minute Film Fest is not required. GNAT will provide equipment during the workshop, but you’re also welcome to bring your own equipment – a video camera, phone camera, iPad, or whatever works best for your creative process. Participants will begin the filmmaking process during the workshop, then finish their films independently at home or by reserving GNAT-TV’s edit suite for independent use. If this workshop time doesn’t work, one-on-one sessions are available. For more, visit here!

Proctorsville, VT | August 5, 6pm

The Town of Cavendish and the Cavendish Community and Conservation Association (CCCA) invite the public to join in an evening of fun on the Svec Memorial Green. Rick Redington and his band Tuff Luv return for the final concert of the summer season. Rick brings his songwriting talent to life on “Guitar & Other Stringed things” with long time Luv Alumnus Heather “Boom Boom” Lynne providing the bottom notes alongside Jay “Crazy Legs” Osborn and “Blakey G” Gowan on percussion. As one of Vermont’s best kept secrets, they connect directly with the heart by way of your dancing feet! As always, the concerts are free and open to the public. In case of inclement weather, the concert will be held in the Proctorsville Fire Hall. For more, visit here. 

Marlboro, VT | August 1 & 2

Under the artistic direction of Mitsuko Uchida and Jonathan Biss, Marlboro Music's 75th anniversary season continues with the third weekend of concerts and free open rehearsals throughout the week in Persons Auditorium. Some 18 musicians will take the stage, reflecting the distinctive mix of seasoned and emerging talent that Marlboro brings together each summer. Weekend performances and open rehearsals will continue through August 16. Saturday evening's program opens with Schubert's Viola, D. 786, a setting of a poem by Franz von Schober for bass-baritone and piano. Jörg Widmann's “Once Upon a Time…”, for clarinet, viola, and piano, follows. The evening concludes with Brahms's String Quartet in A Minor, Op. 51, No. 2. Learn more about Marlboro Music here and in Stratton Magazine’s Summer 2026 issue.

Photo courtesy of Marlboro Music

Manchester, VT | Now through September 27

Southern Vermont Arts Center is pleased to present Active Objects: Art, Craft & Design, an exhibition that asks visitors to consider objects not as passive things, but as active participants in human experience. On view in Yester House, the exhibition brings together work by Johannes Michelsen, Farhad Mirza, Stanton Sears, Ellen Shattuck Pierce, Amara Hark Weber, and Susan White, alongside a juried exhibition of work by SVAC Artist Members selected by Stanton Sears. Active Objects explores the shifting boundaries between art, craft, and design. The exhibition considers how objects shape the ways we live, move, gather, remember, and relate to the world around us. Through furniture, functional forms, sculptural objects, vessels, textiles, and works that resist easy classification, the exhibition invites visitors to look closely at how objects carry meaning through material, use, labor, context, and display. Visit here for more. 

Brattleboro, VT | August 1, 4pm

The towering puppets, brass band, giant papier-mâché creatures, and political pageantry of Bread & Puppet Theater return to Brattleboro, when the legendary Vermont company presents The Upside Down World Circus as part of Next Stage Arts' Bandwagon Summer Series. The outdoor performance begins at Retreat Farm, with gates opening at 3pm. Filled with stilt dancers, oversized puppets, live music, dance, and the company's trademark blend of satire and spectacle, the circus offers an imaginative response to the political and social upheavals of the present day. Following each performance, Bread & Puppet serves its famous sourdough rye bread with aioli, while their popular "Cheap Art" table offers books, posters, postcards, and other works from the Bread & Puppet Press. Tickets are $24 in advance, $28 at the gate, and free for children 12 and under.