Ripe With Opportunity
Saturday 8
Stowe’s Strawberry Hill Farm serves as the ideal backdrop for Strawberry Jam, a diverse music festival benefiting local recovery nonprofit Jenna’s Promise. Renowned guitarist Cory Wong (pictured), retro R&B groove collective the California Honeydrops, rising soul artist Devon Gilfillian, and bluegrass bosses Michael Daves and Jacob Jolliff headline a stacked bill of national and regional acts.
These Words
Thursday 6
The free Lake Morey Summer Concert Series continues in Fairlee with a performance of nostalgic bangers by 2000s pop princess Natasha Bedingfield. Recently resurrected anthems — thank you, TikTok!— include breakout gem “Unwritten” and optimistic earworm “Pocketful of Sunshine,” reminding listeners why her catalog has amassed 1 billion streams on Spotify.
Jenny From the Block
Friday 7
A reception for local printmaker Jennifer Koch’s exhibit “Altered Leaves & Eternal Love Triangle” at Generator Makerspace in Burlington invites attendees to peruse works created during the artist’s spring residency. Intricately carved woodblock prints inspired by nature, gemstones and romance take center stage during a behind-the-scenes look at how the time on-site shaped her craft.
The Whole Shebang
Friday 7-Sunday 9
The sixth edition of Lebanon Opera House’s Nexus Music and Arts Festival in New Hampshire connects the community with an energetic lineup of free entertainment across three outdoor stages. The creative mecca strikes a chord with live music by Joy Clark, the Oshima Brothers and other notable acts, as well as juggling and acrobatics from the Red Trouser Show and a signature silent disco.
Bumper Crop
Friday 7-Sunday 9
At Farr’s Field in Waterbury, kings and queens of the road convene for fueled-up fun at the 69th annual Vermont Antique and Classic Car Meet. Motorheads don costumes matching their model’s era for a vintage fashion show, while a flea market, a car corral and Hot Wheels racing turbocharge the weekend. Need a pit stop? A cruise to nearby Cold Hollow Cider Mill replaces the usual parade.
Danke Schön
Sunday 9
Third-wave ska-punk staples Save Ferris bring infectious beats and high-octane brass runs to listeners at Higher Ground in South Burlington. Named after the 1986 cult classic Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, the band began its journey at underground venues in Southern California before rocketing to fame in 1997 with a saxy cover of Dexys Midnight Runners’ “Come On Eileen.”
Razor’s Edge
Opens Wednesday 12
The Northern Stage in Concert series launches with a stripped-down version of Stephen Sondheim’s macabre masterpiece Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street at Barrette Center for the Arts in White River Junction. A full orchestra and top-tier cast stage an intimate concert-style reading of the grim tale of a wronged man’s revenge plot in Victorian-era London.