6th Annual Vermont Cheesemakers Festival

If you will be anywhere near Vermont this month, be sure to make plans to attend the Sixth Annual Vermont Cheesemakers Festival on Sunday, July 20, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Coach Barn at Shelburne Farms. 

Vermont is the premium artisanal cheese state with the highest number of cheesemakers per capita: over 40 of them. Experience their passion for making fine cheeses, taste local and fresh foods and wines, and meet the artisans who make them. Spend a high summer day along the shores of Lake Champlain at the historic Shelburne Farms Coach Barn, sampling, buying, learning and networking. 

There will be over 40 award-winning cheesemakers, including Blythedale Farm, Cabot Creamery Cooperative, Cellars at Jasper Hill, Cobb Hill Farm, Crowley Cheese Co., Grafton Village Cheese Co., Shelburne Farms, Spring Brook Farm, Thistle Hill Farm, Vermont Creamery, Vermont Farmstead Cheese, Vermont Shepherd and guest cheesemakers Rogue Creamery from Oregon, Cherry Grove Farm from New Jersey, and Cricket Creek Farm from Massachusetts.

There will also be many artisan food producers such as Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream, Blake Hill Preserves, Castleton Crackers, Effie’s Homemade, Fat Toad Farm, Jan’s Farmhouse Crackers, King Arthur Flour, Murray’s Cheese, Sumptuous Syrups of Vermont, Vermont Cheesecake Co., Vermont Coffee Co. and Vermont Smoke & Cure.

There will be local wine, craft beer and spirits producers, cheesemaker demonstrations, cooking demonstrations, three “Meet the Cheesemakers” workshops, and best of all, over 200 cheeses, wines and food products to sample and to purchase. The festival is sponsored by the Vermont Cheese Council and the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets, as well as venerable Vermont cheese producers Vermont Creamery, Cabot Creamery Cooperative, Grafton Village Cheese Co., Shelburne Farms and several other cheese and food companies. Tickets are $50 (children under 3 can enter free) and can be purchased from FlynnTix at 802-86 FLYNN (3-5966).