The heifers will stroll again this weekend. The annual Strolling of the Heifers Parade, a centerpiece for a weekend of farm-themed events, will step off at 10 a.m. Saturday, a short drive down Route 91 in downtown Brattleboro, Vt. Heifer calves will lead the parade, followed by other animals, tractors, bands and floats. After, the crowd will walk along with the heifers to an all-day agriculture expo on the town’s common and lower Linden Street, where food, family games, entertainment and farming exhibits will be held.
Since it was founded in the early 2000s, the annual festival, which begins on Friday, has grown from a one-hour parade into a full weekend of farm-themed events. The parade attracts tens of thousands of visitors to the region and is consistently listed by travel publications among New England’s top seasonal events.
The mission of Strolling of the Heifers, a nonprofit that hosts the parade, is to connect consumers with healthy local foods and the farmers who bring it to them, according to a press statement about the event. In recent years, the nonprofit’s mission has expanded from the weekend’s events to a year-round set of programs aimed at encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship in agriculture.
First and foremost, the heifer stroll supports an appreciation for family farmers, the statement says. It also features regional food producers, vendors and exhibitors of sustainable goods and services.
At the Slow Living Expo on the common, visitors will find makers of specialty foods including candies, chocolates, condiments, sauces, meats, food and beverages, along with craftspeople, green building and home energy specialists, healthy living and woodlands exhibitors. The heifers will also be on hand to greet visitors.
Throughout the weekend, live music and entertainment will be held at the gazebo on the common and at other locations. Musicians range from honky-tonk to hip-hop with some folk, jazz and a capella. performed by both local and national bands. A crowd favorite at the expo is a non-stop trapeze artists performance by Brattleboro’s New England Center for Circus Arts.
Beginning Friday evening from 5 to 9 p.m., the weekend will kick off on the common with food trucks, vendors and live music in the gazebo. On Main Street, the Stroll’s River Garden headquarters will host a Specialty Foods and Vermont Beverages Expo that will include a tasting of spirits and beer from Vermont distillers and brewers.
Also in the River Garden, the finals of the Great New England Coffee Cakes and Sweet Breads Competition will be held. The competition includes a public tasting to determine a People’s Choice award winner. The MOOver bus will be giving free rides between Main Street and the Common during the evening.
Elsewhere in downtown Brattleboro, the Gallery at the Garden at 157 Main St. will feature a farm theme. Artists Amber Bessette and Steven Meyers wil have various pieces on display throughout the month. Bessette’s acrylic paintings include “Young Women in Farming,” a series of scenes from around her Guilford, Vt. farm. Meyer’s work depicts old farmsteads and dense forests from the West River Valley rendered with India ink on Yupo paper.
The Strolling of the Heifers Parade will take place Saturday morning at 10 a.m. A parade like no other, it’s expected to include up to 100 heifer calves bedecked with flowers and led by future and current farmers, along with many other farm animals, bands, floats, tractors, performers and much more. The parade’s theme this year is “Farmers Are Our Heroes.” (Visitors are asked not to bring dogs to the parade or Expo because they might scare the animals.)
The Slow Living Expo will be held all day from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., beginning on Saturday, on the Brattleboro Common and lower Linden Street. Typically, it is attended by the parade audience. Among other things, the Expo will showcase: home energy exhibits, crafts, a woodlands exhibit, a wellness exhibit, entertainment, food trucks, and other things.
A farmers’ breakfast will be held Sunday morning, showcasing natural and organic foods sourced locally. The breakfast will be held at the Marina Restaurant, which is just off Putney Road at the West River, the statement says.
Also Sunday, a cycling tour titled ‘Tour de Heifer’ will be held offering 15, 30 and 60-mile cycling routes, plus a 3-mile hiking option. Throughout Sunday, the Stroll has partnered with six farms in the Brattleboro area — The Bunker Farm, Scott Farm, Full Plate Farm, all in Dummerston, Vt.; the Robb Family Farm in West Brattleboro; the Miller Farm in Vernon, Vt. Farmers will be offering guided tours throughout the day.
Money raised from the weekend supports the Stroll’s year-round programming. More at strollingoftheheifers.com.