BRATTLEBORO — The 11th annual Strolling of the Heifers Weekend, featuring a parade of flower-bedecked heifer calves led by future farmers up the historic Main Street of Brattleboro, takes place June 1 to 3.
The centerpiece of the weekend is the world-famous Strolling of the Heifers Parade, which starts promptly at 10 a.m. on Saturday, June 2. The signature heifer calves lead the parade and are followed by other farm animals, tractors, bands, and floats. The crowd then follows the parade to the all-day, 11-acre Live Green expo to enjoy food, entertainment, and exhibits.
Over the years, Strolling of the Heifers has grown from a one-hour parade into a full weekend packed with family events, and attracts many thousands of visitors. The weekend has consistently been listed among the top summer events of New England and has received international attention.
The mission of Strolling of the Heifers is to connect people with healthy local foods and with the farmers and producers who bring it to them. First and foremost, the event shows support and appreciation for family farmers, but it also features many other regional food producers, as well as vendors and exhibitors of many other sustainable goods and services.
At the Live Green Expo, besides meeting the heifers up close, visitors will find find vegetable growers, cheesemakers, maple syrup producers, and makers of specialty foods including candies, chocolates, condiments, sauces, meats, pizzas, and beverages, along with craftspeople, green building specialists, and entertainers. There will also be goat racing, free samples of yogurt and many other foods. The AFLAC Ford Fusion NASCAR will be on display and there will be special areas devoted forestry and organic foods.
Schedule of events
Strolling of the Heifers Weekend highlights include:
• Gallery Walk and the finals of the Great New England Bread Baking Competition on Friday, June 1 from 5 to 9 p.m. Main Street will be shut down for a three-hour party with musicians, clowns, and street vendors, while the River Garden will host the finals of a sandwich competition aiming to find the perfect combination of New England-produced breads, cheeses, and other local ingredients.
• Farm Art - an exhibit of farm-themed art by 11 local artists, opening Thursday evening, May 31, and continuing for the month of June, in three locations: The Works Bakery Café and Candle in the Night, both on Main Street, and the Marina Restaurant off Putney Road at the West River bridge.
• The Strolling of the Heifers Parade - Saturday morning, June 2, at 10 a.m. The world-famous centerpiece of Strolling of the Heifers: a parade like no other, featuring up to 100 heifer calves, bedecked with flowers for the occasion and led by proud future farmers, along with many other farm animals, bands, floats, tractors, and clowns. (Please, no dogs at the parade or Expo.)
• The Live Green Expo - all day (9 a.m. to 4 p.m.) on Saturday, June 2. This 11-acre festival happens at the Brattleboro Common and on the grounds of the Brattleboro Retreat, and is attended by the entire parade audience, which follows the parade up Main Street to come to the Expo.
Among other things, the Expo will showcase an organic breakfast presented by Pete & Gerry's Organic Eggs, starting at 7 a.m. near the corner of Linden Street and Park Place; Crafts Village, featuring some of the finest regional crafts people as vendors and demonstrators; Cheese Village, featuring cheese makers and offering the public a taste of some of the region's best cheeses; and the Organic Village organized by the Brattleboro-based Organic Trade Association.
There will also be a Goat Olympics, with frisky goats from Capricorn Farm; the Green Building and Energy area - featuring vendors and demonstrations on energy conservation, sustainable materials and green construction techniques; entertainers of every stripe; a heifer judging by the University of Vermont Extension, and trapeze artists from New England's Center for Circus Arts.
On Sunday morning, Stroll Weekend continues with the Royal Farmers Breakfast - the Stroll's annual showcase of natural and organic breakfast foods - held at the Chelsea Royal Diner in West Brattleboro.
The Tour de Heifer will run all day, Sunday June 3. In a joint fund-raiser for Strolling of the Heifers and other local charities, bike riders from all over New England will enjoy routes that will take them through scenic valleys and hills to experience farms and local food specialist operations in southern Vermont. There will be three routes - 10, 30 and 60 miles, geared to children, families and serious riders.
Finally, there is the Farm, Food and Fiber Tour, which begins Sunday, June 3 and continues through the fall of 2012. This is a self-guided tour of farms, food producers, and fiber producers throughout southeast Vermont. Visitors will be able to use detailed maps, directions, and destination listings on the Strolling of the Heifers website and in printed materials.
The money raised by the Strolling of the Heifers parade goes to help New England farmers and educators in various ways, including the annual Strolling of the Heifers Farm/Food Business Plan Competition with $30,000 in prizes to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship at farm and food enterprises.
Strolling of the Heifers is a zero-waste event: the organizers strive to minimize nonrecyclable waste at all Strolling events. For further information, visit www.StrollingoftheHeifers.com, and see Strolling of the Heifers on Facebook.