PROCTORSVILLE, Vt. – Repeatedly voted one of the “Top 10 Fall Events” by the Vermont Chamber of Commerce, the Vermont Golden Honey Festival, hosted by the Golden Stage Inn, is part farmers market with local produce and hot food, and part craft fair with artists and crafters selling their unique items for you and for gifts. This year’s festival will take place on Saturday, Sept. 9, from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Every vendor is encouraged to have products with some connection to bees – honeybee print fabrics, honey gin, beeswax balms and soaps, kombucha and mead, caramel sauce, and so much more. Co-hosts, Goodman’s American Pie of Ludlow, Vt., offer up their honey apple wood-fired pizza from their 1940s tow truck converted into a mobile wood-fired beehive pizza oven. The honey used on their pizza is from Jess Goodman’s own hives in Proctorsville.
Honey-related food and drinks, crafts, books, and kids’ activities are just a few things highlighted during this one-day, rain or shine event, along with music by Sammy Blanchette from 10 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Ever consider beekeeping? There will be at least 12 experienced beekeepers on site this year, with an observation hive, tons of honey, and just as much insight.
Burleigh and his dad from Erskine’s Grain & Garden will be in attendance with their experience tending hundreds of hives for many years. You can buy your bees or your hives right through them. Chris of Mason House Pottery not only makes honeybee-themed pottery in Cavendish, but he keeps hives as well. Steve of Winterview Farm tends his bees in Springfield, and his wife uses the honey and beeswax to make candles, salves, and more. Brian of Stix & Stones Farm has bees in multiple states, and he offers it still in the comb and some lavender infused too. Festival hosts Jess, of Goodman’s American Pie, and Julie, of Golden Stage Inn, keep bees together in Proctorsville.
Vendor list:
Festival booth with shirts and raffle, Golden Stage Inn walking tour with Julie, Goodman’s American Pie, kids crafts and face painting, Cavendish Historical Society candle dipping, Jeezum Crow smoked foods, Deb Martin jewelry, Dedrick Art, Dragon Tower jewelry and mini canvases, Erskine’s Grain and Garden, Green Mountain Backyard LLC, Hangry Hogg Southern BBQ, Janelle Wilfong stickers, Mason House Potter, Nancy’s Fancies gnomes, New England Hot Fudge sauces and kits, Opio Home table linens, Patterson wood-turned bowls, Peter’s Folly Farm honey, Soijen prints, Spicy Spoke hot foods, Steve Gintof and Winterview Farm honey and beef, Stix & Stones honey, Ted’s Wicked BBQ Sauces, Vermont Firerocks candle rocks, Windham County Beekeepers, Wooly Bear Soaps, Sandra Lombardi pottery, Pat Hackett, Brian Hewitt Fine Art, and Luna Co bracelets.
For more information, visit www.facebook.com/VTgoldenhoneyfestival.