BELMONT, Vt. – The main intersection in downtown Belmont was closed to traffic on Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 7-8, while the town celebrated Cider Days, an annual event sponsored by the Mount Holly Community Association. Tents with local crafts and products on display lined Church Street, and packed the village green between the Mount Holly Community Historical Museum and the Village Baptist Church.
In spite of a rainy Saturday and chilly Sunday, the weekend was well attended by both locals and visiting leaf peepers. One woman who said she was heading back to Florida later in the week remarked, “I am taking as many pictures of the fall foliage as I can.”
Another woman commented, as she exited the Perkins House Museum with an armload of woolly mammoth merchandise from the gift shop, “Who knew you’d see the remains of a woolly mammoth in Vermont?”
The Mount Holly Community Historic Museum houses the tusk of the 12,000-year-old prehistoric elephant, discovered in the mid-1800s during the construction of the Burlington and Rutland Railroad.
Many visitors enjoyed a quintessential Vermont fall experience: sipping a cup of hot apple cider paired with a fresh cider donut while warming up near a bonfire and watching Mount Holly Cider make cider from a 100-year-old cider press.
The family-friendly festival also included a basket raffle sponsored by Mount Holly Snow Flyers Association, with proceeds going to support the New Years Eve fireworks display at Star Lake. Mount Holly Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA) raised money through their annual Souper Kids booth of hand-painted bowls. Pop’s Biscotti and Chocolates had a table full of goodies from their shop in Ludlow, and the Hangry Hogg’s barbeque food truck menu included mouth-watering dishes like slow-smoked brisket, pulled pork, and crispy chicken wings.
Mount Holly Beer Company was grilling hamburgers and hotdogs, and offered an assortment of craft beers on the lawn in front of their brewery.
Traditional folk and blue grass music added a perfect soundtrack for the weekend event, as guests visited the vendor booths, took time to pop into the historical museum or blacksmith shop, and perused the inventory of books for sale at the library.
An annual tradition that celebrates the fall harvest season in one of Southern Vermont’s most idyllic small towns, Cider Days is one festival not to be missed.