BROWNSVILLE, Vt. – On the cool, green slopes of Mt. Ascutney, and in the charming Village of Brownsville, is where most would want to experience this magical, two-day celebration. Here is where a mountain and a village burst out into the grand Independence Day festivities.
“Adventures Await on Ascutney Mountain – Celebrating 10 Years of Ascutney Outdoors” is the theme of the 2025 Brownsville Independence Day Celebrations (IDC), on July 3 and 4.
Starting on July 3, at 6 p.m., take in the views and music as mouth-watering aromas swirl through mountain-fresh air at Ascutney Outdoors. Enjoy an array of tasty delights by three diverse food vendors while anticipating the best, most eye-popping fireworks display in the region. Get there early to ensure that you get to savor everything, and to support this free event, consider dropping some change into an Uncle Sam hat.
Here’s what’s in store for your palate: The local Moonlighters will be serving up their all-time favorite hot dogs, hamburgers, and fries; and Wicked Awesome BBQ will provide finger-licking good barbecue and sides. Throughout the evening as well, the perennial Lazy Cow Ice Cream will be serving up tongue-tingling delights. Please note, barbecues are prohibited on July 3 anywhere on the mountain or in the parking area. Ascutney Outdoors’ BYOB policy can be found at www.ascutneyoutdoors.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/BYOB-policy.pdf.
Streaming into the night will be the music of the Fire House Dixie Land Band. Before the evening’s finale, you may get lucky if you buy a raffle ticket or two for the 50-25-25 raffle, where you could be the winner of 50% of the sales. Last year’s winner took home $3,000. Then sit back, look up, and enjoy IDC’s spectacular grand fireworks display by Northstar Fireworks of East Montpelier, Vt.
The next morning, on July 4, come down to Brownsville Village, where the Outreach Committee of the Brownsville Community Church will be serving an abundant community breakfast of pancakes, eggs, bacon, and sausage, from 8:30-10 a.m., all while you enjoy the live music of fiddler Adam Boyce and guitarist Dave Richard. The donations received at the breakfast will support local outreach and missions. Following the breakfast, there will be some lively line dancing led by Conrad Farnham of Copperhead Line Dancing in the church’s Tribute Park Pavilion. This free, fun bit of easy exercise is for all ages and abilities. Dancing runs from 10:30 a.m. – 12 p.m., and is an opportunity to work off breakfast and build your appetite back up for lunch.
From 10 a.m. – 3 p.m., folks can wander over to the Town Hall, where crafty vendors will be selling their wares, including woodworking, soft goods/textiles, collectibles, and edibles. Local groups will be sharing important information, or why not just buy that book you didn’t know you always wanted at the book sale?
Outside of the town hall, there will be the aroma of luscious foods cooking on grills. At that point, an appetite for lunch might be building. The Moonlighters will have come off the mountain to serve their grilled goodies, and, new this year, Letti’s Besitos will be serving up luscious Mexican fare. On the lighter side, the West Windsor Fast Squad will be serving their fruit smoothies, and the West Windsor Historical Society will be offering ice pops at The Grange.
DJ Rick Davies will be streaming patriotic music before the highlight of the day, which begins at 1:30 p.m., with the Grand Independence Day Parade, preceded by tolling of the Brownsville Church bell, followed by the Windsor Police Chief’s blue light that will appear at the crest of the hill on the Brownsville Hartland Road. In this great big small-town parade, there will be decorated floats, Shriner’s Clowns antics on their little “trykes,” great big fire trucks from all over the region, antique cars, local law enforcement, decorated bicycles, and proud marchers, too. A prize will be awarded to each of three float categories: Most Patriotic, Most On-theme, and Most Humorous. There will also be a fire truck award given by the West Windsor Volunteer Fire Department. Note that the Brownsville Hartland Road will be closed to all through traffic starting at 1 p.m.
If you are interested in volunteering, or would like to be in the parade, email BrownsvilleIDC@gmail.com. To learn more about where you can help, visit www.signupgenius.com/go/5080E4CA5AF2EA7F85-55863507-help.
This annual celebration is all made possible by the generous donations from IDC business sponsors, individuals from all over, and the Town of West Windsor! Your support of the Independence Day Celebration is greatly appreciated by all. Donations by check, payable to the Brownsville IDC, should be mailed to Brownsville IDC, P.O. Box 37, Brownsville, VT 05037. Donations can also be made at www.fundrazr.com/BrownsvilleIDC2025.
Tickets for the second Ascutney Outdoors & Brownsville Independence Day Celebrations 50-25-25 Fundraiser Raffle have been on sale since May, so the prize is growing. This raffle will benefit Ascutney Outdoors at 25%, Brownsville Independence Day Celebrations at 25%, and one lucky winner at 50%. Tickets will be available at the July 3 event at the Ascutney Outdoor Center; the Independence Day festivities in town on July 4; and again at the Ascutney Outdoor center on July 5. The drawing will be on July 6. You don’t need to be there to win, and the winner will be notified by the phone number or email provided.
Thank you to the 2025 Brownsville Independence Day Celebrations business sponsors to date: Grand Sponsors Mt. Ascutney Property Owners Association and Mountain’s Edge Condo Association; American Eagle Sponsors Ennis Construction and Valley Artesian Well Company; Patriot Sponsors Adam Boyce – Vermont Fiddler, Dan Lesnick Excavation, Gordon E.R. Troy Esq., Mt. Ascutney Hospital & Health Center, TwinLine Towing & Recovery, and Vermont Facial Aesthetics; Parade Sponsors Canon Tire, Dead River Company, MISys Inc., Mascoma Bank, Osgood Welding, and West Windsor Moonlighters; Float Sponsors Ascutney Mountainside Condos, Four Generations, Goodhouse Landscaping, Leland Company, Parris Hill Farm, Tami’s Head Lines, and Windsor Rotary; and Banner Sponsor Frazer Insurance Agency.
And a big thank-you to all our individual donors, the Town of West Windsor, Ascutney Outdoors, First Responders from West Windsor and Windsor, and all the volunteers for making this community celebration possible.