Vermont Folklife's Sugar in the Pan Trad Band plays traditional music from New England, Québec, Maritime Canada and beyond, featuring lively tunes that will have folks of all ages up & dancing!  These fantastic teenage musicians with the Young Tradition Vermont Touring Group offer creative and engaging arrangements for audiences.  They have performed at the New World Festival in Randolph and the Young Tradition Festival in Burlington; toured Cape Breton in 2023 and Québec in 2024; and have entertained at various retirement communities and schools in Vermont. 

With their sound firmly rooted in the musical traditions of New England, Appalachia, Scotland, and Ireland, Sap Line blends those traditions into a cohesive palette to work in harmony together.  Bringing an astonishing number of instruments to the stage, Sap Line adds a fresh and youthful flavor to everything they do, from energetic jigs and reels to lyrical three-part harmony singing, captivating sean-nós dancing, and foot-stomping Old Time favorites.

We love Pie! Join the Rokeby Museum to celebrate Summer and community with Rokeby’s annual Pie & Ice Cream Social. There will be games, raffle prizes throughout the afternoon, and music by Vermont Folklife’s Sugar in the Pan Trad Band!

Moira Smiley will perform songs from her recently released album of folk songs with string quartet, ‘The Rhizome Project’ along with special guests, including YTV participants.

The annual folk concert is organized by singer Deb Flanders in honor of her great-aunt Helen Hartness Flanders, an internationally recognized ballad collector and authority on folk music found in New England and in the British Isles. 

Oliver Scanlon and Tristan Henderson bring a sonic landscape of fiddles in wild harmony, high-powered guitar, and pounding foot percussion with mandolin, jaw harp, and soaring vocal harmonies. The group taps into many traditions from the north to south and east to west, distilling a distinct sound that is completely their own. Their signature is variety: both multi-instrumentalists, they play a dynamic repertoire of folk-roots genres and tunes, both traditional and original.  

Join the Young Tradition Touring Group at the Capital City Grange for the Montpelier Contra Dance!

Join the Young Tradition Touring Group at the Putney School for a T performance and community contra dance!

Join the Young Tradition Vermont Touring Group for a performance at the Starksboro Meeting House!

Join Touring Group members Ari, Eli and Winslow for a small group performance at the Thayer House

Join us for a house concert with Nashville-based fiddler and folksinger Emerald Rae, with a special performance by a group of Fiddleheads.

The 24th Annual Folk Music Concert will pay tribute to the late Pete Sutherland, lifelong Vermonter, world citizen and exceptional musician. Featured on the program are current and past members of Young Tradition Vermont Touring Group.

The annual folk concert is organized by singer Deb Flanders in honor of her great-aunt Helen Hartness Flanders, an internationally recognized ballad collector and authority on folk music found in New England and in the British Isles. Joining Deb are fiddler Oliver Scanlon, cellist John Dunlop, violin/fiddlers Laura Markowitz and Sofia Hirsch.

Join us for a free (donations accepted) lunchtime concert at Trad Camp! Joanne Garton mixes her pervasive passion for Scottish culture with the drive and rhythms of the New England dance floor. Ten musical years in Montreal and two in Scotland provided ample influence and inspiration for traditional tunes and the art of teaching them. A resident of Montpelier, Vermont for the last 12 years, Joanne teaches music and dance to kids and adults, performs on stage, plays in sessions, and of course, steps out on the dance floor.

Join us for a free (donations accepted) lunchtime concert at Trad Camp with Yann Falquet and Julia Friend. Yann is a very active and creative acoustic guitar player on the Québécois music scene. His involvement in the province's traditional music scene has brought him perform on numerous recordings, and to tour regularly throughout Canada, the U.S., Europe and Australia with his main project Genticorum. Julia is a singer of pub songs, sea shanties, and ballads. She loves the power and vulnerability of the human voice. An occasional performer at small folk festivals, Julia is happiest swapping songs and blending harmonies in dark corners in the wee hours of the night.

Join us for a free (donations accepted) lunchtime concert and performance at Trad Camp! Jeh Kulu Dance and Drum Theater invites you to join us in celebration through traditional West African music and dance. In the Bambara language of Mali, “Jeh Kulu” means “community” and this is exactly what we hope to build with our audiences! Founded in 1993, Jeh Kulu brings together people of all ages and backgrounds to honor the joyous traditions of West Africa.

Join us for a free (donations accepted) lunchtime concert at Trad Camp! Burlington-based Migmar Tsering plays traditional Tibetan music on the dranyen, a long-necked, seven-stringed instrument. Born in Tibet, brought up in India, and a Vermonter since 2011, Tsering is a singer, songwriter, musician, composer, and Tibetan dance instructor. He is the founder of the Rolyang Lobling school (in English, “music class”) where he has worked with dozens of students to make Tibetan music and dance happen in Vermont.

Join us at Trad Camp for a free (donations accepted) lunchtime concert! Oliver Scanlon began his early training with a stint with the Vermont Youth Orchestra and years in the Young Tradition Vermont’s Fiddleheads. Fiddler, mandolinist and tunesmith Scanlon was introduced to his mentor Pete Sutherland and the parallel universe of fiddle music at the age of nine. In 2008, Oliver and a few talented middle school friends formed the group which became The Irregulars and in 2013 he co-founded Pete’s Posse and became the youngest member of Sutherland’s long running dance band The Clayfoot Strutters.

Friends, fans, students, collaborators, admirers and more pay tribute to beloved musician, mentor, and community member Pete Sutherland. The concert will be hosted by Sarah Blair and Will Mentor, and will include contributions from Jon Gailmor, Timothy Cummings, Tristan Henderson, Patti Casey, Colin McCaffrey, the Youth Commission, Rebecca Starks, Anna Roberts-Gevalt, Geoff Gevalt, Oliver Scanlon, Zachary Mills and Social Band

In this Showcase Concert featuring a variety of young musicians and dancers performing with their mentors, teachers and/or parents including La Famille LaBlanc, Michele Choiniere with Isabella Rottler, Brian Perkins with students, Gopal Niroula with Isika Niroula, Sarah Hotchkiss with Fiddleheads, Fiona Stowell with students, Joanne Garton with Liam Moore and Lacey Bennett, Migmar Tsering with Rolyang Lobling, Yasi Zeichner with Cora Marren, Oliver Scanlon with Fiddleheads, Gerlisa Garrett with Nelle King, Nicholas Williams with family band, Fiona Stowell with the Youth Commission, Hadley Stockwell and Owen Kennedy with the Touring Group, and others

For years the Young Tradition Festival Contest has encouraged young musicians and dancers to keep traditions alive and to support their involvement in traditional music and dance. This year, join us for standout performances from several past winners, including  including Jordan Bélanger (2015, 2017), Eric George (2014), Jaden Gladstone (2008, 2012), Addie Herbert (2015, 2017), Owen Kennedy (2021, 2022), Romy Munkres (2018), Fern Tamagini-O'Donnell (2022), Duncan Yandell (2008), Oliver Scanlon (2010, 2011), McKinley James (2010, 2011, 2014, 2017) and others.

La Famille LeBlanc of New Brunswick performs French Acadian music, this time with the 20-member YTV Touring Group. The Touring Group’s performance will include material learned on their week-long April tour of Cape Breton, which will have concluded just days before the festival.

La Famille LeBlanc of New Brunswick performs French Acadian music alongside the YTV Youth Commission, a talented trad band of 5 teens headed up by youth leader Fiona Stowell playing contemporary melodies and traditional tunes from various cultural backgrounds.