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If you have been enjoying this dry stretch, soak up Monday, because it is the last clean day of it. We start bright and stay mostly sunny with a high right around 86, and the only catch is a few pop up showers and thunderstorms firing off in the afternoon and evening. Plenty of neighborhoods stay dry, though anything that does form can dump in a hurry, and the air turns noticeably stickier as the day goes on. Tuesday runs similarly with wetter results, dry through the morning and then scattered storms building after lunch. Wednesday is the soggy one, periods of rain with highs sliding back into the low to mid 70s and everything staying muggy. Thursday holds onto a few leftover showers before sunshine returns Friday. This rain is welcome after the dry run we had, so keep an umbrella in the bag and let the yard drink.

Monday itself is on the quiet side, and the anchor is Kaleo ($49) at Higher Ground Ballroom in South Burlington at 8, with Vincent Lima opening. Doors open at 7, and the Icelandic band is out behind the ten year anniversary of A/B, the record that gave us "Way Down We Go." Baseball people get the cheapest night out in town at Hot Dog Hysteria Night at Centennial Field, first pitch 6:35, where the whole hook is 25 cent hot dogs, so come hungry and get there early. Runners can meet at Skirack's Run Club on Main Street, which gathers at 5:45 in the shop's Run Center. Readers have the Book Club For Curious Women [MEETUP] at 6:30 in Essex Junction, which works through a couple chapters at a time rather than a whole book, under what the host cheerfully calls Vegas rules. Quiz types can settle in for Trivia with Craig Mitchell at the Monkey House in Winooski at 7. If you want something you can wander into any day this week, Color & Scale is up through September at the BCA Center, Leah Barranco's vivid paintings of the creatures living in Vermont's waterways. And at 2 in the afternoon South Burlington breaks ground on the Walk Bike Bridge near Staples, the crossing that will finally let people walk and bike over I-89 away from the Exit 14 ramps, with an opening penciled in for late 2028.

Tuesday fills up fast. Shelburne Farms hosts a Pasture Walk & Picnic from 3 to 5:30, a guided mile or two through the pastures looking at soil, grazing and what all of it does for the land, closing with a spread of farm raised food, free with preregistration. Cyclists have two very different options, the no drop EZ Breezy Bike Ride rolling out of Local Motion on Steele Street at 6 with music and volunteers keeping everyone together, or the Tuesday trail running series at Catamount ($20 online, $25 day of) in Williston at 6, which is a timed race rather than a social jog. Singers should know that the Green Mountain Chorus guest night at Grace United Methodist in Essex Junction from 7 to 8 is open to anybody curious about barbershop harmony, men and women both, and they are working up Beatles material. Readers can join the Charity & Sylvia discussion at the Winooski Memorial Library from 6 to 7:30 for this year's Vermont Reads pick, with free copies still sitting at the library, or spend the same window at Board Games for Adults at the Essex Free Library, refreshments included. The Lake Monsters run Youth Sports Night at 6:35 with a pregame parade and a postgame catch out in the outfield. Eat at American Flatbread on St. Paul Street anytime from 4 to 10 and Vermont Parks Forever collects $3.50 from every large pie. Early risers can bring opinions about the city's next twenty five years to the PlanBTV 2050 coffee hour at Schmanska Park from 10 to 11, coffee and pastries on them, though they do want an RSVP by email first.

Wednesday is the fullest day of the four even with rain in the forecast. Our own Pick-up Basketball [MEETUP] runs 5:30 to 7:30 at Pomeroy Park in the Old North End, outdoors and free like always. Come play, come hang, either is welcome. Colchester has the biggest draw of the week with the Phil Abair Band at Sam Mazza's Farm Market from 6 to 8, lawn chairs and blankets on the grass, picnics welcome, food and a licensed beverage cart on site. Horror readers should not sleep on Paul Tremblay at The SuperStore in Williston from 6 to 9, the New York Times bestselling novelist launching Dead but Dreaming of Electric Sheep, free with registration. Cyclists get the 9 mile ride from Switchback [MEETUP] at 5:30, a flat out and back up the path to Leddy and home inside 45 minutes, after which everyone regroups at the taproom for Buns & Brew night. Speaking of Leddy, Beach Bites takes over the park from 5 to 8 with food trucks, lawn games, live music and free public skating in the arena, and this is the last regularly scheduled one of the summer. Downtown, Passeggiata gets the bricks strolling at 6 in the Italian evening tradition, and Summer Sketchbook Club gathers at Daydream Art Supply on Church Street from 5. Shelburne Vineyard runs its Wednesday Wine Down market from 5 to 9, Doma Bar hosts the weekly All-Inclusive Dyke-Tacular from 5 to 10, and dancers can drop into open West Coast Swing practice on Crowley Street at 6:45. The Craftsbury Chamber Players ($25) play Elley-Long in Colchester at 7:30 in their 60th season, with an artist chat at 6:45 and free admission for kids 12 and under. Cooks can bring a dish to Vegan in Vermont at Fletcher Free from 6 to 8, though that registration has to happen in person at the library. Anyone curious how collective giving works can sit in on 100+ Women Who Care at the University Mall from 5 to 6:30.

Thursday is the marquee. Thundercat ($54.50, kids 12 and under free) plays Waterfront Park at 7, and the Grammy winning bassist wraps a crowd up in jazz fusion, funk and soul like nobody else working. Already scored my ticket so I’ll see you down there! Doors are at 6 with Maari of 99 Neighbors opening, the show runs rain or shine, and blankets and chairs are welcome though outside food and drink are not. Our group's Trivia at Four Quarters [MEETUP] starts at 6 in Winooski, and if you can get there a little early please help us grab a table. South Burlington throws SB Nite Out at Veterans Memorial Park from 5:30 to 8 with food trucks, the band Quadra, and a Cirque de Fuego fire performance, while Colchester counters with a free summer concert at Lower Bayside Park at 6:30, where InCahoots covers everything from Charlie Daniels to AC/DC. Church Street runs Party on the Bricks from 5:30 to 8 with Barbacoa playing outside Gaku Ramen, and Williston gets Crystal Ship doing the Doors at Maple Tree Place in Williston from 6 to 8, free.

Thursday also has plenty for people who would rather do something than watch something. The Old East End holds its monthly Potluck in the Park at Schmanska Park from 5:30 to 8, and you genuinely do not need to RSVP or bring a dish to show up, eat, and meet a neighbor. Women's Pickup Flag Football kicks off at 6 on the UVM rugby pitch, seven on seven, free, open to women and LGBTQIA+ players at any ability level. Methods & Means at Generator puts five working makers in a circle of chairs from 6 to 8 to talk honestly about how creative people actually pay the bills, with the floor open for questions. Colchester's Burnham library runs a free adults only dinosaur escape room at 4, though spots are tight enough that you can only sign up yourself and one friend. Artists can join the drop in Thursday figure drawing ($15-20 suggested) at the Odd Fellows hall on North Avenue from 7 to 9, eighteen and up with ID at the door. Early birds can meet the BTV Cleanup Crew in front of Kru at the top of Church Street at 7:30 in the morning, where gloves and bags are provided and nobody minds if you peel off when work calls. Comedy fans get former SNL writer Rosebud Baker ($25) opening a three night run at Vermont Comedy Club at 7. Networkers have Internpalooza at Hula from 5, a storytelling showcase and pitch competition with appetizers and drinks. The Solarpunk Book Club meets at the Peace & Justice Center at 5:30, and the Lake Monsters close out the homestand at 6:35 by handing the first 500 fans a Champ toothbrush holder bobblehead.

Scroll down to Events Section for full list of events Monday-Thursday.

Track it all week, with patio, swim, and sunset scores, at Burlington Right Now.

We’re now seeing 20–30 people at our weekly events! Thanks to everyone helping host events with me. And thanks to those that show up to make it worth it. Be sure to stop by for our weekly Saturday Coffee meetup at Zero Gravity at 10am. It’s a great place to talk about weekend events too, along with news and life updates. So come find things to do this weekend together:

This Coming Week:

Other Upcoming Events:

The digital arcade is officially packed with 18 free, Burlington-themed games like Church St Surfers, Flappy Champ, Where in Burlington and BTown Wordle. There are zero ads to skip and no apps to download, just a straightforward way to kill some time. I also added monthly leaderboards that reset on the 1st, and whoever is holding the top spots will get named right here in the Brief. Go claim your bragging rights and set a high score over at play.btownbrief.com.

The BTown City Guide is your cheat code for the city, and after months of tinkering it’s live for you right now. With 200+ sortable spots, real-time weather filters, and a "Surprise Me" button for when you can't decide, it's the only bookmark you need for weekend plans. Explore it by jumping straight in here. Or go over at btownbrief.com → BTown City Guide

Check out the news posts in the subreddit! There is a lot of good happening in Burlington that never gets talked about. I built r/GoodBurlington to change that. Think of it as the opposite of doomscrolling. Found a hidden gem? Snapped a great photo? Want to shout out a local worker who made your day? Post it on the subreddit, or submit it through this quick [Google Form] and I'll share it for you. The best of what gets shared will show up right here in the Brief. Come drop your posts: [r/GoodBurlington]

Why support? Every week, I sort through TONS of local sources: Seven Days events, Front Porch Forum calendar, Facebook events, Hello Burlington, Meetup.com, Eventbrite, Church St Marketplace calendar, Flynn, Higher Ground, Vermont Comedy Club, and then news stations like VTDigger, Seven Days, WCAX, WPTZ, Vermont Public, Community News Service, VT Cynic, The Other Paper, Vermont Business Magazine, Williston Observer, MyChamplainValley, The Charlotte News, to keep you connected. If the Brief saves you time, or has introduced you to something new in Burlington, then definitely consider chipping in!

About Me

Howard Center to Expand Services With New Federal Designation

Vermont's largest social services provider is now a Certified Community-Based Integrated Health Center, which unlocks higher Medicaid reimbursement and more federal funding, and Howard Center plans to add at least 20 direct care positions with it. The last year ran the other way, with 30 positions cut to close a $2.5 million hole, the Clarke Street needle exchange closed, and the six bed Jarrett House program for kids in crisis shut in June for lack of staff. Three other Vermont agencies earned the designation this year.

South Burlington plans Vermont's first PFAS-free synthetic turf field

Rain regularly pools on the grass at Veterans Memorial Park for days and wipes out games, so the city wants a synthetic multisport field with a base that actually drains. The workaround on Vermont's ban is PFAS free grass plus infill made of small wood chip pellets instead of crumb rubber, which project manager Silken Kershner says runs cooler underfoot and plays less bouncy. It went before the Development Review Board last week and still needs Act 250 and stormwater permits, with play targeted for next summer.

Age Well's Day at the Champlain Valley Fair to bring older Vermonters together for a day of food, music and fun

Age Well has run this for more than 15 years, and this year it lands at noon on Tuesday, September 1 at the Champlain Valley Exposition, with barbecue at 12:45, the Deuces Wild band and a raffle. An $8 suggested donation covers parking, fair admission, lunch and music, but only 350 tickets exist, six per person, and they have to be picked up in person at Age Well's Colchester office. If you have a parent or a neighbor who would love this, move now.

Vermont Towns Try Different Ways to Regulate Short-Term Rentals

Burlington has some of the strictest vacation rental rules in Vermont, requiring most hosts to live on the property they rent out, with a 9 percent local tax on every booking on top of 12 percent in state taxes. That has raised $1.7 million since 2017 and nearly $300,000 last fiscal year, about a quarter of what the Housing Trust Fund takes in annually. Twelve Old North End owners sued four years ago and the case is still unresolved, so the permitting department has paused penalties while it plays out. Miro Weinberger, who vetoed a stricter first draft before signing the ordinance, now reads the fight as a symptom of Vermont failing to build enough, with vacation rentals under 2 percent of the city's housing stock while Stowe hits a quarter of its own.

United Way of Northwest Vermont awards $630,000 for substance misuse prevention

The $630,000 goes to 16 organizations as year two of a three year investment that will top $2 million, with United Way acting as lead prevention organization for the Burlington, St. Albans and Barre health districts. Locally that means money for the King Street Center, the BIPOC Youth Mentorship Program, the Richard Kemp Center, the Winooski Partnership for Prevention and the Burlington Partnership for a Healthy Community. Every grantee also got a 3 percent cost of living bump. A new request for proposals is coming in the next few months, which is the opening for groups not currently in the portfolio.

Vermont's Catholic Church aims to protect Rice Memorial High by selling the parochial school to supporters

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Vermont, in Chapter 11 since the fall of 2024, wants a judge's permission to sell the 400 student South Burlington campus to a new nonprofit called RMHS Inc. for $4.3 million, up from an initial $2 million offer. The point is to shield the 42 classroom building and its 27 acres from liquidation, since advisers told the court that absent Rice the property would likely be repurposed into housing. Judge Heather Cooper takes it up on August 28, four days before classes start, and the diocese wants a private sale on the argument that a public process would gut enrollment. Behind all of it, a creditors committee representing more than 100 abuse claimants is seeking access to an estimated $500 million in parish property.

Labor board approves Healthy Living union despite management's objections

The National Labor Relations Board threw out all four of Healthy Living's objections without holding a hearing and certified Workers United at the South Burlington, Williston and Saratoga Springs stores, where employees voted 105 to 69 in April. Management argued the union spread misleading information and that organizers created an atmosphere of fear, and regional director Linda Leslie found none of it would justify overturning the result even if true. Organizing director Casey Moore says proposals are drafted and the bargaining committee wants a contract by Labor Day.

Burlington's Plan BTV New North End draws concerns over possible park development

Plan BTV New North End comes out of 18 months of community engagement, and it hit a nerve at last week's meeting when maps and renderings appeared to show development near Starr Farm Park and Ethan Allen Park. City officials say there is no current plan for development in any city park, and that the renderings exist to test what people do and do not want in those spaces. How the next draft handles them will tell you a lot about how this process goes.

BETA Technologies Unveils MV250, Loganair adds BETA ALIA CTOL

South Burlington's BETA used the Farnborough International Airshow to unveil the MV250, an autonomous hybrid electric aircraft aimed at military logistics, with a turbogenerator co developed with GE Aerospace. Kyle Clark's pitch is that building the defense platform on the same airframes, batteries and production lines as the civil ALIA keeps procurement and operating costs down. In the same week Loganair, the largest regional airline in the UK, signed a term sheet for five all electric ALIA CTOL aircraft with options for five more, expected in service in 2029, which would make it the first commercial airline in Europe flying an electric fleet. Loganair's chief executive says a March demonstration across Scotland showed potential to cut operating costs by up to 80 percent.

The current state of electric car charging in VT

Kevin Thorley of the Williston Energy Committee counts 114 fast charging plugs across those stations, all open to any EV regardless of manufacturer and spread well beyond the interstates into the Northeast Kingdom and southern Vermont. Fast chargers push 50 to 250 kilowatts, roughly 10 to 40 times what a home level 2 charger delivers, which gets most batteries to 70 or 80 percent in about 20 to 30 minutes. His worked example is Williston to Cape Cod in a Hyundai Ioniq 5, a 282 mile run needing one stop of under 10 minutes.

Vermont is not educating students with disabilities up to federal standards

The U.S. Department of Education rated Vermont as needing intervention under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, a downgrade that puts the state alongside New York, Maine and New Mexico, and three straight years at that rating can cost up to $2.4 million annually. The assessment found Vermont schools meeting fewer than 60 percent of federal accountability measures, with a four year graduation rate of 67 percent for students on individualized education programs against 86 percent for everyone else. Vermont last met the standard in 2018, and the Agency of Education has gone without a state director of special education since January.

Study: Lesions on Lake Memphremagog Fish Are a Transmissible Form of Cancer

UVM researchers publishing in Nature have identified the black splotches anglers keep finding on brown bullhead catfish as melanoma the fish catch from one another, the first transmissible cancer ever documented in freshwater fish, and they stress it poses no known threat to humans. The tell was genetic, since DNA in cancer cells from different fish turned out to be more closely related to each other than to the fish carrying them. Co-leader Julie Dragon's team found no link to the Coventry Landfill, because the disease is spread evenly across the 32 mile lake instead of clustering at the landfill end.

A summer program at South Burlington Library encourages reading for the joy of it

South Burlington Public Library's Unearth a Story program runs for children, teens and adults until August 8, with sign ups entering you in a prize raffle and bingo cards earning extra tickets. The definition of reading is generously wide, since K through 4 kids color deeper underground toward buried treasure every time they read a menu, a birthday card or a grocery list, and teen specialist Amanda Brown counts graphic novels, journaling and crafting.

Burlington Parks promotes new way to get involved in conservation

Conservation coordinator Daniel Schmidt has turned invasive buckthorn removal at Oakledge into something you can do on a walk, with orange tape marking the cut stems and green shoots free for the pulling. The park also just finished Burlington's first fully accessible playground, which the city wants to repeat across the park system.

Campo Opens in Waterbury With American-Meets-Latin Menu

Chef owner Josue Chanduvi has opened the first phases of Campo at Zenbarn in Waterbury Center, so far a creemee window, a snack shack menu and paella cooked on a custom 10 foot Argentinean parrilla. Breakfast, a bakery and indoor seating land by the end of summer. Open Wednesday through Sunday, noon to 9.

Burlington City Arts clarifies cost of new art installations on Main Street

Four new installations went up on Main Street and the cost speculation moved faster than the facts, so public art director Colin Storrs put numbers on it. The artist contract was $160,048, drawn from $500,000 in tax increment financing the City Council approved in 2022, which is borrowed against future growth inside the district rather than current tax dollars.

VIP introduces VIP Intelligence, the beverage industry's purpose-built AI

Colchester's Vermont Information Processing, which runs the software behind orders, pricing and depletions for beverage suppliers and distributors, is embedding AI across that whole stack through 2026 rather than shipping a separate app. Fifty years of back office beverage software, turning into an AI product without leaving town.

How good of a reader are you? Think you’re keeping up with Burlington news? It's time to prove it. Every Monday and Friday, we're dropping a quick 5-question quiz covering the local news you just finished reading. You've got just 60 seconds to answer them all. No looking back allowed. Use the same unique name each time you play so you can climb the monthly leaderboard, which resets on the 1st. Make your name (or cool nickname) known to Btown!

Ready to play? Click the link below, enter your name, and show us what you've got. Btown Brief Quiz

The men have officially booked their ticket to the USL League Two National Final for the second consecutive season! Battling through 95-degree South Texas heat and a late 8:00 PM local kickoff, the Boys in Green put on an absolute masterclass on Sunday night, routing host Laredo Heat 7-1 in the National Semifinal. The dominant victory extends their club-record winning streak to 10 straight matches and pushes Head Coach Chris Taylor’s remarkable unbeaten streak to 41 games without a single loss as gaffer.

Nineteen-year-old winger Ryan Zellefrow had his best-ever performance in Green, scoring a brilliant hat trick, dishing out an assist, and winning a penalty. The attack was relentless from start to finish, with Efe Aror, Jeremy Francou, Andrea Di Blasio, and Angelo Ventrella all finding the back of the net, while Texas native Diego Rosas added another assist to his monster summer tally. With this massive win, Vermont Green is now just one victory away from becoming the first back-to-back USL2 National Champions since the Cape Cod Crusaders accomplished the feat back in 2002 and 2003; a historic squad that coincidentally featured Vermont Green Sporting Director Adam Pfeifer on the right wing!

No more this season. The USL2 National Final will be played on the road in Michigan, where the Green will face off against USL2 powerhouse and four-time national champion Flint City Bucks on Saturday, August 1 at 7:30 PM. You can catch the live stream and find all the broadcast details over on the official Vermont Green FC schedule page as matchday approaches.

This is the curated cut. The full calendar, 25 sources refreshed twice a day, lives at Burlington events.

General Events

Live Music/DJ

General Events

Live Music/DJ

General Events

Performances

Live Music/DJ

General Events

Performances

Live Music/DJ

The full list of things to do around town, always waiting for you when you need a plan: Things To Do in Burlington

Every restaurant and bar in town, with their real hours, so you can see what's actually open right now: Open Right Now

Every happy hour, daily special and cheap-night I've gathered so far: Food & Drink Deals

What changed in Burlington since you last looked, openings, closings, and everything in between: Since You Checked

18 free Burlington-made games, one address: The BTown Arcade

And if you'd rather just have one link for all of it: the guide, the arcade, the whole lot hub.btownbrief.com

That is your week ahead. Get your outdoor plans in early while Monday is still cooperating, keep something waterproof within reach from Tuesday on, and remember the rain is doing the gardens and the streams a favor even when it wrecks an evening. If the Brief helps you figure out your week, you can toss a few dollars in the tip jar on ko-fi or Venmo @btownbrief, it genuinely keeps this thing running. Got a tip, a favorite haunt, or an event we should have on our radar? Send it our way, we are always listening. See you later, Burlington.

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