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Fall arrives this week and the forecast is playing along. Monday starts gray and cool, the clouds thin out through the afternoon, and the high lands right around 60 before a breezy evening slides into the low 50s. Tuesday is sunny from start to finish with a high near 64, and the equinox hits at 8:05 that evening, so autumn is official by bedtime. Wednesday and Thursday are the keepers, sunny to mostly sunny with light winds, highs in the upper 60s and nights in the mid to upper 40s, and there is no rain in sight until late Friday at the earliest. Track it all week, with patio, swim, and sunset scores, at Burlington Right Now.

Monday has a real show to start the week. LA indie rockers Cheekface with Apes of the State ($30) play the Higher Ground Showcase Lounge, doors at 7 and music at 7:30. Film people get a good one at Partizanfilm on College Street, where directors Avalon Fast and Jillian Frank bring their new indie feature Drinking and Driving for an 8:05 screening and stick around for a conversation after. Language lovers have Spanish Chat Mondays at Three Needs from 7 to 8, beginners and native speakers both welcome, and pickup dodgeball runs at the Miller Center from 7 to 8:15, $5 a game with teams drawn at random. Mountain bikers can join the Novice Monday guided ride at Catamount in Williston, meeting at 6 for a mellow hour and a half on beginner friendly trails, free for members with a $10.70 day membership for everyone else. Monday Night Bingo at the Elks Lodge on North Avenue goes from 4:30 to 9:30 with $100 regular game payouts and a $1,000 jackpot.

Tuesday is the last day of the Humane Society of Chittenden County's Adopt-A-Thon, with adoption fees waived for every pet 6 months and older, and the South Burlington shelter is open from 1 to 5. Movie night is free, since Main Street Landing screens Kubrick's Barry Lyndon at the Film House at 7, first come first served, with donations at the door going to the Heritage Winooski Mill Museum. At Higher Ground, Violet Grohl with Suzy Clue ($20-25) plays the Showcase Lounge with doors at 7:30, and tickets are running low. Deadheads have Dead Is Alive with Dobbs' Dead ($15) at Einstein's, show at 9, and vinyl people can catch Local Dork spinning at Foam from 6 to 9. Artists can walk into the Vermont Figure Drawing Collective at Karma Bird House from 6 to 8, $20 cash, and French speakers meet for Pause-Café Mardi at Burlington Bay starting at 5. Winooski needs hands at Landry Park from 4 to 6:30, where one crew works on the mountain bike trails with Fellowship of the Wheel and another makes room for new plots in the community garden, tools, gloves and snacks provided, just show up. Early risers can join the Peace & Justice Center's Mini Clean Up Crew on the City Hall steps at 8 AM for a half hour sweep of City Hall Park, or head to Zero Gravity for the Tech Tuesdays Breakfast [MEETUP] from 8 to 10, waffles and conversation with no agenda. Over in South Burlington, the Burlington Garden Club hosts Chip Darmstadt's talk The World of Birds at Faith United Methodist Church on Dorset Street at 1, and Recreation on the Go rolls into Jaycee Park from 5:30 to 7:30 with free food, face painting, music and yard games.

Wednesday is the fullest day of the week and the last call for a couple of summer traditions. It is the final passeggiata of the season, the Italian style evening stroll up and down Church Street, anytime between 5 and 8, and downtown businesses sweeten it with deals like a free creemee with a purchase at Frankie's, a $5 glass of wine with a snack trio at Pascolo, and 20% off at ECCO. Daydream Art Supply's Summer Sketchbook Club is part of it too, from 5 to 7, bring a sketchbook and draw around the shop. The big party is Oktoberfest at American Flatbread and Mothership Brewery from 5 to 9 on the alley patio, Flatbread's 22nd and the first for Mothership, with commemorative steins, big pretzels, hot brats and polka from Inseldudler, no tickets required. And of course our own Pick-up Basketball [MEETUP] runs at Pomeroy Park at 5:30, outdoors and competitive. Two shows share Higher Ground, with Grammy winner Madison Cunningham with Julia Cumming ($30-33) in the Ballroom, doors at 7:30, and Toronto soul and roots seven piece Bywater Call ($18-23) in the Showcase Lounge, a seated show with doors at 7. In Shelburne, Vermont songwriter Henry Jamison with Isabel Pless ($22) plays the Silo Sessions at Bread & Butter Farm at 7, doors at 6 with made to order tacos until showtime, the Meatpackers play the donut porch at Shelburne Orchards from 12:30 to 1:30, and Shelburne Vineyard hosts the last Wednesday Wine Down Farmers Market of the season from 5 to 9. Readers can settle in at the Silent Book Club at Bar Renée from 6 to 8, bring any book, read quietly for an hour in the middle and chat on either end. History people have Meanwhile in Vermont in the Howe Library atrium at UVM from 3 to 4:30, a panel on where Vermont shows up in the nation's founding documents, given that Vermont did not exist yet when the Declaration was signed. The Architecture + Design Film Series opens its 14th season at Contois Auditorium in City Hall with Ada, My Mother the Architect, doors at 6 and screening at 6:30, free. Digital artists can learn Blender at the Media Factory's free two part Intro to 3D Modeling workshop from 6 to 8, preregister, Mad River Distillers joins trivia night at Citizen Cider at 6:30, and Jazz Night with Ray Vega fills Hotel Vermont from 8:30 to 10:30. The Vermont Council on World Affairs holds its State of the World Summit ($75) at Hula Lakeside from 8:15 to 2:30 with Major General Henry Harder, national security correspondent J.J. Green and four time Olympian Lowell Bailey, but registration closes today, so move fast. And finally, Sunset Watchers Club teased what might be their last pop up DJ set near the Waterfront by the Frame, Wednesday night starting at 6pm. If you haven’t checked them out this summer, now might be your last chance to do so!

Thursday is a theater night. All Things Equal, Rupert Holmes' one woman play about Ruth Bader Ginsburg starring Michelle Azar, lands on the Flynn Main Stage at 7, and Vermont Stage opens its 32nd season with Dakar 2000 ($34-54) at Main Street Landing at 7:30, Rajiv Joseph's thriller about a Peace Corps volunteer in Senegal and the government operative who asks him for a dangerous favor. Summit speaker J.J. Green sticks around town for a free conversation with Champlain College President Alex Hernandez at Fletcher Free Library from 6:30 to 8 about his book The Noise War, registration required. Comedy fans get Juno winner Sophie Buddle ($25) at Vermont Comedy Club at 7, the first of four shows through Saturday, and indie rock lifers get Luna with Constant Smiles ($30-35) in the Higher Ground Showcase Lounge, doors at 7 and tickets running low. South Burlington's Park Hop Brews sets up at Goose Pond from 5:30 to 7:30 with music from Jacob Green, food from Tejas Tex & Mex and a free yoga class at 5, and the South Burlington Public Art Gallery hosts a free opening reception for Katie Loesel's Recorded Geology from 5 to 6:30, meet the artist with light refreshments. Burlington Parks wants your ideas for a new playground and the park's comprehensive plan at a drop in session at Baird Park from 3 to 6, snacks included. UVM Health's free Health Equity Summit runs Thursday and Friday at the Davis Center with a keynote from Flint pediatrician Dr. Mona Hanna, registration required. Book clubs split two ways, with the Solarpunk Book Club & Game Night at the Peace & Justice Center from 5:30 to 6:30, free, and the Queer/LGBTQ+ Horror Book Club upstairs at the Hunny Hive on Church Street from 5:30 to 7, also free. Game people can play Blood on the Clocktower [MEETUP] at the Boardroom from 6 to 9. Catamount also runs its Social Thursday guided ride at 6 for riders comfortable on intermediate trails. Looking ahead to Saturday, our BTown Brief meetup Fall Potluck [MEETUP] at the Indian Brook pavilion in Essex is capped at 29 people, so RSVP now if you want in.

Scroll down to Events Section for full list of events. Or check my events page.

Bored? Be sure to play the BTown Arcade. New games added every week or so.

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:

I put out a redesign of the website that holds all 80+ projects I made for the city, be sure to take an afternoon and check them all out.

And of course, one of my favorites, the ALL DAY FEED.

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. It takes a long time to curate and write about all this local content, so if this lengthy newsletter saves you time, or has introduced you to new experiences in Burlington, then definitely consider chipping in!

About Me

Fall foliage varies from year to year, for leaf-peepers and trees

Leaf season is looking healthy. Last year's drought browned trees across more than 64,000 acres, and this year the damage is minimal, according to Josh Halman, whose state team has tracked the same sugar maples since 1991. Their data shows the growing season stretching steadily, running 21 days longer last year than when the project began, though this fall's color may actually arrive a day or two early. Vermont's coldest zones peak first in late September, with each zone to the south following about a week later.

New England Patriots Foundation Awards Burlington’s King Street Center $10,000

South Burlington's Cathy Seward was one of 26 people honored at Gillette Stadium last Tuesday with a Myra Kraft Community MVP Award, the only 2026 winner from Vermont, and the honor came with $10,000 for King Street Center. Seward has volunteered there since 2009, starting as a book buddy in the literacy program and then mentoring a child who has since graduated high school, and she is now on her second mentee. The 55 year old center serves more than 450 people a year, from 18 month olds to 18 year olds.

Zachary’s Pizza adds a taproom

Zachary's Pizza on Williston Road in South Burlington has a new taproom pouring 16 beers plus wine, opened this summer in a former event space near the front of the restaurant after the arcade heavy family fun center in back closed in the spring. Owner Shawn Farrell says the fun center only made money about a third of the year, and the City Council approved a spirits license earlier this month so mixed drinks are on the way. The taproom sells pull tabs that benefit the South Burlington High School basketball program, Farrell is an alum, and it has added trivia and game watch nights.

Solar parking canopy plan announced for Burlington Electric office

Burlington Electric plans to cover about 13 visitor parking spaces at its Pine Street office with a timber frame solar canopy, built with SunCommon and expected to come online in 2027. The bifacial panels should generate enough electricity for about 27 to 30 homes, and the project is paid for through the Net Zero Energy Revenue Bond after a September 9 vote by the Burlington Electric Commission.

Jurors to begin deliberations after closing arguments Monday in attempted murder trial

Closing arguments are today in the trial of Jason Eaton, 51, and the jury gets the case right after. Both sides rested Friday afternoon and Judge John Pacht sent jurors home rather than start lengthy closings, with court resuming at 8:30 this morning. Eaton faces 3 counts of attempted second degree murder in the November 25, 2023 shooting of Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdalhamid and Tahseen Aliahmad on North Prospect Street, and the five day trial turned on dueling psychiatric experts and his insanity defense. A conviction on even one count carries up to life in prison without parole.

When your boss is your landlord: UVM Health Network job cuts put employee housing at risk

Seven of the employees losing their jobs in the UVM Health Network cuts also live in housing the network owns, part of a $9 million investment in two complexes with nearly 200 units built to attract workers. They get at least 105 days or the end of their lease, whichever is longer, before they have to move out. Sandy Greene, a licensed nursing assistant on Baird 3 for five years, pays $2,600 a month and learned last Tuesday that her unit is closing. Rep. Ashley Bartley of Fairfax says Vermont law barely regulates employers who are also landlords, and a United Way coordinator is working with all seven tenants.

Burlington Is Poised to Elect Newbies to the Vermont House

Burlington will likely send at least six new faces to Montpelier in January out of its 11 House seats, right as the city loses its most powerful voices there. House Speaker Jill Krowinski and Senate President Pro Tem Phil Baruth are both leaving, along with Rep. Kate Logan, who chaired the Progressive caucus, and Rep. Tiffany Bluemle, the ranking member on House Appropriations. The incoming class includes 28 year old Jeffrey Peterson, a Democratic Socialists of America member who won his primary without ever holding office, and two Democrats who won their primaries as write ins after nobody filed. Former city councilors Karen Paul, Ali Dieng and Dave Hartnett are also on the ballot, and Brian Cina and Carol Ode, both elected in 2016, become the longest serving Burlington reps.

Vermont funded lawyers for tenants facing eviction. The program is out of money.

Vermont Legal Aid's Tenant Representation Pilot Project runs out of state money on October 31, after lawmakers funded it with just over $1 million in the 2024 session. That is how project director Sara Kagle describes facing eviction court without a lawyer. The pilot put attorneys beside tenants in Lamoille, Windsor, Rutland and Windham counties with no strict income limits, and of the 207 cases resolved through August, attorneys prevented eviction in 73. One was Steve Koren of Brattleboro, whose landlord filed to evict him over $200 in claimed back rent before Legal Aid got the case dismissed in July. Rep. Marc Mihaly, who chairs House General and Housing, said his committee did not push to keep the funding going and struggled to recall exactly why.

AOE Instructs School Boards to Hire Superintendents for One Year Only

Education Secretary Zoie Saunders is telling districts that are searching for a superintendent to hire a one year interim only, arguing it avoids costly buyouts if districts merge. Critics point out that Act 170 calls for voluntary mergers and gives districts until August 2029, and that state law gives the secretary an advisory role in hiring without requiring her consent. Mountain Views Supervisory Union plans to advertise a two year job anyway, while Addison Northwest asked for a two year contract and was denied. About 20 merger committees have to hold first meetings by October 15, and 11 school boards have already asked to switch groups, including Harwood, which voted to join a committee with Champlain Valley and Mount Mansfield.

School enrollment on steady decline

The Champlain Valley School District is still the biggest in Vermont at 3,601 students, but it has lost nearly 300 of them, 7.4%, since fall 2022. The annual demographic study also found that about 25% of students now come from economically disadvantaged families, up from about 15% four years ago, and 20 students are experiencing homelessness, nearly double the past two years. The graduation rate is 95%, well above the 82% state average.

US-Canada trade war further taxes small businesses as costs rise during the Iran war

Jasper Hill Farm in Greensboro sits about 40 miles from the border, and co-founder Mateo Kehler says Canadian wholesale customers have canceled holiday orders even though cheese was not among the newly tariffed products. He blames a consumer boycott stirred up by the political rhetoric. It is one slice of a wider Associated Press look at small businesses caught in the latest round, in which Canada put reciprocal tariffs on about $20 billion of U.S. goods and the U.S. said it would ban Canadian wine, whiskey, some motorcycles and whey. Analysts expect a muted effect overall since the tariffs cover about 5.5% of trade between the two countries, but some small cross border businesses face taxes of up to 50%.

Finding healing through dragon boat racing

Lori York, who runs Charlotte's newly renamed Adult Community Center, is new to dragon boat racing and just got back from the International Breast Cancer Paddlers Commission festival in Aix-les-Bains, France, the largest ever, with more than 4,500 survivors on 156 teams from 25 countries. Her crew, the Sunflower Sisters, is named for the flowers fellow survivor Eugenie Doyse of Last Resort Farm in Monkton donates every week. A storm canceled Friday's races and six boats capsized on Saturday, but practicing on a choppy Lake Champlain paid off, and the Sisters finished 27th of 156 in the 1,000 meter race. York, who went through more than a year of chemo starting in 2011, is already planning for Singapore in 2030.

Cricket Blue Get Philosophical About Death on New Album

Burlington chamber folk duo Cricket Blue released Sweet Animal on Friday, their first album since 2019 and a 20 song back and forth about death and what comes after. Laura Heaberlin and Taylor Smith met as Middlebury College music students in 2010, he was raised evangelical and no longer believes in an afterlife, she grew up atheist and is no longer so sure, and they even wrote eulogies for each other. More than 20 guest musicians play on it, including Goose drummer Cotter Ellis and guitarist Tom Pearo. The release show is this Friday at 7 at the First Unitarian Universalist Society with an 11 piece orchestra, $16 to $45.

The Grey Jay to Close in Burlington in Mid-October — The Honey Road team's breakfast and lunch spot at 135 Pearl Street closes after service on October 12, with co-owners Cara Chigazola Tobin and Allison Gibson deciding against renewing the lease. It opened in December 2022 in the longtime home of the city's only LGBTQ+ bar, and Tobin says Honey Road, which turns ten next year, is not going anywhere. Sad one, go get brunch while you can.

Burlington camera trailer vandalized days after arrival — The new police camera trailer in City Hall Park arrived Thursday, and over the weekend someone painted over its solar panels with white paint and a heart. The camera runs entirely on solar power.

Crumbs: Misery Loves Co. and River Run Breakfast News; Chico’s Closes — Misery Loves Co. in Winooski now keeps its kitchen open until 7 Monday through Saturday, with a weekly changing small plates menu from 3 to 7 from chef Aaron Josinsky. Elsewhere in the roundup, River Run's Jimmy Kennedy is doing Sunday breakfast pop ups at the Haybarn on Goddard's Creative Campus, and Chico's Tacos & Bar in Montpelier has closed for good after less than a year.

Vermont’s unemployment rate holds at 2.6 percent in August — Vermont's rate held at 2.6% in August against 4.1% nationally, third lowest in the country behind the Dakotas, and Chittenden and Addison counties tied for the lowest in the state at 2.3%. The labor force is down 10,138 people from a year ago, and Labor Commissioner Kendal Smith points to retirements, with 1.6 open jobs for every unemployed Vermonter.

Richmond Shop Creates Connection With Pen Pal Program — Hey June, Maria Brown's stationery shop and letterpress studio in Richmond, joined the international Sunday Letter Project this summer as one of nearly 50 U.S. letter keepers. Write a letter to any participating shop, a stranger there picks it up and writes back, and nobody has to share a home address. Mail has come in from as far as England and Australia.

New documentary explores the goodness in Vermonters — Bess O'Brien's new film, Every Day: Big and Small, strings together vignettes of neighbors helping neighbors, from a drag show at the Rutland Elks Club to girls learning aviation mechanics in Swanton to a Peacham couple rebuilding after the 2024 flood. The first screening is this Friday at Main Street Landing, with tour dates at catamountarts.org.

Burlington celebrates cheese week with a Gouda time — Church Street marked the third year of Vermont Cheese Week on Friday evening with free tastings, prizes, live music and a wine garden, as Marketplace shops paired up with 16 different Vermont cheeses.

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 everyone can track your stats in our Hall of Fame, where you'll compete for titles like Sharpshooter (highest accuracy), Speed Demon (fastest average time), and Streak Leader (most consistent player). 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

Men's soccer lost 3-1 at Dartmouth on Saturday night, the program's first regular season loss in 693 days. Dartmouth scored less than five minutes in, the first time Vermont had trailed all season, and made it 2-0 before Philipp Schmidtke answered a minute later off a David Ismail pass. Vermont outshot the Big Green 17-10 and earned 10 corners to 3, but coach Adrian Dubois said the night came down to execution. The Cats are 5-1-2 and come home to open America East play against Bryant on Saturday at 6 at Virtue Field, a rematch of last year's conference championship.

The rest of the weekend went Vermont's way. Women's soccer opened conference play with a 3-1 win over UMBC on Senior Day at Virtue Field, the program's first win in an America East opener since 2018. Aubrey Bough scored in the 17th minute, Eleni Stowell added her team leading fourth goal 42 seconds later from 25 yards out, and Della Weir tapped in the third off a Bough through ball, with Emma Warren picking up two assists and Sophia Kling making four saves.

Field hockey beat Fairfield 3-1 on the road for its first win in Fairfield since 1995, with Lara Cleophas assisting on all three goals by Veerle Nijhuis, Jaime Lewis and Isi McMahon. The Cats are 5-1 and host Merrimack on Tuesday at 4 at Moulton Winder Field. At Gutterson, women's hockey beat Concordia 3-1 in its lone exhibition, with Kaylee Lewis scoring 24 seconds in and first year Gracesyn Louis adding a goal, ahead of the regular season opener against No. 9 Minnesota Duluth on October 2.

Upcoming Home Games

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

General Events

Performances

Live Music/DJ

General Events

Performances

Live Music/DJ

General Events

Performances

Live Music/DJ

General Events

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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

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

The housing page tracks what renting in Burlington looks like right now.

That's the week. It is about as nice a first week of fall as you could ask for, so get outside, catch the last passeggiata on Wednesday, and bring a layer for after dark. If the Btown Brief makes your week a little easier, you can support it at ko-fi or on Venmo (@btownbrief), and it genuinely helps keep 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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