***For best viewing experience, scroll all the way up in email and click Read Online***

The nor'easter is on its way out, but Monday stays gray with showers on and off, most likely through the afternoon and into dinnertime, and a high around 62 before things wind down tonight. Tuesday could hang onto a shower in the morning before turning drier by afternoon, with a northerly breeze, highs in the low to mid 60s and clouds that may be stubborn. A south wind warms things up from there, with Wednesday partly sunny near 72 and Thursday the warmest day of the week at 77 and breezy, before a cold front brings a chance of showers Friday and a cooler, mostly sunny Saturday. Track it all week, with patio, swim, and sunset scores, at Burlington Right Now.

Monday gets going at Fletcher Free Library, where the weekly Shakespeare Out Loud group finishes reading Romeo and Juliet from 4 to 5:30, no experience needed and listeners welcome. At 6, UVM professor Ken Allen talks through the causes of Vermont's healthcare crisis and his case for single payer at the Burlington Friends Meeting House on North Prospect Street. Bird people can head to Phoenix Books on Church Street at 7, where Oregon author Marina Richie launches Feathered Forest in conversation with Vermont birder Trish O'Kane, free with an RSVP. Ora Cogan with Alice Grace over at Foam Brewers with doors at 7 and haunted folk and shadowy country at 7:30. Higher Ground splits the night between rapper Chandler, of the viral hit FIGURE IT OUT, in the Showcase Lounge at 7:30 and Cate Le Bon ($36) in the Ballroom at 8 with her seventh record, Michelangelo Dying. Empyrean fans have a late one, as Phoenix Books in Essex Junction throws a free midnight release party for Threshing Day, Rebecca Yarros's new book, from 10 until midnight with trivia, bookmark making and quadrant attire encouraged.

Tuesday opens big at UVM, where the free all day Vermont Summit on energy, health and the economy fills the Davis Center starting at 9, with a 10 AM keynote from Nate Hagens of The Great Simplification podcast, registration required. From noon to 3:30 the Champlain Valley Expo hosts a free Community Career & Job Fair built around hands on stations like a heavy equipment simulator, VR welding, a snowplow and a mini F-16, with on the spot applications through the Department of Labor. At 5, former Agriculture Secretary Roger Allbee gives the Samuel Hand Lecture at UVM's Billings Library on 250 years of Vermont farming, with hearty refreshments after, and Spoonful Herbals leads Autumn Bitter Root Remedies at Shelburne Farms, a weed walk that ends with bitter roots turned into fall tonics. Cyclists get a one time sunset edition of Local Motion's monthly EZ Breezy ride, leaving 1 Steele Street at 6 for a flat 20 mile out and back on the Causeway, join for any part and bring lights for the ride home. Also at 6, Protect Our Winters brings Stoke Fest to Main Street Landing with outdoor and climate films, a conversation hosted by pro skier Brody Leven and free Ben & Jerry's, UVM men's soccer hosts UMass at Virtue Field, and Karma Bird House hosts drop in figure drawing from 6 to 8, with the last Tuesday of every month set aside for long poses. In Shelburne, local author Áille Róis talks about her novel Twisted Obsession and indie publishing at Pierson Library at 6:30, and at 7:30 Destroyer with Ryley Walker plays the Higher Ground Showcase Lounge.

Wednesday means our own Pick-up Basketball [MEETUP] at Pomeroy Park at 5:30, outdoors and free, so come get some runs in. Earlier in the day, Winooski celebrates the end of three years of construction with the Main Street ribbon cutting at the VFW on Maple Street at 10, free and open to all, to show off wider sidewalks, a northbound bike lane and 132 new trees. Vermont Master Naturalist Gene O. Desideraggio leads a tree ID and natural history tour of Oakledge Park from noon to 2, and ticket sales close today at 2. The Meatpackers play the donut porch at Shelburne Orchards from 12:30 to 1:30, their mix of bluegrass, gospel and redneck. The Queer Horror Book Club meets at the Hunny Hive on Church Street at 5:30 to talk Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z. Brite, and on the waterfront SAVU pairs yin yoga, chanting and sound healing with an hour of sauna and cold plunge in Yin & Sacred Sound with Kishori ($50). Runners can join a 5K loop run [MEETUP] from outside the Black Flannel taproom in Essex Junction at 5:30 with social time after, and the library's Vegan in Vermont cookbook club holds a potluck at 6 with the owner of Fresh & Foraged talking about safely gathering wild plants and mushrooms, registration required. May Day on North Winooski Avenue hosts Piedmont winemaker Crotin 1897 for one night only, so grab a dinner reservation. At 7:30 the big shows split up, with Grammy winning jazz singer Samara Joy and her septet at the Flynn and Anberlin, whose Vega is their first album in ten years, in the Higher Ground Ballroom.

Thursday is October 1 and the warmest day of the stretch. Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak holds her North District Mayor Meetup at the Bagel Café on North Avenue from 8 to 9 AM, and the Essex Art League welcomes guests at 9 at the First Congregational Church of Essex Junction, where illustrator Ginny Joyner shares stories from more than 25 years of freelance work and leads an activity, so bring a black pen and a sketchbook. At 1, local artist Julia Davenport teaches a free Zentangle workshop at Burnham Memorial Library in Colchester with all materials provided, and from 4:30 to 6:30 Outdoor Gear Exchange lets you try Teva's new Trailpeak trail runners on Catamount's trails in Williston, with snacks and a chance to win a pair. South Burlington's Park Hop Brews beer garden lands at Szymanski Park from 5:30 to 7:30 with DJ Dakota, Pizza 44 and glow in the dark pickleball. At 7, Queen City Ghostwalk creator Thea Lewis launches True Crime Stories of Vermont at Phoenix Books on Church Street, free with an RSVP, Merit Kahn opens her one woman comedy show Optimistic Personality Disorder at Off Center, the Forever 38 crew heads to trivia at Burlington Beer Company [MEETUP], and violinist Claire Wells and pianist Pualina Lim play Debussy, Prokofiev, Brahms and Bartók at An Evening of Masterworks in Vermont Public's Stetson Studio in Colchester. The Burlington Odd Fellows host weekly drop in figure drawing at their North Avenue hall from 7 to 9, by suggested donation. Southern Culture on the Skids brings its wobbly Americana to the Higher Ground Showcase Lounge at 7:30, Standing Stone Wines in Winooski does Witch, Crafts & Halloween at 8 with music from Daniel Ouellette and then Elvira on the screen while everyone crafts, and Karaoke in the Alley gets going in the alley at Red Square at 8.

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

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

Betting the farm on 8 sunny days: Inside Vermont’s pick-your-own orchards

At Chapin Orchard in Essex Junction, the Murdock family spends money on its trees all year and has about eight days to earn it back, since pick your own season comes down to four weekends from late September into early October. Even the forecast matters, and on a recent Sunday when rain was forecast but never fell, Phil Murdock says Chapin did half of Saturday's business. UVM's Terry Bradshaw calls it a generally good year for apples despite an April frost, and Murdock plans to keep pick your own going right through the end of October.

Are Vermont shopping malls making a comeback?

That is South Burlington City Manager Jessie Baker on the University Mall, where one worker says weekends still get crazy even as experts point to the need for investment since Sears left. Mall values are up 13% nationally according to The Wall Street Journal, and Baker says the owners have a master plan to build a grid of blocks connecting the property to Garden Street and Market Street, with more people living, working and shopping there. What happens to the mall building itself is still unknown.

Students dive into tech at Burlington’s Hack Club

Champlain Valley School District students are building their own projects at Hack Club in Burlington, from coding and websites to 3D printing, through the state's Flexible Pathways program. Student Miles Bergendahl works as one of the club's engineers, designing projects for other students to take on, and co-founder Christina Asquith says kids who are excited about what they are building keep learning after school. Hack Club says it welcomes more schools to get involved.

Vermont Supreme Court allows Gov. Scott to enforce in-person work for state employees

The Supreme Court's unanimous Friday ruling reverses an April 1 Labor Relations Board order, so Gov. Phil Scott can keep requiring state employees in the office at least three days a week, the policy in place since December. The state employees' union called it "a great disappointment," and executive director Steve Howard warns that without affordable housing, childcare and transportation some workers may leave, though early data showed little sign of large departures. The union says it will now be "redoubling our efforts to elect Amanda Janoo" ahead of the November 3 election.

ICE Surge Is Targeting Vermont's Roofing and Construction Workers

Mary Richards of Cornwall spent three years looking for someone to replace her leaking slate roof, and on the crew's second day in August, ICE agents detained two roofers from a South Burlington company in less than 10 minutes. Migrant Justice counts at least 30 roofing and construction workers detained at 13 worksite raids and traffic stops in Vermont so far this year, including three Morristown roofers hired by Five Star Roofing, which has offices in Shelburne. Federal agents have largely avoided raiding the dairy farms where migrant workers live, while construction crews work in plain view, which is how an agent driving past Richards' house spotted this one. The company sent another crew that same afternoon to finish the job, and neighbors shared pizzas, stood watch and some even climbed onto the roof to help lay shingles.

Burlington High School class of 1966 tours new BHS

The Class of 1966 was only the second to graduate from the old North Avenue building, and a reunion this weekend brought them back to tour the new BHS standing where it used to be. Richard Racusen, a 1965 cross country state champion with classmate Wayne Wilcox, said moving out of the old Edmunds building back then was like landing on the moon, and today's students just made a big move of their own, out of the downtown Macy's campus.

State Board of Education Chair Resigns Abruptly

Jennifer Deck Samuelson, a Manchester lawyer on the State Board of Education since 2020 and its chair for four years, resigned in a September 15 letter to Gov. Phil Scott, saying the year ahead will be "extra busy on all fronts" and pointing to work and family too. The board is building the rubric for judging school district merger proposals with merger committees expected to start meeting next month, and it also has to finalize statewide graduation requirements within the year. Vice chair Tammy Kolbe is acting chair until the October meeting, and the Senate's Committee on Committees will fill the open seat.

Federal grants invigorate efforts to address veteran homelessness in Vermont

The VA awarded $18,499,223 to organizations across Vermont and New Hampshire that house and support veterans, part of $1.17 billion going to 680 groups nationwide. Vermont counted 111 unhoused veterans in 2025, 3% of the state's unhoused population and up from 107 the year before, and part of the money goes to two transitional housing programs in Northfield and Bradford, Veterans' Place and Veterans Inc.. The White River Junction VA helped 107 local veterans find homes in 2025, and it is encouraging landlords to rent to veterans in its programs.

More low-income seniors in Vermont are now eligible for help paying for Medicare

Vermont raised the income limits for its Medicare Savings Program, which helps seniors pay Medicare premiums and sometimes co-pays and deductibles, and nearly 12,000 Vermonters have already enrolled. Carole Patten, 78, of Lake Elmore now keeps an extra $200 a month from her Social Security check, and there is no asset test, so a house or money in the bank doesn't count against you. You can sign up anytime through Green Mountain Care at 1-800-250-8427, no need to wait for open enrollment on October 15.

A celebration of 'maple-fired' punk highlights challenging times for Vermont's live music

Randolph's brand new Skunkfest was set for Saturday outside The Underground with nine punk and ska bands, a makers' market and a fixer tent, but owner Vincent Freeman says the venue's regular shows go on indefinite hiatus by the end of the year after his insurer dropped him and music licensing costs added up. Vallory Falls drummer Riley Rae Burridge, whose band calls itself maple fired punk rock, points to the Burlington rooms that are gone, with Radio Bean closing earlier this year and Jim's Basement and 242 Main both shut within the past 10 years. She also calls punk one of the most caring communities in the state, where she has felt very accepted as a trans person.

'Mend it and keep it alive': Inside Vermont's growing repair culture

Every third Saturday, volunteers at the Old North End Repair Cafe at 12-22 North Street fix one another's broken belongings over bagels, and it is one of the spots listed in ReuseVT, a new state funded directory of repair cafes, repair businesses and lending libraries. Director Susan Alexander says the hard part is economics, since a $27 toaster online can beat a $35 fix from the guy down the road, even though repair keeps local dollars local. Vermont generates about 912,180 tons of waste a year, and Alexander would love to see an annual gathering built entirely around reused and repaired goods.

First Bite: The Bidwell Extends an All-Day Waterbury Welcome

The Bidwell opened in June in the former Stowe Street Café space in Waterbury, and every dish and drink is available all day, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Co-owner Rachael Brown, most recently of Prohibition Pig, wrote a wine list that describes bottles through TV characters from Schitt's Creek, Firefly and Gilmore Girls, while chef Tiffany Caldwell, formerly Heirloom Hospitality's commissary chef, turns out shareables like a golden beet sandwich ($13) and herby meatballs ($17). There is also a permanent Udder Guys ice cream counter in the front corner. Brown tells her friends from New York City that she lives in the real life Stars Hollow.

UVM launches $19 million observatory to unlock the secrets of neurobiology — UVM neuroscientist Davi Bock is helping lead a National Science Foundation funded project with University of California researchers to design a national observatory for 3D brain mapping, with four pilot projects over the next five years. Bock already helped map the brain of a fruit fly, which has over 100,000 neurons.

Burlington Police Commission to review 2026 annual report — The commission's annual report for fiscal 2026 shows violent incidents and offenses in Burlington down compared to 2024 and 2025, while arrests have climbed over the past four years and officers used more force making them. Interim Chief Shawn Burke says the new downtown cameras don't use AI or facial recognition, and the search for a permanent chief still hasn't produced a name.

Middlebury College announces tuition-free plan — Students from families making $175,000 or less will be able to attend Middlebury tuition free, part of the college's new strategic plan. About half of its students already receive financial aid.

Hula and Seven Days host Vermont Tech Jam for the 19th year — The Vermont Tech Jam is back at Hula on Saturday, October 24, from 10 to 3 and free, with recruiters from BETA Technologies, GlobalFoundries, Hazelett and more, plus a 1 p.m. talk on deepfakes from Dartmouth's Hany Farid. A free virtual prep boot camp runs October 16, and sign up is at techjamvt.com.

Beta Technologies eyes operations expansion in North Carolina — Beta is eyeing an expansion in North Carolina, where it already employs about 70 workers, to support software development and testing of its flight control systems.

Seating demolished in grandstand at Champlain Valley Expo, as part of major renovations — Crews started pulling out the grandstand's 60 year old wooden benches last Monday, and by next summer every seat will be its own individual seat with a cup holder, with a concrete surface over the dirt track. The Expo is working with Higher Ground on roughly 10 extra concerts outside the fair.

Green Mountain Transit shielded from record diesel prices, for now — GMT locked in its diesel on a yearlong contract in July and is paying $3.87 a gallon, while AAA puts the statewide pump average near $6.50. General manager Clayton Clark says the volatility makes budgeting hard, so the agency will likely plan around a substantially higher price next time.

A Darn Nasty Record: Man Wears Socks for 101 Days Straight — Darn Tough threw a ceremony at its Waterbury headquarters last Tuesday for Desmond Tse of Edmonton, who wore one pair of its socks for 101 days without washing them, smashing the old record of 55. He promised his wife he would stop the moment she sensed any odor, and he says the merino wool never stank.

Lawson's Finest Liquids releases its first non-alcoholic beer amid decline in alcohol use — Lawson's has released Sip'n IPA, its first ever non alcoholic beer, about half a decade in the making and designed from the start as an NA recipe. CEO Adeline Druart says 30% of the brewery's fans already drink NA.

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

No. 23 men's soccer beat No. 25 Bryant 4-0 on Saturday night at Virtue Field to open America East play, what coach Adrian Dubois called "a total team performance from all 28 guys." Gabriel Chavez caught Bryant's keeper out of position and scored from about 40 yards out in the 11th minute, Mark Isong scored in his Vermont debut in the 63rd, and Stepan Fiker and Philipp Schmidtke scored 27 seconds apart around the 80th minute. Niklas Herceg made four saves for his sixth shutout of the season and the 22nd of his career, tied for third most in program history, and Luis Fischer's assist was his sixth, most in America East. The Cats are 6-1-2 and wrap up nonconference play Tuesday at 6 against UMass at Virtue Field, a Green Out with free Casella hats for the first 500 fans, and anyone who arrives by Local Motion's free bike valet can get $5 tickets.

Field hockey won its fourth straight, 2-0 at Dartmouth on Sunday, with Addie DelOrefice scoring both goals, the first 3:27 into the game and the second off a penalty corner inserted by Emily Enden and set up by Fiona McMahon. Dartmouth never registered a shot on goal against Vermont's 10, and coach Kate Pfeifer credited the back line for holding strong through some chaotic moments. At 7-1, the Cats open America East play Friday at 3 at New Hampshire.

Women's soccer played UConn to a 0-0 draw on the road Friday night, with Sophia Kling tying her career high with six saves for her first collegiate clean sheet while UConn outshot Vermont 17-4. The Cats are 3-4-3 and play at UMass Lowell on Thursday at 6 on ESPN+.

Cross country had a big two days. At the Gans Creek Classic in Missouri on Friday, Hinesburg's Zoey McNabb ran the 6k in 20:39.10, the fastest 6k in Vermont women's program history and 50 seconds faster than her race at Dartmouth the week before. The next morning Vermont swept the Equality Invitational at St. Michael's in Colchester, with Daniel Brennan winning the men's race in 26:09.50 as the first of eight Catamounts in the top 10, and first year Mary Jane Thompson taking the women's individual title, both first collegiate wins. Both teams are back at the New England Championships in Hopkinton, New Hampshire on Friday, October 9.

Basketball season is closer than it feels. America East coaches picked the men to win the league with seven first place votes, the 10th time in 11 seasons Vermont has been the preseason favorite, and named forward Gus Yalden to the preseason All-Conference team after he averaged 16.1 points last season. The women were picked third behind Binghamton and UMBC, with Malia Lenz on the preseason team after averaging 7.5 points and 7.4 rebounds, and her 258 rebounds last season are tied for the seventh most in a single season in program history. The men host Holy Cross in an exhibition on October 17, and both teams open the regular season on November 2, the men at Iona and the women at home against Keene State.

Upcoming Home Games

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

Performances

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

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

See what just opened and what closed at Openings & Closings, so you can try the new spot while it is still news.

That's the week. Get through one more soggy Monday and you are rewarded with a warm, dry middle of the week, so plan something outside for Wednesday or Thursday and keep a jacket handy for Friday's front. 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.

If you like what I do, help support the newsletter by buying me a coffee using the link below. Or, right to our Venmo @btownbrief. Or, buy an advertising spot for your business.

Missed an edition? Every Brief ever written is searchable.