Taste of Montpelier Food Festival, presented by Hunger Mountain Co-op
September 9-11, 2022
The Taste of Montpelier Food Festival is unlike any food festival you've been to before. Forget about those stuffy events with $100 tickets off in the middle of a hot field. Join us in the heart of Montpelier's downtown to get a true taste of what we're all about. Fun, approachable, delicious.
Event Guidebook
The Great Taste
Saturday, September 10, 1-4pm
State Street from Main to Elm and Throughout Town
Live Entertainment Chef Demos Food Vendors
Enjoy signature dishes from Montpelier's eclectic restaurants (Eater calls us a "food destination"), Vermont food truck favorites, tastes from artisans showcasing the best Vermont food products, a cocktail garden hosted by award-winning distillers Barr Hill, and more. Add on world-class street performers, and it's an event not to be missed.
Don’t forget to stop by the Montpelier Alive table to vote for your favorite bite to win the Best of Montpelier Award, presented by Consolidated Communications! Just by voting, you'll be entered to win one of ten gift boxes from Cabot Creamery!
Free admission.
Live Entertainment
Click here for more information on our performers.
State Street Performance Pitch, sponsored by VSECU
1:00: YoYo Show
1:45: Brass Balagan
2:00: Peter Panic
2:45: YoYo Show
3:15: Peter Panic
The Lot Pitch, sponsored by Barr Hill
1: Big Nazo
1:15: El Gleno Grande
2: Hokum Brothers with Big Nazo
2:30-2:45: Brass Balagan
2:45: El Gleno Grande
3:30: Hokum Brothers with Big Nazo
Chef Demos, sponsored by Vermont Creamery
-
1:00pm: Gnocchi Demo with Oakes & Evelyn (at the State Street Demo Tent)
Chef Justin Dain from Oakes & Evelyn makes their signature gnocchi featuring local 1000 Stone Farm mushrooms, swiss chard & parmesan cheese. You’ll even get a recipe to bring home. Oakes & Evelyn is a modern farm-to-table restaurant located in downtown Montpelier, Vermont. -
1:45pm: Three Sisters Stew with Junior Iron Chef Vermont (at the State Street Demo Tent)
Junior Iron Chef Vermont's middle school team is serving Three Sisters Stew, a traditional Abenaki fall harvest dish that celebrates the historical significance of companion planting corn, beans, and squash. Jr. Iron Chef VT is a statewide culinary competition organized by Vermont Afterschool and Vermont FEED (Food Education Everyday). Middle and high school students are empowered to learn social and trade skills by working in teams, creating thoughtful dishes with local and seasonal foods as part of the Farm to School efforts in Vermont. -
2:30pm: Papaya Salad with Wilaiwan’s (at the State Street Demo Tent)
Learn to make an authentic thai green papaya salad with local favorite chefs from Wilaiwan's! A rare opportunity to learn from one of our town's most popular cooks! Free samples served with sticky rice to follow. -
3pm: Cocktail Class (at the Barr Hill Cocktail Garden)
Learn how to build a Bee's Knees (and make honey syrup) and get a sneak peek at one of our new Bee's Knee's Week cocktails that will be available for Bee's Knees Week at the Distillery! -
3-4pm: Visit The Bread Doctor (at the State Street Demo Tent)
The Bread Doctor is in! Stop by to chat with Martin Philip, award-winning baker and author and Baking Ambassador at the King Arthur Baking Company. Bring your baking questions, or bring your baked goods for troubleshooting and feedback.
Martin’s critically acclaimed book, Breaking Bread: A Baker’s Journey Home in 75 Recipes (HarperCollins, 2017), is a Wall Street Journal best seller, was chosen as the best cookbook of 2018 by the New York Book Industry Guild, and won the 2018 Vermont Book Award. He was named to the list of Top 25 Baking Educators and Mentors in America by Bake magazine.
Food and Beverage Artisans, Restaurants, and Food Trucks
Many vendors will offer free samples. Others offer items for sale. Pay for items with each individual vendor.
- Anderbell Acres
- Cabot Creamery Co-operative
- Caledonia Spirits
- Daily Chocolate
- Dougy Fresh Gyros
- Eden Speciality Ciders
- Enna
- Ghazi's Goodies: A Taste of Tunisia
- Hugo's Bar and Grill
- J. Morgan’s Steakhouse
- Karim Farm and Creamery
- Kingdom Creamery
- Lake Champlain Chocolates
- La Bonne Crêpe
- Mamma Boucha
- Montpelier Senior Activity Center FEAST Meals Program
- North Branch Vineyards
- Oakes & Evelyn
- Small Oven Pastries
- St. Pierre Delicacy
- Taste of Desi
- Vermont Craft Mead
- Vermont Creamery
- Vermont's Farmhouse Jerky Co.
- The Wagyu Wagon
- YUM
Additional Weekend Events
Friday, September 9
Bee's Knees Week Preview +The Roots Night House Bluegrass Band at Barr Hill, 4-9pm, 116 Gin Lane
Head over to the Barr Hill Distillery for a special Bee's Knees Week Preview. They will feature a bunch of bees knees variations that will be on the menu for Bee's Knees Week! Plus, Caledonia Spirits presents the Roots Night House Bluegrass Band (6-9pm), with special guest Matt Flinner. Matt is a Grammy-nominated mandolin and banjo player from Nashville who now lives in Vermont. This is an all-star rotating cast featuring some of the best local, national touring and up-and-coming players on the scene today. The night will include spontaneous jams, original compositions and traditional tunes covering American roots, bluegrass, and folk music traditions.
Saturday, September 10
Capital City Farmers Market, 9am-1pm, 133 State Street
- 9am-1pm: Corn Roast
Enjoy local, organic corn, fire-roasted and optionally served with local Vermont Creamery butter, including maple butter and classic salted butter.
- 11am: Chef Demo by Vince Muraco of The Hippie Chickpea
Chef Vince Muraco of The Hippie Chickpea will utilize the freshest produce from the Market to show you how to make simple and delicious dishes like Tabouili salad and roasted beets with Vermont Creamery goat cheese, honey, and pistachios.
- 12:45pm: Parade to The Great Taste
Brass Balagan, a radical street band with roots in klezmer, Balkan, and Banda music, leads a parade from the Market to The Great Taste downtown. Follow the music!
Stop by the Capital City Farmers Market, named one of the best in New England by Yankee Magazine, and see how much Vermont has to offer! Founded in 1977, the Capital City Farmers Market has been bringing local producers and customers from near and far together to create this eclectic community event for 40 years. Over 50 vendors sell locally grown and made products, unique to Vermont and astounding in quality. Fresh vegetables and fruits, quality meats, specialty cheeses, artisan bread, baked goods, ethnic foods, herbs, plants, flowers, arts and crafts, honey and maple syrup…the list goes on and on.
After Party at Barr Hill, 2-9pm, 116 Gin Lane
Featured cocktails, Bee's Knees variations, and a great place to celebrate after enjoying the Great Taste.
All Weekend
Common Cracker: The Exhibit at the Vermont History Museum
For just about the entire 19th century the simple common cracker was an important staple of the northern New England diet. Though often described as dry and tasteless, many old time Vermonters enjoyed a Sunday night crackers and milk fix. It carried many names, such as the Montpelier Cracker, Cross Cracker, St. Johnsbury Cracker, and just plain old Vermont Cracker. Common Cracker-The Exhibit at the Vermont History Museum (109 State Street) explores the fascinating history of just what a common cracker is, how they were made, advertised and sold, and the many Vermont bakeries that produced them. $7 museum admission.
Three Penny Taproom will be offering a special Prix Fixe menu during Taste of Montpelier for $40:
-Local corn fritters with hot honey
-Pork ribeye, crispy smashed potatoes, creamed spinach, Bayley Hazen blue cheese butter
-New York Cheesecake with brandied, late season blueberries
Beyond The Weekend
Food for the Soul - A Conversation about Food and Spirituality and the Relationship Between Them!
Tuesday, September 13 at 7 PM
Presented by Bethany Center for Spirituality through the Arts at 115 Main St., Montpelier, our guest for the evening will be Chef Michael Kloeti of the award-winning restaurant, Michael's on the Hill in Waterbury Center. The evening will include a conversation with Chef Michael, a Q&A time, and a sample tasting. Tickets are $15 and available at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/food-for-the-soul-tickets-402396648207.
Montpelier Burger Battle
The Buger Battle has been postponed until a future date.
Sponsors
Presenting Sponsor
Platinum Sponsors
Gold Sponsors
Event Supporters
Media Sponsors
