New: Education Day at the Vermont Cheesemakers Festival!
If you’ve spent any time in Chittenden County during our beautiful summers, you know that the Vermont Cheesemakers Festival is the best event of the festival season. (Of course, as a cheesemaker at Shelburne Farms, I might be just a bit biased!) This celebration of our state’s thriving cheese community is hosted by the Vermont Cheese Council at the Coach Barn. Fifty Vermont cheesemakers are represented, as well as plenty of products to complement them from jams and charcuterie to beer and wine. I can’t think of a better venue and way to celebrate Vermont’s incredible artisans… until this year!
This year, the Vermont Cheese Council has added an additional day to the festival dedicated to educational seminars for the biggest curd nerds! The intimate programming (also at the Coach Barn) is structured around four educational seminars featuring some of the legends of the Vermont cheese industry. In “Cheese Science 101,” Zoe Brickley from Jasper Hill Farm will dive into how cheesemakers use the magic of chemistry to make one of our favorite foods. Or, delight your taste buds during “Farmstead Cheese Pairing” featuring Vermont grown wine and cider producers.
You won’t spend the whole day inside, though. Two sessions include a Shelburne Farms field trip: a guided pasture walk with Peter Dixon of Parish Hill Creamery (and our Dairy Manager’s brother) and a trip to the Farm Barn for an in-depth look at our cheddar cheese production—and what makes it unique— with a member of the Shelburne Farms cheesemaking team. We'll cap the workshop off by breaking bread with the very people who make the very cheese we're celebrating!
As co-chair of the 11th Annual Vermont Cheesemakers Festival and Shelburne Farms staff member, planning Education Day has been exciting and rewarding. Combining my love and advocacy for Vermont artisan cheese with Shelburne Farms educational mission feels like a perfect pairing!
Find full details and tickets here. Tickets sell out early, so get yours soon!
