Daydream Believer
Saturday 24
Local singer-songwriter Samantha Mae performs original works from her evocative debut album, reverie, at the District VT (formerly ArtsRiot) in Burlington. With the warmth and poise of Joan Baez and the lyrical prowess of Joni Mitchell, Mae forges an immediate bond with listeners from all walks of life — and inspires other budding artists to take the leap and pursue their dreams.
Animal Instinct
Thursday 22
Author and ecologist Christie Green shares her deeply felt new memoir, Moonlight Elk: One Woman’s Hunt for Food and Freedom, at the Norwich Bookstore. Green’s engrossing meditation on finding sustenance — for body and soul — weaves her personal journey with natural history into a narrative that implores readers to contemplate what it means to be human in a more-than-human world.
Buzzworthy
Thursday 22
As the Jackson 5 once declared, A-B-C is easy as one, two, three and as simple as do-re-mi … or is it? Attendees find out at the Burlington Rotary Spelling Bee at Champlain College, where friendly academic feuds take flight. Dictionary diehards in corporate, Rotarian and high school levels get their wings — or get eliminated — as they race the clock to untangle labyrinthine multisyllables.
That’s Amore
Opera Vermont breathes new life into Giuseppe Verdi’s poignant 19th-century masterpiece La Traviata at Paramount Theatre in Rutland and Barre Opera House. Italian soprano Scilla Cristiano makes her eagerly awaited American debut as tragic heroine Violetta Valéry, a Parisian courtesan who attempts to leave behind her upper-class life for love — only to pay the ultimate price.
Wingin’ It
Sunday 25
Cottagecore, flowers and fays abound at the Secret Garden Roller Disco at the Champlain Valley Exposition in Essex Junction. Guests sport their finest toadstool helmets, gnome beards and diaphanous wings at two spritely skate sessions — one family friendly, one adults only — to benefit local nonprofit Outright Vermont, supporting LGBTQ+ youths in the region.
Pace Makers
Sunday 25
Runners and spectators find sole-ful bliss at the annual M&T Bank Vermont City Marathon & Relay in Burlington, the largest single-day sporting event in the state. More than 5,000 participants and 20,000 onlookers are expected to flood the Queen City, backed by the beat of taiko drummers and succulent smells from local food trucks.
Drawing From the Past
Ongoing
Montpelier multidisciplinary artist Mary Admasian shuttles viewers back in time with her “Past Is Present” exhibit at the Phoenix’s Waterbury Studios. The curated collection showcases previous bodies of work — “The Y-Con Series” (1983-1989) and “Peering Through” (2007-2013) — and exemplifies how earlier expressions can shape an artist’s evolution and oeuvre.
This article appears in May 14-20, 2025.
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