A Fall Day in Pomfret: ArtFest, Vermont 250 & a Celebration of Community

There’s something about a fall Saturday in Vermont that makes you want to be outside with other people.

Maybe it’s the foliage. Maybe it’s the crisp air. Maybe it’s knowing that these perfect October weekends are fleeting.

Whatever the reason, Saturday, October 3, feels like a pretty good day to come to Pomfret.

Artistree’s Third Annual ArtFest will fill our campus from 11 AM–3 PM with art, live music, local makers, food, kids running between activities, neighbors catching up, and plenty of opportunities to make something yourself. AND you can visit the SILO beverage garden and find great food available for purchase from the Woodstock Grid Iron, Teago and Global Village Foods!

And this year, there’s an added reason to gather.

The year 2026 marks 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence, and communities across Vermont are using the anniversary as an opportunity to explore the people, places, and stories that shaped this corner of the country. Pomfret is joining that celebration, too.

But rather than simply looking backward, we wanted to celebrate the things that have always made small Vermont communities work: people coming together, sharing what they know, making things, growing things, telling stories, and passing traditions from one generation to the next.

This year, Artistree and the Town of Pomfret are bringing together some familiar faces from around town, including the Mt. Tom Farmers Market, Abbott Memorial Library, Teago General Store, and Pomfret Historical Society.

Each brings a different piece of Pomfret to the day—agriculture, food, history, stories, families, and local traditions—alongside the artists, musicians, makers, and community organizations that make ArtFest what it is.

This year, you can start your ArtFest day a little early.

The Mt. Tom Farmers Market opens at 10 AM, bringing local farmers, producers, bakers, and makers right to the Artistree campus.

Pick up something for dinner. Find something freshly baked. Browse locally made goods. Talk to the people who grew, baked, or created what you’re buying.

Then wander over to ArtFest as the rest of the campus comes alive at 11.

The farmers market and ArtFest are a surprisingly perfect pairing. One celebrates things grown and made here; the other celebrates things imagined and created here. Both are really about the people behind them.

By 11 AM, there will be plenty happening.

Live music will drift across the campus. Artists and makers will fill the marketplace. Community organizations will be sharing what they do. There will be demonstrations, workshops, hands-on projects, and food and beverages available for purchase in all different corners of Artistree.

Follow the music. Stop when something catches your eye. Talk to an artist. Try an activity you weren’t expecting to try. That’s part of the fun.

And if you have kids with you, they may have their own agenda.

Yes, the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream is free.
So is the bounce house.
And the hair tinseling.
And the art activities.
And the workshops.
And the many other creative experiences happening throughout the day.

We want kids to be able to bounce from one thing to the next—to make something, get a little messy, listen to music, sit in a firetruck, have their hair tinselled, eat an ice cream, and then decide they absolutely need to go back to the bounce house one more time.

More importantly, we want families to be able to say yes.
Yes, you can try that. Yes, you can make one. Yes, you can have an ice cream.
Because thanks to our sponsors and community partners, the experiences at ArtFest are free.

That accessibility matters to us. ArtFest isn't meant to be something you simply come and watch. It's something you're invited to be part of.

As ArtFest begins winding toward its final hour, the Vermont 250 celebration will continue just down the road at the Grange Theatre.

At 2:45 PM, we'll dim the lights for a free screening of Vermont filmmaker Jay Craven's Lost Nation.

The film takes audiences into Revolutionary-era Vermont through the intersecting stories of two very different historical figures: Ethan Allen and Lucy Terry Prince.

Allen is one of the most familiar names in Vermont history—a land speculator, leader of the Green Mountain Boys, and outsized figure in the territory's struggle for independence.

Lucy Terry Prince offers another window into early Vermont. Born in Africa and enslaved as a child, she later gained her freedom, raised a family, became a Vermont landowner, and is remembered for composing the earliest known work of African American literature.

And this won't simply be a movie screening.

Jay Craven will be at the Grange in person for a Q&A after the film, giving the audience a chance to talk with the writer and director about the history, characters, filmmaking, and Vermont story behind Lost Nation.

The film and Q&A are free.

Quite a lot, we think. History is carried through paintings and photographs, songs and films, quilts and pottery, books and buildings. It's carried through recipes, farms, town meetings, libraries, general stores, stories, and traditions.

Creativity is one of the ways communities remember who they were—and imagine who they might become.

So while ArtFest will certainly have plenty of art, it isn't really just about art.

It's about participating.

You don't need to know how to paint. You don't need to call yourself an artist. You don't even need to know exactly what you're coming to see.

Show up. Bring your kids. Bring your neighbor. Bring someone who's never been to Artistree before.

Browse the farmers market. Make something. Listen to music. Eat some ice cream. Learn a little about Pomfret. Meet someone new. Stay for a film about the complicated beginnings of the place we call home.

That feels like a pretty good way to celebrate 250 years.