7 Best Things to Do in Vermont This Holiday Season

Whether you’re an out-of-stater planning a visit or a local looking to add a new tradition, here’s a sampling of the best holiday events in Vermont, inspired by Yankee’s 2021 feature “The New England Holiday Bucket List.” How many have you experienced?

10 Best Things to Do in Vermont This Holiday Season

Vermont Hand Crafters Fine Craft & Art Show 
South Burlington

The state’s oldest and largest juried craft organization takes its holiday-season spectacular online again this year, letting you shop for handwoven shawls and scarves, nature-inspired art quilts, terrariums, and more directly from the artists and crafters. Plus: studio demonstrations, live video chats, and a chance to win prizes.

Putney Craft Tour
Putney

Now well into its fifth decade, the event renowned as the nation’s oldest continuous craft tour invites the public into the studios of southern Vermont artisans practicing everything from glassblowing to woodworking to oil painting. A portion of tour sales is designated to support the Putney Foodshelf.

Winter Lights at Shelburne Museum
Shelburne
A highlight of one of New England’s newest holiday displays: seeing the historic steamboat Ticonderoga fully aglow, along with the buildings and campus of this family-favorite museum.

Southern Vermont Arts Center Holiday Market
Manchester

On the hunt for handmade local gifts this season? Check out the SVAC’s special shopping event spotlighting artisans and vendors from around the region. 

Christmas at Hildene
Manchester 

Though the famed American political family who built this Georgian Revival beauty used it mainly as their summer home (and twice hosted President Taft there), two coal-burning furnaces in the basement ensured that any holiday stays would be cozy. On hand to provide seasonal tunes: the family’s 1908 electric pneumatic Aeolian pipe organ and original Steinway piano, which are still used to greet visitors at Christmastime.

Wassail Weekend
Woodstock 
This favorite fall-foliage town transforms into a Christmas-card scene on the second weekend of December, when Wassail Weekend gets underway. Expect the downtown to be filled with the sights and sounds of the season, from twinkling light displays to the jingling bells of horses pulling wagons or—if nature has provided enough of the white stuff—sleighs.

Green Mountain Nutcracker
Barre Opera House | Barre

Can you picture Tchaikovsky in flannel? Then you’ll love the bluegrass rearrangements of Tchaikovsky’s party dances, the appearance of the Maple Sugar Fairy, and the twirling apples and autumn leaves that make Moving Light Dance’s Green Mountain Nutcracker a delectably local confection. 

What would you add to the list of the best holiday events in Vermont? Let us know in the comments below!

And see more festive things to do in Vermont (and beyond) in “The New England Holiday Bucket List.”

Don’t miss our top 10 holiday events in all six New England states! Check out Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.