
Touring Group at the Montpelier Contra Dance
Dance to the Young Tradition Touring Group at the Montpelier Contra Dance!

Touring Group at the First Congregational Church of Cornwall
Join the Young Tradition Touring Group for a performance at the First Congregational Church of Cornwall.

Touring Group at Trinity Church
Join the Touring Group for a performance at Trinity Church in Lewiston, Maine, Wednesday, April 23rd, at 6:45pm.

Springtide and Touring Group at Unitarian Universalist Church of Belfast
Join us for a joyous evening of music with Springtide and the Young Tradition Touring Group at the at Unitarian Universalist Church of Belfast on Thursday, April 24th, at 7:00 pm.

The Pine Tree Flyers and Touring Group at One Longfellow Square
Join us for a joyous evening of music with the Pine Tree Flyers and the Young Tradition Touring Group at One Longfellow Square in Portland, Maine, on Friday, April 25th, at 8:00 pm.

Touring Group at Melrose Unitarian Universalist Church
Join the Touring Group for a performance at Melrose Unitarian Universalist Church in Melrose, Massachusetts, Saturday, April 26th, at 7:00pm.

Touring Group at the Upper Valley Music Center
Join the Touring Group for a performance hosted by the Upper Valley Music Center at the First Congregational Church, Lebanon, New Hampshire, on Sunday, April 27th, at 2:00pm.

Community Potluck and Dance Leader Roundtable - 2025 Young Tradition Festival
Join us for a potluck dinner to open the 2025 Young Tradition Festival! During the meal, Vermont Folklife’s Mary Wesley will host a round table with community-recognized dance experts and longtime VT Folklife partners, Migmar Tsering (Tibetan musician and dance leader), Mediha Jusufagic (Bosnian dance leader), Susmita Dakahl (Nepali dance leader), and Aline Mukiza (Burundian singer and dance leader).

Community Dance Party - 2025 Young Tradition Festival
Join us to enjoy an evening of participatory dance and learn about the range of traditional arts practiced in Vermont today. This event is an opportunity for attendees of all ages and abilities to gather, move together to live music, and learn from dance leaders representing a diverse array of Vermont’s cultural communities.

Student/Mentor Showcase - 2025 Young Tradition Festival
Join us at the Burlington Farmers Market for a showcase performance of students performing music and dance from a wide range of traditions alongside their teachers and mentors.
Performances will include folk fiddling, Tibetan Dranyen, Jazz ukulele, Scottish harp, and Irish step dancing.

Concert with the Pine Tree Flyers and Young Tradition Touring Group - 2025 Young Tradition Festival
Join us for a joyous evening of music with the Pine Tree Flyers and the Young Tradition Touring Group!

Sugar in the Pan at the Smithsonian Folk Festival
Vermont Folklife's youth trad ensemble Sugar in the Pan, with current Touring Group members Eli Glasser, Emmett Stowell, Fiona Stowell, and Henry Kervick, joined by Touring Group alumni Grace Martin and Owen Kennedy, will be performing at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington DC in July! We are honored and so excited to be a part of this great festival!

Touring Group at North Star Community Hall
Join the Young Tradition Touring Group for a performance at North Star Community Hall in Burlington.
The Touring Group at the Montpelier Performing Arts Hub
Join the 2024-25 Touring Group for a performance at the Montpelier Performing Arts Hub.

Sugar in the Pan at the Montpelier Performing Arts Hub
Vermont Folklife's Sugar in the Pan Trad Band plays traditional music from New England, Québec, Maritime Canada and beyond, featuring lively tunes that will have folks of all ages up & dancing! These fantastic teenage musicians with the Young Tradition Vermont Touring Group offer creative and engaging arrangements for audiences. They have performed at the New World Festival in Randolph and the Young Tradition Festival in Burlington; toured Cape Breton in 2023 and Québec in 2024; and have entertained at various retirement communities and schools in Vermont.

BCA Summer Concert - Sap Line
With their sound firmly rooted in the musical traditions of New England, Appalachia, Scotland, and Ireland, Sap Line blends those traditions into a cohesive palette to work in harmony together. Bringing an astonishing number of instruments to the stage, Sap Line adds a fresh and youthful flavor to everything they do, from energetic jigs and reels to lyrical three-part harmony singing, captivating sean-nós dancing, and foot-stomping Old Time favorites.

Sugar in the Pan at the Rokeby Pie & Ice Cream Social
We love Pie! Join the Rokeby Museum to celebrate Summer and community with Rokeby’s annual Pie & Ice Cream Social. There will be games, raffle prizes throughout the afternoon, and music by Vermont Folklife’s Sugar in the Pan Trad Band!

Old West Church Folk Concert with Moira Smiley & the Rhizome Project & special guests
Moira Smiley will perform songs from her recently released album of folk songs with string quartet, ‘The Rhizome Project’ along with special guests, including YTV participants.
The annual folk concert is organized by singer Deb Flanders in honor of her great-aunt Helen Hartness Flanders, an internationally recognized ballad collector and authority on folk music found in New England and in the British Isles.

BCA Summer Concert - Oliver Scanlon & Tristan Henderson
Oliver Scanlon and Tristan Henderson bring a sonic landscape of fiddles in wild harmony, high-powered guitar, and pounding foot percussion with mandolin, jaw harp, and soaring vocal harmonies. The group taps into many traditions from the north to south and east to west, distilling a distinct sound that is completely their own. Their signature is variety: both multi-instrumentalists, they play a dynamic repertoire of folk-roots genres and tunes, both traditional and original.

Touring Group Quebec Tour
After nine months of rehearsals and performances, the 20 talented young musicians of the 2024 Young Tradition Touring Group takes it on the road for a week of performances in Quebec!

The Touring Group Plays the Montpelier Contra Dance!
Join the Young Tradition Touring Group at the Capital City Grange for the Montpelier Contra Dance!

"Sugar in the Pan" Maine Tour
Vermont Folklife's Sugar in the Pan Trad Band plays traditional music from New England, Québec, Maritime Canada and beyond, featuring lively tunes that will have folks of all ages up & dancing! On this mini-tour of Maine, they’ll perform in Lewiston, Rockport, and Hallowell.

The Touring Group at the Putney School
Join the Young Tradition Touring Group at the Putney School for a T performance and community contra dance!

The Touring Group at the Starksboro Meeting House
Join the Young Tradition Vermont Touring Group for a performance at the Starksboro Meeting House!

Touring Group members perform at the Thayer House
Join Touring Group members Ari, Eli and Winslow for a small group performance at the Thayer House

House Concert: Emerald Rae with the Fiddleheads
Join us for a house concert with Nashville-based fiddler and folksinger Emerald Rae, with a special performance by a group of Fiddleheads.

24th Annual Folk Concert at the Old West Church
The 24th Annual Folk Music Concert will pay tribute to the late Pete Sutherland, lifelong Vermonter, world citizen and exceptional musician. Featured on the program are current and past members of Young Tradition Vermont Touring Group.
The annual folk concert is organized by singer Deb Flanders in honor of her great-aunt Helen Hartness Flanders, an internationally recognized ballad collector and authority on folk music found in New England and in the British Isles. Joining Deb are fiddler Oliver Scanlon, cellist John Dunlop, violin/fiddlers Laura Markowitz and Sofia Hirsch.

Trad Camp Lunchtime Concert: Joanne Garton
Join us for a free (donations accepted) lunchtime concert at Trad Camp! Joanne Garton mixes her pervasive passion for Scottish culture with the drive and rhythms of the New England dance floor. Ten musical years in Montreal and two in Scotland provided ample influence and inspiration for traditional tunes and the art of teaching them. A resident of Montpelier, Vermont for the last 12 years, Joanne teaches music and dance to kids and adults, performs on stage, plays in sessions, and of course, steps out on the dance floor.

Trad Camp Lunchtime Concert: Yann Falquet and Julia Friend
Join us for a free (donations accepted) lunchtime concert at Trad Camp with Yann Falquet and Julia Friend. Yann is a very active and creative acoustic guitar player on the Québécois music scene. His involvement in the province's traditional music scene has brought him perform on numerous recordings, and to tour regularly throughout Canada, the U.S., Europe and Australia with his main project Genticorum. Julia is a singer of pub songs, sea shanties, and ballads. She loves the power and vulnerability of the human voice. An occasional performer at small folk festivals, Julia is happiest swapping songs and blending harmonies in dark corners in the wee hours of the night.

Trad Camp Lunchtime Concert: Jeh Kulu
Join us for a free (donations accepted) lunchtime concert and performance at Trad Camp! Jeh Kulu Dance and Drum Theater invites you to join us in celebration through traditional West African music and dance. In the Bambara language of Mali, “Jeh Kulu” means “community” and this is exactly what we hope to build with our audiences! Founded in 1993, Jeh Kulu brings together people of all ages and backgrounds to honor the joyous traditions of West Africa.

Trad Camp Lunchtime Concert: Migmar Tsering
Join us for a free (donations accepted) lunchtime concert at Trad Camp! Burlington-based Migmar Tsering plays traditional Tibetan music on the dranyen, a long-necked, seven-stringed instrument. Born in Tibet, brought up in India, and a Vermonter since 2011, Tsering is a singer, songwriter, musician, composer, and Tibetan dance instructor. He is the founder of the Rolyang Lobling school (in English, “music class”) where he has worked with dozens of students to make Tibetan music and dance happen in Vermont.

Trad Camp Lunchtime Concert: Oliver Scanlon & Friends
Join us at Trad Camp for a free (donations accepted) lunchtime concert! Oliver Scanlon began his early training with a stint with the Vermont Youth Orchestra and years in the Young Tradition Vermont’s Fiddleheads. Fiddler, mandolinist and tunesmith Scanlon was introduced to his mentor Pete Sutherland and the parallel universe of fiddle music at the age of nine. In 2008, Oliver and a few talented middle school friends formed the group which became The Irregulars and in 2013 he co-founded Pete’s Posse and became the youngest member of Sutherland’s long running dance band The Clayfoot Strutters.

Youth Commission Memorial Day Weekend Tour
The Memorial Day Weekend Tour is the conclusion of the 2022-23 Youth Commission’s work together.
The Youth Commission is a band of 5 talented teen trad musicians, selected and led by this year’s Commissioned Artist, Fiona Stowell (fiddle, vocals, and dancing) of Montpelier. Fiona was charged with creating a small ensemble and a program of compositions and/or arrangements with a variety of mentors and master artists. The group has worked together since the fall. They play contemporary melodies and traditional tunes from various cultural backgrounds and will perform at festivals, concerts, and other events through the summer.

Tribute to Pete Sutherland at the Young Tradition Festival
Friends, fans, students, collaborators, admirers and more pay tribute to beloved musician, mentor, and community member Pete Sutherland. The concert will be hosted by Sarah Blair and Will Mentor, and will include contributions from Jon Gailmor, Timothy Cummings, Tristan Henderson, Patti Casey, Colin McCaffrey, the Youth Commission, Rebecca Starks, Anna Roberts-Gevalt, Geoff Gevalt, Oliver Scanlon, Zachary Mills and Social Band

Young Tradition Festival Showcase Concert
In this Showcase Concert featuring a variety of young musicians and dancers performing with their mentors, teachers and/or parents including La Famille LaBlanc, Michele Choiniere with Isabella Rottler, Brian Perkins with students, Gopal Niroula with Isika Niroula, Sarah Hotchkiss with Fiddleheads, Fiona Stowell with students, Joanne Garton with Liam Moore and Lacey Bennett, Migmar Tsering with Rolyang Lobling, Yasi Zeichner with Cora Marren, Oliver Scanlon with Fiddleheads, Gerlisa Garrett with Nelle King, Nicholas Williams with family band, Fiona Stowell with the Youth Commission, Hadley Stockwell and Owen Kennedy with the Touring Group, and others

Young Tradition Contest Past Winner’s Concert
For years the Young Tradition Festival Contest has encouraged young musicians and dancers to keep traditions alive and to support their involvement in traditional music and dance. This year, join us for standout performances from several past winners, including including Jordan Bélanger (2015, 2017), Eric George (2014), Jaden Gladstone (2008, 2012), Addie Herbert (2015, 2017), Owen Kennedy (2021, 2022), Romy Munkres (2018), Fern Tamagini-O'Donnell (2022), Duncan Yandell (2008), Oliver Scanlon (2010, 2011), McKinley James (2010, 2011, 2014, 2017) and others.

La Famille LeBlanc with the YTV Touring Group at YTF
La Famille LeBlanc of New Brunswick performs French Acadian music, this time with the 20-member YTV Touring Group. The Touring Group’s performance will include material learned on their week-long April tour of Cape Breton, which will have concluded just days before the festival.

La Famille LeBlanc with the YTV Youth Commission at YTF
La Famille LeBlanc of New Brunswick performs French Acadian music alongside the YTV Youth Commission, a talented trad band of 5 teens headed up by youth leader Fiona Stowell playing contemporary melodies and traditional tunes from various cultural backgrounds.