September 27, 2026
Tunbridge, Vt—It’s a slightly rainy day in Tunbridge today, but, thankfully, it wasn’t the torrent of rain that might have made the Tunbridge Fairgrounds a muddy mess for this coming weekend’s 38th annual Vermont Sheep & Wool Festival. I’ll get to the tacos soon, but, first, sheep, wool, weaving, herding, shearing, lambs, alpacas, scarves & socks, fiber art of all sorts, shepherd talks, hands-on demos, a children’s book make & take, educational offerings, plus some great local food vendors and exciting live music await Upper Valley’ites for a weekend of fun and education for all ages on October 3 & 4, 2026.
Thirty-eight years in, and the Vermont Sheep & Wool Festival is thriving. This, according to Jane Woodhouse who is one of the co-directors for this year’s Vermont Sheep & Wool Festival. I caught up with Jane yesterday at The Norwich Inn’s comfortable front sitting room, where, despite her busier-than-ever schedule, she found time to speak with me on a Saturday after her work shift ended at Honey Field Farm in Norwich. As I quickly learned, Jane lends credence to the saying, “If you want to get something done, give it to the busiest person!”
With a bright and engaging smile, Jane effused about the upcoming Festival and its 2026 theme, Weaving Traditions, to honor one of the oldest crafts in human history. This year is also the International Year of the Woman Farmer as declared by the United Nations for 2026. So, my meeting with Jane seemed perfectly appropriate as we consider thirty-eight years of what has been a Festival that celebrates many women devoted to farm and fiber production locally, nationally, and internationally. Jane is in good global company as she pursues her efforts to expand the Vermont Fibershed which serves as a statewide resource for all Vermont fiber producers and processors and helps to promote the Vermont Sheep & Wool Festival each year.
In addition to her role as Festival co-chair, Jane is a board member (and past president) of the VT Sheep & Goat Association. She lives in Peacham, VT on Brigid’s Farm where, with 40 years under her belt as a production weaver, she runs a studio that specializes in natural dyes. Jane teaches regularly in her studio but travels several times a year to teach at festivals (including the Vermont Sheep and Wool Festival, NY Sheep and Wool Festival, The Gathering, Vermont Technical College, and most recently at PlyAway 3 in Kansas City), for guilds, and at other venues. Jane is a contributing author to Ply Magazine and Spin-Off Magazine. Her other interests include spinning and knitting, ethnic textiles, and surface design techniques on hand woven fabrics. I feel fortunate she had time to meet with me.
Now, on to the details of the VT Sheep & Wool Festival’s roster of events…
Food
While sheep and wool might be the main attraction, there are eleven food vendors slated to attend this year’s Festival to include ice cream by Kiss the Cow Farm and Vermont maple creemees served up by the Orange County Maple Producers Association of VT, along with Jamaican food, barbecue, samosas, cider, breakfast sandwiches, cheese curds, and more. Visit This Link for all food vendors.
Music
Thanks to the efforts of Royalton Community Radio and people like Todd Tyson, music at this year’s Festival includes live performances by: Justin Park & Mark Burd; Granville Daze; Jim Rooney & Dan Ruddell; Jennings and McComber. Royalton Community Radio provides live and recorded music throughout both days of the Festival and organizes and recruits the more than twenty local parking volunteers who help to ensure this is a community event everyone can attend. Todd told me that they’ve ramped things up this year with radios and golf carts to ensure things go smoothly and that people with disabilities and the elderly can get to and from their cars and Festival activities with greater ease. With more than 5,000 Festival-goers expected, Royalton Community Radio’s parking volunteers deserve our applause. Thank you RCR!
Schedule of Events
Visit This Link to view the complete Festival schedule to find the event, class, activity, musical performance, or food or fiber vendor that strike your fancy. There’s so much to do and see I can’t possibly list them all.
Tickets
Online ticket prices are $10 for adults, $5 for children, and toddlers are free. At the gate, tickets are $12 and $6, respectively. To purchase tickets, Click Here.
More…
Tacos!
While it’s not part of the Festival, my list of things to do this coming Saturday includes the final Taco Night of the season at Flying Dog Farm in Tunbridge. Running from 5 - 8 pm on Saturday, October 3rd, it’s just down the road from the Tunbridge Fairgrounds, so it makes for an easy stop on my way home. I’d really miss tasting Chef Hugo’s authentic Mexican salsas atop street tacos that are some of the most delicious I’ve had—anywhere, including in Mexico. More info and RSVP Here. There will be live music with The Spring Chickens, from Montpelier, and local ice cream from Kiss the Cow Farm in South Royalton. Flying Dog Farm is owned and operated by Shona Sanford-Long and her husband, Hugo Yanez. Shona started this certified organic livestock farm in 2020 after realizing when she was away at college just how good the food was on her family’s organic Luna Bleu Farm in South Royalton, Vermont. We’re fortunate she chose to return to the area.
Some quick links to other Festival items of particular interest include:
Special guest Nikyle Begay, Diné Shepherd, weaver, skilled fiber artist, and teacher from the Navajo Nation at 10:30 am and 2:30 pm daily on Saturday and Sunday. A fascinating article about Nikyle and their life’s work resurrecting the centuries-old Diné Weaving tradition is at This Link.
Sheep herding demonstrations with Steve Lyons of Ewe ‘N’ Eye Farm of Stannard, VT at 11 am, and 1 & 3 pm on Saturday and Sunday.
Sheep shearing demonstrations with Siri Swanson of Yankee Rock Farm at noon and 2 pm both days.
There will also be Shepherd Talks on topics ranging from Shearing Angora Bunnies, to all about Angora Goats, to Swedish Sheep, to Farming for Beginners. These talks will take place in the Animal Barn Tent both days. And, as if that’s not enough, for those who like to shop, there will be a Fleece Show & Sale, and more than eighty (that’s right, 80!!) vendors who are listed at This Link.
For a Whose Who of Festival volunteers, and a Fairgrounds map of the locations of Festival activities, Click Here. Huge thanks to all volunteers—those who are listed and the many others who aren’t. I know this Festival could not continue without you. Future year dates are already scheduled for: Oct 2-3, 2027 and Sept 30-Oct 1, 2028. Sponsors for future years are welcome to join and support the Festival at This Link for a reasonable fee.
I asked Jane what she appreciated most about the Festival, and, in addition to reminding me of Nikyle Begay and Siri Swanson, she mentioned Mary Lake, a well-known professional sheep shearer and itinerant butcher who is based in Tunbridge, VT. Operating through Can Do Shearing, Mary raises Icelandic sheep and is a professional blade shearer who competes nationally. She’s vying for a Top 2 spot on the U.S. national team for the Golden Shears world championship in Masterton, New Zealand.
Finally, Jane was excited to let me know that all four Vermont fiber mills will be attending this year’s Festival, including our local Junction Fiber Mill based in White River Junction. She also talked enthusiastically about the Festival as her touchpoint for so many people she sees only once each year but considers to be her closest of friends. The common bonds of farm, fiber, the farm-to-closet movement that eschews ‘fast fashion’ products, weaving, art, food, and music are all important, but it’s “the whole community feel” of the Festival that Mary cherishes most.
If you happen to see Mary running around from vendor to vendor or event to event on Saturday and Sunday, please know she’s working beyond overtime on this passion project that’s part of a larger, global effort to create geographical regions, or fibersheds, where natural fiber is produced, processed, worn and, ultimately, composted. Offer your heartfelt thanks for her decades’-long efforts to ensure the Vermont Sheep & Wool Festival and all the vendors, farmers, animals, shepherds, shearers, educators, weavers, musicians, and artists it helps to support will continue to thrive into the future.
Dave Celone writes from Sharon, VT where local Upper Valley events, food, art, and education captivate him and capture his interest.