Seven Days: Vermont's Independent Voice

Savoir Fair

Summer has to end sometime. But before fall harvest festivals really get rolling, the Champlain Valley Fair affords seekers of fluffy, cotton-candied fun the chance to let their hair down at a 10-day preview of local agricultural bounty. Farm fans note blue-ribbon winners in statewide flower, craft, baked-goods and veggie competitions, or visit livestock pens to see sheep-shearing demos and flawless-complexioned cows. Radio bard Garrison Keillor grandstands with Puff-Daddy-girl-group Danity Kane and teen heartthrobs the Jonas Brothers, among other acts. An amateur-talent stage highlights local luminaries, and motor-sport showdowns, circus feats, sideshows and midway rides offer direct and vicarious thrills to consumers of fried dough and other fair fare. The season’s ultimate signal also draws a superhero: “The Dark Knight” flaps daily in a 65-pound Batman costume.