Summer is one of the best seasons to visit Middlebury.

During July, there is a week-long Festival on the Green with (bring-your-own-brown-bag) lunchtime puppet shows, lots of local music, story telling, magic, etc. You can read about the line-up for this year here. It’s a really great time, it’s on a scale that families can enjoy, and it ends with a well-attended community street dance with a jazz band. Not to be missed if you are anywhere nearby.

There is also plenty going on next door at the Town Hall Theater with their Middsummer Nights theater festival. You can see the calendar here.

Feeling like something a little more exotic than a good old-fashioned weeklong festival? A few minutes north of town is Vergennes, where they celebrate Bastille Day Vermont-style. Mini-Bury has a post about it here. It’s lots of fun and includes a Waiter’s Race for professional waiters, fencing demos, crafts, and Quebecois music.

If festivals aren’t your thing, the swimming holes are nice and cold (try Bristol’s), the river fishing is very good, and there are places like Branbury State Park to swim and rent canoes. Hiking is a favorite and the trails across Vermont are superb. Mount Mansfield is a fun one. If you want the easy way, you can ride the gondola to the top of Killington Peak and hike down. Great views!

The Shelburne Museum, ECHO, and the Rokeby museum have exhibits and activities all the time for adults and kids.

Berry picking is good right about now at Douglas Orchard in Shoreham (strawberries and cherries), Pelkey’s in Ferrisburgh or Norris in Monkton (blueberries). Call ahead to check on dates, times, and prices. The Middlebury Farmer’s Market runs year round and summer hours are Wednesdays and Saturdays 9-12:30.

Sit back, relax, take a deep breath of the fresh mountain air, and enjoy Vermont. (And don’t forget your bug spray.)