Burlington: Recreation
Sightseeing
The Greater Burlington area offers many architectural landmarks. Examples of distinctive nineteenth-century styles can be seen in the Pearl Street Historic District and the Head of Church Street Historic District. City Hall Park Historic District in downtown Burlington preserves significant buildings from the city's early history, such as Ethan Allen Fire Station and City Hall. The University Green Historic District at the University of Vermont is surrounded by 29 historic buildings; the land was donated by Ira Allen, brother of Ethan, with the stipulation that it be preserved.
Battery Park, the scene of a battle between British and American troops during the War of 1812, offers scenic vistas and sunsets. Ferry cruises of Lake Champlain depart from Burlington Harbor in the Battery Street-King Street Historic District, the city's earliest settled area.
At Shelburne Farms, a 1,000-acre landscape designed by Olmsted offers breathtaking lake and mountain vistas. Vermont products are sold at its visitor's center.
Arts and Culture
A major showcase for the performing arts in Burlington is the 2,600-seat Memorial Auditorium, which holds about 12 major concerts a year, augmented by about 6 to 8 local concerts. Burlington City Arts operates the Firehouse Center for the Visual Arts, displaying a variety of exhibits at the renovated Ethan Allen Firehouse. The Vermont Symphony Orchestra is based in Burlington and performs 50 concerts annually at different venues across the state.
Burlington offers a rich schedule of artistic events throughout the year. The summer music season includes the Vermont Mozart Festival, offering a series of chamber music concerts at varying locales in the region. Banjo and fiddle contests as well as bandshell concerts are also popular. The University of Vermont's 295-seat Royall Tyler Theatre provides a variety of offerings. Summer professional theatrical performances are presented at St. Michael's Playhouse, while the Art-Deco style, 1,453-seat Flynn Theatre is the scene of performing arts events of all kinds all year long. The Lyric Theatre of Burlington and the Lane Performing Artist Series at the University of Vermont are also popular.
The university is home to Robert Hull Fleming Museum, a $15-million collection of more than 20,000 paintings, sculptures, and decorative arts. The Shelburne Museum in nearby Shelburne, a 100-acre complex housing one of the largest collections of Americana in the country, features 39 early American buildings and an extensive display of 150,000 eighteenth- and nineteenth-century artifacts. The Discovery Museum of Essex specializes in hands-on exhibits oriented toward children, and includes a planetarium. For all ages the ECHO at the Leahy Center provides an educational and enjoyable day at the lake aquarium and science center, highlighted by 100 interactive exhibits and 60 species of animals.
Artisans of all kinds have long been attracted to the natural beauty of Vermont, and their works are on display at several arts and crafts galleries in and around Burlington.
Arts and Culture Information: Burlington City Arts, 149 Church St., Burlington, VT 05401; telephone (802)865-7166
Festivals and Holidays
Festivals abound in greater Burlington as the area hosts the Lake Champlain Balloon Festival, the Vermont Mozart Festival, and Ben & Jerry's One World One Heart Festival. St. Patrick's Day is marked by the week-long Burlington Irish Heritage Festival. Vermont is the country's leading producer of maple syrup, and the sugaring season is celebrated in nearby St. Albans at the annual Vermont Maple Festival in early April. A parade, art, and activities make for a fun-filled Kids' Day festival in early May for some 15,000 attendees.
At the Green Mountain Chew-Chew, held in June, local eateries prepare ethnic specialties in what is billed as northern New England's largest smorgasbord, attracting about 60,000 people. Also in June is the Discover Jazz Festival with music at various locations throughout the city, and the Art's Alive Annual Juried Festival of Fine Art which presents workshops and demonstrations. July begins with a Fourth of July celebration; the middle of the month features samplings from 25 breweries at the Vermont Brewers Festival. The summer wraps up with the state's largest county fair, the 10-day Champlain Valley Fair for 300,000 people.
Autumn in Vermont is an unofficial festival, when spectacular fall foliage draws visitors from all over the world. Winter brings the Vermont Handcrafters Fair in November in South Burlington at the Sheraton Conference Center, and a Christmas celebration at the Shelburne Museum in early December with music, an old-fashioned magic show, and craft-making. The holiday season is also celebrated by a lighting ceremony of 100,000 lights at the Church Street Marketplace, followed by First Night on New Year's Eve, when downtown Burlington is the scene of a gala featuring parades, fireworks, music, and other family-friendly performances at 32 venues. In February, the Winter Festival offers indoor and outdoor fun highlighted by ice sculpting, sledding, and other events.
Sports for the Spectator
Affiliated with Major League Baseball's (MLB) Washington Nationals, the Class A Vermont Expos, founded in 1994, play from June through September at Centennial Field, located on the campus of the University of Vermont in the New York-Penn League. The Catamounts of the University of Vermont are part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I with men's and women's programs in hockey, soccer, basketball, baseball, and track events.
Sports for the Participant
Burlington's location on the shore of Lake Champlain, the nation's sixth largest freshwater lake, near the Green Mountains provides a wide spectrum of year-round recreational opportunities. Summer offers boating, golfing, hiking, horseback riding, swimming, and tennis. An eight-mile bike path curves along the lake, traversing parks and three public beaches. Within the city, 30 parks and natural areas occupy 531 acres and offer residents a variety of options. Fishing is popular winter and summer. Burlington is the hub of downhill skiing in the East; cross-country skiing night and day on miles of scenic trails is also possible, as are sleigh rides and snow boarding. Ice skaters can choose among six different outdoor venues as well as indoors at the Gordon H. Paquette Arena in Leddy Park, which also hosts local hockey leagues.
Shopping and Dining
Constructed in 1981, the centerpiece of downtown Burlington is the Church Street Marketplace, a bustling four-block outdoor pedestrian mall lined with more than 100 shops along with restaurants and cafés; among the wares offered are original works by local artists along with retailers such as Banana Republic, Eddie Bauer, and Old Navy. Adjoining the marketplace is Burlington Square Mall, offering 60 specialty stores on 150,000 square feet of space including Filene's Department Store, Gap, and Victoria's Secret. University Mall in South Burlington is the state's largest indoor mall with more than 70 stores and restaurants and featuring major retailers such as JCPenney, Sears, and the Children's Place. Several indoor and outdoor malls and factory outlet stores are located within a seven-mile radius, as are the types of stores for which Vermont is most famous—crafts, antiques, and Vermont-made products.
Burlington's growing sophistication has resulted in a restaurant renaissance, and many establishments, from small chef-owned to classic country inns, offer Vermont-made dairy and other products; fresh lake trout is a local specialty. After dinner visitors may enjoy a stroll to Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream Parlor for a sampling of what a national magazine described as "the best ice cream in the world." On Saturdays between May and October, the Burlington Farmers' Market in City Hall Park brings out an abundance of food from local farmers and bakers along with the wares of craftsmakers.
Visitor Information: Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce, 60 Main St., Ste. 100, Burlington, VT 05401; telephone (802)863-3489; toll-free (877)686-5253; fax (802)863-1538; email vermont@vermont.org