Games in full force at the 2022 Montpelier Fall Festival. Photo by Festival by Ted Dawson.
Where will you find fantastical electrical devices, salsa lessons, games, face painting, inflatables, Pinbox 300, Masque Theater performances and a Kid Costume Swap?
They’ll all be at the Montpelier Fall Festival, a fundraiser organized by the Montpelier Roxbury Schools Parents in Education on Sunday, October 1 from 12 to 4 p.m. on the State House lawn. Admission is free; all funds raised will come from donations. You can donate using the QR code on the flyers or the website or at donation boxes at the fair.
Save some change, however, for the food trucks, including Viva el Sabor’s Latin American cuisine, Mo’s BBQ and the Sisters of Anarchy’s famous ice cream. Don’t overlook Brigitte’s La Bonne Crepe, run by Montpelier High School students who dedicate the profits to travel abroad for language students. Do you love the thought of trying Hawaiian-inspired food? Head over to the Hawaiian Vegan Truck.
Festival-goers can sign up for the One-Mile Fun Run, open to any age, or dance to the music of bands like Slap Happy Jack, Tiny Hearts Explosions or The Radiance. By popular demand, the festival is also bringing back the Celebrity Dunk Tank. Last year’s good sports included MHS Principal Jason Gingold.
Edisa Gonsalves Revilla Muller, this year’s coordinator, says the event raises funds shared by all four schools in the district. That money pays for a variety of activities designed to enrich the curriculum, including residences, athletic trips, field trips and mental health initiatives, to name just a few.
The fair partners with the nonprofit All Brains Belong and receives help from many local businesses and organizations. Support also comes from volunteer parents and caregivers who make posters, coax “celebrities” to line up at the dunk tank, reach out to vendors and local musicians, assemble face-painting materials and do all of the many tasks the fair requires.
Muller knows it’s exhausting work, but she says it’s worth it: “This year, more than ever, we feel our communities (Montpelier and Roxbury) will enjoy coming together.”
