Annual Forum Dinner

2021 Update: 

We are unable to plan and host our beloved farm-to-table Annual Forum Dinner event this year. Help us celebrate our 25th anniversary in other ways!

We are building on the picnic theme of 2020.

Celebrate the season with a Vermont picnic. Click for the details of this August picnic series with a few of our members!

The funds raised with this series of picnics goes to support Vermont Fresh Network and our mission to cultivate the farmer-chef-consumer relationship.

The 2020 dinner was cancelled and in its place we celebrated the farmer-chef partnership throughout August with The Great Vermont Picnic.

Picnickers ordered takeout from any restaurant and paired it with other choice Vermont products. Thank you for participating!

About our Annual Forum Dinner...

We plan to host our dinner again in 2022! Every year the Vermont Fresh Network brings together some of Vermont's best chefs, farmers, food producers, and specialty food makers to create a sensational meal at the Shelburne Farms Coach Barn, on the shores of Lake Champlain. It is a celebration of the best food of summer, and VFN's largest fundraiser. This event happens the first Sunday in August, tickets go on sale June 1st. Tickets are limited and the event does sell out - large groups (10+) are requested to reserve their tickets by July 1st. Supporting and Partner Members receive 20% off their tickets, become a member today at this link. 

Please see our Instagram or Facebook for photos. View this video from 2018 to get a sense of the evening.

Tickets go on sale June 1st . . . and they sell out every year.

EVENING SCHEDULE

5:00 - Doors Open to Guests 

5:00 to 6:30 - Vermont Artisanal Products Tasting

• Taste some of the most innovative and delicious new culinary treasures created by Vermont food artisans.
• Celebrate the dedication of Vermont’s new wave of cidermakers, winemakers, brewers, and distillers as they share tastes of their varied creations (along with non-alcoholic beverages).
• Enjoy music by Larks in the Attic

5:00 to 7:30 - Silent Auction - Bid on Vermont food and farm experience packages, from romantic getaways at country inns to feasts for a group of friends, in our popular Silent Auction. 

6:00 to 7:30 - Grazing Dinner - enjoy the bounty of local products grown and raised by Vermont’s farmers and highlighted in delectable offerings by over 20 of the state’s finest chefs - it is a dinner like no other.

7:30 - Vote for Best Bite & Best Sip 

7:30 to 8:00 - Ice Cream Social with Strafford Organic Creamery

• We have a number of fantastic offerings for a silent auction fundraiser at the event this year - come prepared to participate! Checks are preferred, credit card payments are also accepted. 
• There is no ATM on the property.
• Weather permitting, parking will be on the field in front of the Coach Barn.
• No dogs are allowed on Shelburne Farms property.

Thank you to our 2019 sponsors...

Silver: Cabot Creamery Co-operative • Community National Bank • Dealer.com • Front Porch Forum • Gallagher, Flynn & Company, LLP • Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets • Vermont Tent Company

Bronze: 14th Star Brewing Company • Citizen Cider • City Market/Onion River Co-op • Daria Bishop Photography • Gardener's Supply Company • Good Measure Brewing Co. • Guy's Farm & Yard • Hannaford Supermarkets • Prohibition Pig • The Alchemist • UVM Extension • Vermont Creamery • Vermont Farm to Plate • Vermont Sports

Interested in sponsoring in 2020? Become an event sponsor, silent auction "experience package" donor, or prize sponsor - email tara@vermontfresh.net.

The following is a list of participants for 2019:

14th Star Brewing Company
Aqua ViTea
Artesano Mead / KIS Kombucha
Artisan Eats Vermont
Baird Farm
Bleu Northeast Seafood
Boyden Valley Winery & Spirits
Brio Coffee
Cabot Creamery Co-operative
Caledonia Spirits
Champlain Orchards & Cidery
Citizen Cider
Drifter's
Eden Specialty Ciders
Edson Hill
Good Measure Brewing
Honey Road
Grafton Village Cheese
Inn at Shelburne Farms
J.J. Hapgood General Store and Eatery
Juniper Bar and Restaurant
Kimball Brook Farm / Green Mountain Organic Creamery
Lincoln Peak Vineyard
Long Trail Brewing and Otter Creek Brewing
Mad River Distillers
Maquam
Michael's on the Hill
New England Culinary Institute
New Moon Cafe
Nitty Gritty Grains
O Bread Bakery
OM Fisher Homes
Prohibition Pig Brewery
Red Hen Baking Co
Shelburne Farms Cheese
Shelburne Vineyard
SILO Distillery
Stowe Cider
Strafford Organic Creamery
Sugar Bob's Finest Kind (SBFK Inc.)
Sugarsnap Catering
The Farmhouse Group
The Great Northern
The Lodge at Spruce Peak
TreTap / Ceres Natural Remedies
Upstate Elevator Supply Co
UVM Dining with VT First
Vermont Beekeepers Association
Vermont Cheese Council
Vermont Fresh Pasta
Vermont Grass Farmers Association
Windfall Orchard