SHELBURNE — The Vermont Cheese Council recently announced the 11th Annual Vermont Cheesemakers Festival schedule for 2019. Named a USA Today 10 Best Specialty Food Festival in the United States, the festival on Aug. 11 is located at Shelburne Farms and highlights the cheese and dairy producers in Vermont, as well as celebrates Vermont’s food and beverage producers. Other publications calling the Cheesemakers Festival a top 10 pick include Yankee Magazine, Fodor’s Travel.com, theWall Street Journal, Conde Nast Traveler, and National Geographic Traveler.
In 2019 the festival is adding two new events on Saturday, Aug. 10. Starting off the day will be an Educational Day from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Shelburne Farms. Envisioned as a training day for both professionals and cheese aficionados, Education Day will include a cheese science primer with Zoe Brickley from Jasper Hill Farm, a guide walk through the pastures with Parish Hill Creamery Cheesemaker Peter Dixon, as well as time spent with the Shelburne Farms Head Cheesemaker Andi Wandt. A pairing event will close out the day. The day includes a catered lunch. Tickets for the Education Day are $95. 
Tickets are also available for the Vermont Cheese Dinner. Dinner tickets are $75. The Vermont Cheese Dinner will be held at the Round Barn Farm in Waitsfield. This is the third annual dinner and has been a great way to cap the day. Golden Tickets are available for the festival and include admission to Education Day, the Cheese Dinner, and the Sunday Festival.
The Vermont Cheesemakers Festival itself on Aug. 11 will run from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets are available for the Festival on Eventbrite.com or on the Vermont Cheesemakers Festival website. Available tickets include a $65 General Admission ticket ($20 for children under 12) a $100 Patron Ticket, and a $300 Golden Ticket. Golden Tickets include individual tickets to the Vermont Education Day, Vermont Cheese Dinner, and to the Vermont Cheesemakers Festival as well as festival site parking and early entry at 10 a.m. on the festival day. Patrons Tickets include early entry at 10 a.m. on Festival day, plus festival site parking. General Admission tickets include admittance at 11 a.m. and off-site parking at Shelburne Farms. All tickets include festival bag and festival wineglass.
This year, the Vermont Cheesemakers Festival will also include the Vermont Wood Works Council presenting their hand-made wooden cheeseboard competition utilizing wood grown and harvested at Shelburne Farms. The finalists, chosen by the Vermont Woods Works Council and the Vermont Cheesemakers Festival staffs for this contest will be presented and chosen by the attendees at the festival. Additional cheese boards made by members of the Vermont Wood Works Council will be presented at the Vermont cheesemakers tables. This is the first collaboration between the two organizations. 
The Vermont Cheese Council, which operates the Vermont Cheesemakers Festival, has been in existence since 1996. There are currently 50 members in the council. The Vermont cheese industry represents $1 billion in annual sales in Vermont. The Vermont dairy sector is the largest portion of the annual agricultural sales in the state and represents thousands of jobs, and thousands of acres of farmland in the working landscape of Vermont.