The Meeting House at Cornwall is excited to bring back the time honored tradition of a yearly strawberry festival, now with a bluegrass twist!

3:30PM - Sap Line

With their sound rooted in the music of New England & Maritime Canada, Scotland, Ireland, and Appalachia, Sap Line blends these connected traditions to explore a rich palette of harmonic possibilities. The trio adds a fresh and youthful flavor to their arrangements of energetic jigsand reels, lyrical 3-part harmony singing, and foot-stomping Old Time favorites. Together, Sap Line taps into the legacy of musicians who have mentored and inspired them, sharing the joy oftraditional music in dynamic, high-spirited performances.

Sap Line is Old Time fiddler Fiona Stowell, singer-songwriter, guitar, and mandolin player Grace Martin, and New England piano and clawhammer banjo player Emmett Stowell. Sap Line hasperformed across New England and Canada, notably at Catamount Arts' First Night and CabotArts' Twelfth Night, Burlington City Arts, Sutton Traditional Fiddle Festival in Québec, and Club Passim’s Campfire Festival in Boston. Sap Line is hot off their performance at the Acadia Festival of Traditional Music & Dance and excited to come back home to VT!

5:30PM - Otter Creek

Otter Creek was founded in 2021 by a group of friends who share a love of bluegrass and folkmusic. While all members share a deep respect for tradition, they don't get too caught up withlabels. Bassist Finn Lester-Niles, long immersed in bluegrass music while growing up in NorthCarolina, draws upon grooves from his experience in jazz ensembles. Mandolinist Asa Skinder brings to the group hard-nosed, Monroe-style mandolin breaks, and an uncanny ability to findcool old recordings. Katie Loomis-Adams leans heavily into the Old-Time tradition.

Otter Creek perform regularly at Burlington’s Radio Bean, and have been featured in the Rattling Brook Bluegrass Festival in Belvidere Center.

Community Partnerships

The Meeting House is excited to partner with and support Cornwall’s own Purple Barn Farm who will be supplying the titular strawberries for the festival. Kerianne and Nate Severy have been working hard over the last few years to turn a beautiful hill next to their dairy farm into a pick-your-own strawberry patch.

The morning of Friday June 26th, The Meeting House will be sponsoring a free strawberry picking event that will supply the festival. Volunteers will then prepare the strawberries and bake some delicious shortcakes!

The Meeting House is also grateful to be partnering with another new Cornwall-based musicnon-profit called the Vermont Roots Music Collective (VRMC) to provide some technical supportfor the outdoor performances.

Access for All

Community access is integral to The Meeting House’s mission. The festival is completely free to attend and there will be no set prices for the strawberry short cake. The bands will also be paid a flat fee in which the artists get to focus on connecting with their audience and their music.

The Meeting House is testing out a pay-it-forward model, so if you do feel moved to toss some money in a hat or make an online donation, that will go towards supporting future community events and performances. Similarly, a donation is suggested when getting strawberry shortcake to cover the cost of purchasing the local strawberries and biscuit ingredients.

The Meeting House at Cornwall aims to put local families, groups, and individuals first. So, carpool and come by Cornwall's town green, bring a lawn chair and a picnic blanket, listen, dance, and enjoy a revived local tradition on Sunday June 28th from 3:30PM - 7PM.

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