The arts have been significant in the development of Dorset's character. Both visual and performing media provide stimulating and enjoyable entertainment.

Several years ago a residential retreat for writers was founded. Known as Colony House, it is situated on the green and is a haven for both budding and established authors, poets, artists, composers, and playwrights, many with Broadway and Hollywood credits.

The acclaimed Dorset Playhouse has flourished through the years. Its performances encompass everything form Broadway to regional productions, timeless musicals to debuts of new stage offerings

In 1904, a collective of Dorset Painters held an exhibition at the Dorset Field Club to benefit the Dorset Library. The library, now located in the former Gray Tavern, was founded in 1870 and is one of the oldest in the state of Vermont. It has a collection of approximately 20,000 volumes and visitors are always welcome.

"The Dorset Artists" as they called themselves later became Southern Vermont Artists and are the stewards of the lovely Yesterhouse Galleries and performing arts pavilion.

The Congregational Church on the town green is aglow with stained glass windows - including some by Tiffany depicting Dorset gardens.

Visitors are welcome at the studios of area potters, painters, carvers, stencilers, cabinet makers and other artists who enrich us all with their work and as members of our community.

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The Dorset Theatre Festival has been a fixture in the Dorset/Manchester area since the 1970s. The Festival plays in a beautifully renovated historic barn on Cheney Road, off Church Street in Dorset. The professional summer theatre has served as a launching pad for acclaimed plays and playwrights including Douglas Carter Beane's When Bees in Honey Drown and Advice from a Caterpillar, The Jazz Club by John Nassivera and the 1996 Pulitzer Prize finalist Old Wicked Songs by Jon Marans. The Dorset Theatre Festival is the recipient of a 1995 and 1997 Moss Hart Award for Outstanding Theatre.

Carl Forsman was named Artistic Director in December 2006. The 2008 season will be his second. Mr. Forsman also helms the New York City-based Keen Company, which won a 2005 Drama Desk citation "for moving and enlightening audiences with plays that build upon our theatrical heritage." As a director, Mr. Forsman received a Drama Desk nomination as Best Director for Keen's 2001 production of The Voice of the Turtle. His production of Sin (A Cardinal Deposed) for the New Group won an OBIE Award.

The 2008 season begins on June 19. During the summer months, call the box office at 802-867-5777. Performances: Tues & Thurs-Sat @ 8, Wed, Sat, & Sun @ 3. No matinees on 6/21, 7/12, 8/2 or 8/23.

Four-play subscriptions are available for $106.00. Single ticketS: $35 matinees / $40 evenings.

2008 season:

• Nobody Don't Like Yogi, by Thomas Lysaght, June 19-28
  
• The Dining Room, by A.R. Gurney, July 3-19
  
• A Year with Frog and Toad, book and lyrics by Willie Reale, music by Robert Reale, based on the books by Arnold Lobel, July 24-August 9
  
• June Moon, by Ring Lardner & George S. Kaufmann, August 14-30

Dorset Theatre Festival, Box 510, Dorset, Vermont 05251
Phone: 802-867-5777 box office / 802-867-2223 office
www.dorsettheatrefestival.org

Recreation

The area offers a myriad of recreational possibilities year round:

BICYCLING is popular in Dorset's pleasant rolling countryside, with many wooded trails from which to choose

HIKING - Merck Forest and Farmland Center is nearby with 2,000 acres, spectacular panoramic views, a model farm and 27 miles of hiking and cross country ski trails. The Green Mountain National Forest offers numerous mountain trails throughout the area, as well as pleasant walking areas. The famous Long Trail and Appalachian Trail cross through the area.

SWIMMING - Emerald Lake State Park in East Dorset and Lake Saint Catherine, a short drive north, have water sports galore.

BOATING & CANOEING - Emerald Lake State Park, Lake St. Catherine and the Battenkill. Rentals available.

FISHING - Three major trout steams have their head waters in Dorset. The world famous Battenkill flows south to the Hudson, the locally popular Mettowee and Mad Tom Rivers wend their way past Civil War era iron smelters, marble quarries and quarry caves, some of which keep winter ice well into July each year.

GOLF - Numerous area courses open to the public.

BIRD WATCHING - Vermont lies in the pathway of the annual north-south bird migration. Its backyards and bogs, marshes and meadows, forests and fens are visited by over 180 species who breed here with many more just passing through. Any path will lead to bird activity - from Prentiss Pond in Dorset Village or Merck Forest and Farmland Center in Rupert to the many roads leading to a historic marble quarry or nearby Stratton Mountain for the rare and endangered Bicknell's Thrush. Sightings, discussions and information about birds is available from the statewide birding discussion list, VTBIRD.
For more information about birding in the Dorset and surrounding area email the Bird Lady.

CAMPING - Merck Forest, Emerald Lake State Park and Green Mountain National Forest. In addition there are several privately operated campgrounds.

DUPLICATE BRIDGE - There are games nearly every day in the area. Click here to find a game.

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ALPINE SKIING is but a short hop away at both Bromley and Stratton Mountains, each with extensive snowmaking ability.

CROSS COUNTRY SKIING
Groomed areas: Viking CC Center, Wild Wings and Stratton
Primitive areas: Merck Forest, Green Mountain National Forest.

SNOWSHOEING - Merck Forest, Green Mountain National Forest and Emerald Lake State Park.

ICE SKATING - Prentiss Pond in downtown Dorset is sometimes snow-free and Riley Rink in Manchester features an Olympic size indoor skating rink.

SNOWMOBILING - Green Mountain National Forest and trails on private land are maintained by the Green Mountain Trail Blazers, the local snowmobiling club. For more info visit Equinox Snow Tours and Vermont Association of Snowmobile Travelers.

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