Highlight 2023 Program Guide

A VERMONT-MADE REVELRY OF ART & IDEAS

NEW YEAR’S EVE BURLINGTON, VERMONT HIGHLIGHTBTV.COM

PROGRAM GUIDE 2023

BURLINGTON · WATERBURY CENTER · STOWE

Celebrate the New Year at Leunig’s — or one of her sister locations!

Leunig’s Petit Bijou Corner of Church St. & College St. Burlington, VT 05401 802-399-2336

Leunig’s Bistro & Café 115 Church Street Burlington, VT 05401 802-863-3759

E L ECT R A’S RESTAURANT

Electra’s Restaurant 5247 Shelburne Rd. Shelburne, VT 05482 (802) 497-0683 Leunig's - celebrate the new year ad.indd 1

Le Marché Cafe 5597 Shelburne Road Shelburne, Vermont 05482 802-448-3038 12/8/23 2:56 PM

FIREWO RKS brought to you by

P: KYLE TANSLEY

P:LUKE AWTRY

Buttons: $15 Kids 5 and Under Are Free Your button is your ticket to every Highlight event!

Please note: every venue, both indoor or out, has a capacity.

We strongly recommend getting in line early for your favorite events. We appreciate your understanding!

HOW TO PURCHASE A HIGHLIGHT BUTTON 1 Visit one of our Burlington-area ticket sales partners and purchase in-person. You can purchase your buttons at the BCA Center, BCA Studios, ECHO Center, Foam Brewers, and Phoenix Books in Burlington.

2 Visit highlightbtv.com or scan the QR code to purchase online. Once you purchase online, your buttons will be reserved and available for pickup at our box offices on New Year’s Eve, or at the BCA Center in advance. There is a box office at each Highlight location.

3 Purchase a button at any of our venues on December 31.

Please note that Highlight is on track to sell out! Purchasing day-of can be both time-consuming and may not guarantee you a ticket.

Highlight is on a Sunday, so all meters and City garages are free! Visit parkburlington.com to learn about the many downtown parking locations.

Open the Door to 2024!

Highlight is all about toasting the brilliant spectrum of artists who call Burlington and Vermont home. Designed to bring all communities together through a unique experience, Highlight celebrates the wonderful multitudes we collectively contain.

To present so many events in one sensational day and night, we need to spread out a bit.

But we don’t wander too far, and have programmed the goings-on so that for the price of one button, you can experience as much spectacular art, music, food, and neighborly bonhomie as possible.

Revelers are encouraged to download the app and consult highlightbtv.com for the complete and most up-to-date schedule.

Without further ado, here’s the general rundown of how— and where—Highlight unfolds…

ENTER FOR A CHANCE TO WIN $200 Since 2019, VSECU has been a proud sponsor of the Bright Ideas Project that inspires Highlight.

This year, we’re going a step further by giving away $2,000 in prize money to empower New Year‘s resolutions.

Participants could win $200 to put toward their 2024 goals.

HOW CAN YOU ENTER? • Stop by the VSECU table in the ECHO Science Center.

• Warm up with a build-your-own hot chocolate.

• Enter a New Years’ resolution in the drawing.

We look forward to seeing you there!

TAYLOR SWIFT ERAS TOUR DANCE PARTY

SPIRITUAL SOUNDING: WOODLAND ECHOES

BIG GAY NEW YEAR

BCA CENTER

ECHO CENTER

Once we sweep up all the glitter, BCA proudly welcomes Spiritual Sounding: Woodland Echoes at 6:30 pm. Co-presented

by Scrag Mountain Music, this ambient musical performance features Scrag Mountain’s Evan Premo joined by storyteller/ Native flutist Michael Laughing Fox Charette, a member of the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.

Starting at 6 pm and running through midnight, Big Gay New Year is a night of Queer joy, art, and allyship. Visual art and performances curated by Lydia Kern and Corrine Yonce come together with a musical lineup tailored by Abbie Morin of Hammydown, featuring Caroline Rose, Lutalo, and more, bringing you a celebration like no other. This countdown is for the Queers and the people who love them!

Because the New Year must be welcomed in style, BCA teaching artists will assist youth and families in crafting elegant headbands and party hats in a Make and Take art activity at the BCA Center from 1-4 pm.

After that, our consciousnesses will be properly attuned for the folks behind Futurama Luminart (see page 10) to treat our senses to a cosmic synergy of art, music, and fashion from 9:30 pm until 12:30 am.

CONTOIS AUDITORIUM

Next door at Contois Auditorium in City Hall, the circus comes to town with three shows from beloved troupers Circus Smirkus, at 12, 2, and 4 pm. Things stay on the silly side when WABAAM!, a contemporary circus cabaret, performs from 6:30-7:30 pm before making room on the dancefloor for DJ Love Doctor. The good doctor will DJ **THE ENTIRE** Taylor Swift Eras Tour setlist— on vinyl to boot—as this dance party invites you to shake it off from 9 pm right on through the midnight hour.

At ECHO, the Front Porch Follies are back for their fourth year at Highlight, acting out posts from Vermont’s favorite community forum with improvised sketch comedy, songs, and guest appearances in two performances, at 1:30 and 3:30 pm.

FOAM BREWERS

Down Lake Street at Foam Brewers, family-friendly Daytime Disco features a top-shelf lineup of local DJs curated by DJ Svpply to help you get your NYE groove on from 2-6 pm.

Glitch meets matrix when the folks at Burlington Electronic Department take over from 9 pm-12:30 am, presenting a full evening’s program of electronic acts, DJs, and bands that want nothing more than to short-circuit your mind.

SCAN FOR MOST UP-TO-DATE SCHEDULE

The visually stunning UU welcomes an aurally stunning performance by Skylark. The renowned quartet performs Darkness & Light, a pairing of chamber music and poetry that explores the seasonal shift toward brighter days. Catch them at 6 pm.

We reset the stage to welcome indie-folk darling Henry Jamison from 8:30-10 pm. Jamison performs his signature brand of poignant, well-read songs in trio form, accompanied by incredible projections from Vanish Works.

GREASEFACE

Throughout the afternoon and evening, behold the interactive glowing orbs of Specter, designed by Burlington artist Pete Edwards. You’ll find these enigmatic beacons at the BCA Center as well. Feel free to talk to them and share your resolutions.

(Everything confided is just between you and the orbs.)

SKINNY PANCAKE

The weirdness endures at Skinny Pancake, with art-rockers Greaseface laying down an oil slick of psychedelic punk-folk at 9:30 pm, followed by rabble rousing bluegrass rockers Wild Leek River, who take the stage at 10:30 pm.

HENRY JAMISON

UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST CHURCH

Unitarian Universalist hosts the promising young voices of the Opera Company of Middlebury’s Youth Opera Company. The teen singers enchant us with a performance of From Spain with Love, an original story of love lost and found, from 3:30-4:30 pm.

GOOD CLEAN FUN

VERMONT COMEDY CLUB

For family-friendly laughs, look no further than Good Clean Fun, a Whose Line Is It Anyway-style improv show running at the Vermont Comedy Club at 11 am and 1, 3, and 5 pm.

THE SUITCASE JUNKET

GREG FREEMAN

WATERFRONT PARK

THE NTH POWER

THE FLUFFY BUS

The Waterfront is brimming with activity all day long, beginning with RunVermont’s NYE Run/Walk to Highlight, at which runners and walkers are invited to take part in a 1-mile, 5k, or 5-mile fun run. All of the runs start at 2 pm and are free to everyone. No registration required.

Northstar Fireworks lights up the sky at 8 pm with an elegant display titled Wish Upon a Star. Following the final crackles and fizzles, Cirque de Fuego sparks their heat-seeking fire show, which culminates in the ritualistic burning of an effigy representing our beloved lake monster, Champ.

Our lakeside musical offerings take root at 2 pm with DJ Umami performing on the Burning Man-borne “artcar” qua stage, The Fluffy Bus.

Highlight’s outdoor musical offerings close with a soulful menu of rhythm, blues, and funk via The Nth Power, who formed in New Orleans for an impromptu Jazz Fest set 10 years ago and have been marching on ever since. Catch them from 8:30 to 10 pm.

The Tenderbellies get going on the main stage at 2:30 pm, stringing up their Vermonty blend of Americana, bluegrass, new grass, jazz, and rock before handing things over to Mal Maiz, who cast a psychy spin on modern and traditional Central and South American rhythms, at 4 pm.

At 5 pm, DJ Rice Pilaf delivers the next course upon the Fluffy Bus, and at 5:30 pm, indie rocker Greg Freeman weaves lyrical webs of wit driven by gritty guitar and gravelly twang.

New England’s preeminent one-man band, The Suitcase Junket, unpacks his evocative set of sounds and visions at 7 pm, performing the parts of five musicians simultaneously.

While you’re at the Waterfront, be sure to wander through the Illuminated Sculpture Garden, which we’ll light up at 2 pm and keep going until the end. Artists Clay Mohrman and Phoebe Lo created this transformative experience of glowing, ethereal artworks, which contain stories in light, reflecting the distinct stages of time.

Like winter in Vermont, Highlight is no stranger to sudden surprises, so be sure to check highlightbtv.com and download the BCA Events App to make sure you have the most up-to-date info.

We are so thrilled to be celebrating with you. Happy New Year!

VSECU empowers possibilities for Vermonters all year round, and through the Bright Ideas Project, they’ve been helping “Highlight” our community’s creative brilliance on New Year’s Eve since 2019. The Bright Ideas Project, an annual community-driven crowdsourcing effort, is the source of many of Highlight’s unique happenings.

Each summer, Highlight asks Vermont visionaries from every corner of the state to start dreaming up one-of-a-kind New Year’s Eve events. Once all of the brilliant submissions are

gathered, a selection panel chooses the best and brightest ideas to receive over $40,000 of funding, in addition to production and marketing support, to bring them to life at Highlight. There’s no better way to celebrate the New Year than by counting down the experiences and ideas that make our community a hub of incredible creativity!

This year, in addition to their support of the Bright Ideas Project, VSECU is helping Highlight revelers empower possibilities in 2024 by giving away $2,000 in prize money to support their New Year’s resolutions. Stop by VSECU’s table at ECHO, warm up with a decadent, build-your-own hot chocolate, and enter your resolution in the drawing. If your resolution is chosen, you could win $200 to put toward achieving your 2024 goals!

AN INTERVIEW WITH

Trinidadi Twagirumukiza and Morgan Wickstrom OF FUTURAMA LUMINART

How did you hear about Highlight and the Bright Ideas Project?

glimpse of what we are capable of as human beings. We created AI, and we are allowing AI to create as well, driving us to infinite creativity.

We have both worked with BCA in the past and are familiar with your projects supporting artists in the community, so we were on board right when we heard of this event.

Tell us about your experience as artists in Burlington.

What can audiences expect from Futurama Luminart?

You can expect to be swept off your feet! You will be dancing on your knees saying “Please, please, give us more!” We are collaborating with dancers and artists, but the amazing thing about this, it’s not about artists coming together; it’s about the community coming together and experiencing art. You can expect something different, you can expect to have fun, and you can expect to make new friends in the process.

Where did the idea come from? How long have you been working on it?

The idea was always inside of us, and given the opportunity through Highlight, we were able to illuminate and realize this vision. As prisoners of the present, we must enjoy and control this moment, rather than seek anything outside of it. We are exploring the idea of the future through what we have to express ourselves in the present moment. We are incorporating music, movement, and visual work for a full sensory experience.

How are you using AI in your artwork?

We are projecting AI visuals to represent the creativity of the future that is to come. AI is another form of expression; it is a

It has been quite a beautiful journey meeting other artists, talking to the community, and getting some feedback. It has been a very warm welcome and has given us a lot to reflect on.

When you move into a place that is very welcoming, accepting, and open, that allows an artist’s true creativity and mastery to come. This is when your wheels start moving and you start bringing more to the table, in a different way.

Are there other Highlight performances or events that you’re hoping to check out?

We hope we have time to explore all the amazing things going on around town. The Spiritual Sounding taking place at the BCA center at 6:30 sounds like a beautiful offering.

What are your New Year’s resolutions?

“I want everyone to start having fun, and to stop lying to themselves that they have all these resolutions, and just start taking action. Instead of saying ‘we should do this,’ just do it.

No more ‘should,’ foot on the gas!”—Trinidad “I want to keep finding happiness in the small trivial things and savor the journey. Calling in more presence, gratitude, creativity, and self-expression for 2024.”—Morgan

Tito’s Handmade Vodka has been helping the City of Burlington ring in the New Year on a spirited note since 2018, the very first year of Highlight.

Even after all the toasting to 2024 is done, Tito’s Handmade Vodka will continue their stalwart support of causes in communities across Vermont.

In addition to supporting Highlight, Tito’s Handmade Vodka has awarded Burlington City Arts with a $40,000 gift to expand the BCA Community Fund, creating additional grant opportunities for artists and arts organizations in our community.

“As a company, we’ve always been passionate about uplifting artists to help them accomplish their dreams,” says Lindsey Bates, Director of Philanthropy Operations for Tito’s Handmade Vodka. “That’s why we’re excited to support Burlington City Arts in their expanded program to elevate local artists, and we look forward to seeing their continued impact in the years to come.”

Look for special Tito’s Handmade Vodka cocktails at all Highlight location bars, and join us in raising a glass to their continued commitment to spreading love and goodness!

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Whether it’s a choral concert, cannabis event or ghost tour, our ticketing platform is free, easy to use and totally customizable. Plus, we offer local support for free and paid events.

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