We are Still Cooking Up the 2008 Festival Details and will Update this Page Soon. Meanwhile Here's What Was New LAST SUMMER!

Chew Chew Information Depot

THERE'S A WHOLE LOTTA NEW ON THE MENU AT CHEW CHEW 22

What's New at the Chew Chew? The 22nd annual Green Mountain Chew Chew Food & Music Festival, coming to Burlington's magnificent Waterfront Park on June 22nd, 23rd, and 24th, is making some significant changes to accommodate the wishes of long time attendees who weighed in at last year's festival on a survey conducted by Champlain College students.

By popular demand, Vermont's favorite family-oriented feeding frenzy is adding five times the number of tables and chairs to create comfortable seating for eating for 500 diners in two tents. The main entertainment tent has been moved closer to the food tents and reconfigured to seat 400 people at tables and another 100 seat "quiet tent" will be provided with a stunning view of Lake Champlain.

There are more than 40 brand new menu items served in the three food tents. Each booth, representing some of Vermont's finest restaurants, caterers and food producers, will serve three of their tastiest menu items, one of which must be different from last year's Chew Chew menu with no duplication of dishes allowed.

Along with 19 old favorites, five brand new restaurants and food producers have signed on to this year's festival for the first time. Big Fatty's Pit BBQ, Café Mediterano, Hop Sing Restaurant, Leonardo's Italian Gelato and Parima will add 15 new food items to the Chew Chew menu.

Last year's sumptuous superstar servers, T Bones Restaurant will again fire up their Alligator Bites, Vermont Tent/Dismas House will squeeze Fresh Lemonade and roast Corn on the Cob, Belgian Waffles will be served by the Cobblestone Deli and Nectar's will concoct Burlington's favorite late-night comfort food, Gravy Fries.

The Green Mountain Chew Chew has a new festival moniker, having adding "Music Festival" to the name because the showcasing of great Vermont music has always been a major attraction at the Chew Chew. And this year, 10 of Vermont's favorite bands and one rock group from Boston will perform a variety of musical styles from two free stages throughout the weekend.

Friday at the Chew Chew, Limbo Loco Steel Drum Band performs on the Kiss The Cook Stage on the east side of the food tents. The Buzz presents three of New England's most popular young rock and roll bands, Silent Mind, Sucka Brown and Close To Nowhere, in the first-ever Chew Chew Buzzarroo, a mini rock fest within a food fest.

These three up and coming bands regularly pack houses from Maine to New York and all points in between and will be featured at this year's Green Mountain Chew Chew Food & Music Festival for the first time. The Chew Chew Buzzarroo is being produced by Kate Dubenetsky from Starksboro, a recent graduate of Mount Abe who is entering Champlain College in the Fall.

On Saturday, Wagtail, Limbo Loco Steel Drum Band and Left Eye Jump Blues Band performs on the Kiss The Cook Stage. Banjo Dan and the Mid-nite Plowboys, Rick & The Ramblers Western Swing Band and Mango Jam will perform in the big tent.

There is a Vermont Specialty Food and Crafters area presenting a host of Vermont gifts and take home items to enjoy long after the festival has closed.

The Chew Chew has attracted national attention this year with articles showcasing the festivities in Bon Appetit, The Los Angeles Times, The Philadelphia Enquirer, Women's World and Boston Magazine.

The Green Mountain Chew Chew Food & Music Festival begins serving both Friday and Saturday from 11 am until 11 pm and Sunday from Noon until 6 pm, rain or shine under 35,000 square feet of tents. Admission is $2 for adults and $1 for children 12 and under with the first 1,000 kids' tickets free, courtesy of Burlington Telecom.

Admission tickets are only available at the gate.

Food and beverage purchases are by brass tokens only, sold in quantities of nine tokens for $5 from three token depots. Each vendor can serve one food item priced at four tokens and their other two items must be priced at three tokens or less.

Advance brass Chew Chew food tokens are available exclusively at Hannaford Supermarkets in Burlington, South Burlington, Williston, Milton, Essex, St. Albans and Plattsburgh.

The Green Mountain Chew Chew is held in Burlington's magnificent Waterfront Park located at the foot of College Street on the shore of Lake Champlain. Waterfront Park is adjacent to two downtown parking lots, a block north of Lake Champlain Transportation's King Street ferry dock, is on the City of Burlington Bike Path and is an easy walk or CCTA College Street Shuttle Bus ride from the Church Street Marketplace.

A new electric-powered Chew Chew Trolley will offer free rides up the Waterfront from College Street to the Festival Main Gate, courtesy of Burlington Town Center and Vermont Rail Systems.

A special excursion Champlain Valley Flyer Chew Chew Train will run all weekend from Charlotte, Shelburne and South Burlington directly to the festival site on Burlington's historic waterfront. Call Vermont Railway at (800)707-3530 or visit their web site at www.rails-vt.com for schedule and ticketing information.

Visit the Chew Chew Fest web site at www.greenmountainchewchew.com for further information and up-chew-date additions.

The 22nd annual Green Mountain Chew Chew is sponsored by Pepsi, Hannaford Supermarkets, Heritage Toyota, The Burlington Free Press, WVNY/22, Fox44, 98.9WOKO, KOOL 105, North Country Public Radio, Merchants Bank, Burlington Town Center, Vermont Rail System, Burlington Telecom, Long Trail, Kiss The Cook, The Marine Collection, Mug Root Beer and Apple Mountain.

And a Heartfelt Thank You goes out to the dozens and dozens of Staff and Crew who help to make the Chew Chew run so smoothly! And, of course... those terrific area Restaurants and Vermont Food Producers who are the Heart and Soul of The Vermont Food Fest: The Green Mountain Chew Chew!