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Event Calendars Across the State! Post Free Listings
Trying to get the word out about your upcoming event? There are plenty of options for posting free event listings to public calendars throughout the state. This post aims to help you decide which ones to post your listings to — or perhaps you’ll post to them all!
The most used statewide calendars for art event listings are the Vermont Arts Council calendar, vermontvacation.com events calendar from the Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing, and Seven Days calendar.
Going local is another option. If you’re trying to attract a local audience, Front Porch Forum attracts a lot of attention; also the local print newspaper if your town is lucky enough to still have one.
Vermont Arts Council Calendar
The Vermont Arts Calendar is a statewide, crowdsourced, searchable directory of arts and culture events. Listings are free and seen by thousands of people throughout and beyond Vermont. You can search and to view events in a list format, in a calendar, or on a map. Use the left sidebar options to filter events by category, tag, city, and Creative Zone.
One of the advantages of the Vermont Arts Calendar is it has multiple categories, so people can search and find just what they’re looking for. The categories are arts festival, class/workshop/camp, culture & heritage, design, exhibit, film & media, fundraising event, lecture/talk, literary arts, maker/STEAM, multimedia, performing arts, specialty foods, virtual, visual arts & fine crafts, and other. You can select as many categories as you like.
There’s even a new category, “eclipse-related,” for all those events, festivals, and performances related to the April 8, 2024, eclipse. Vermont is expecting hundreds of thousands of visitors in the days leading up to the eclipse — what do you have planned to entertain all those folks should cloudy April skies prevail?
In addition to the 17 categories, there is an option to add and create “tags,” providing another way for users to filter and sort for just what they’re looking for. Tags allow users to get more specific with events types — an event might be categorized as performing arts, then tagged as music and jazz. There are hundreds of available tags to choose from.
As a user, you can search by keywords.
Calendar entries include a Google map display indicating the event’s location.
You can also add the event to your own personal calendar via Google calendar, iCalendar, Outlook 365, or Outlook Live.
When submitting your event, you have the option to submit an image with your entry.
Once submitted, eligible listings are reviewed and published within two business days.
If you run into problems or have any questions while submitting your event, please contact Content Manager Desmond Peeples who will be able to help you.
Submit a listing to the Vermont Arts Calendar.
Vermontvacation.com Events Calendar
The vermontvacation.com events calendar, run by the Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing (VDTM), is geared to both Vermont visitors and locals. Listings are free.
At plan.vermontvacation.com/events, you’ll find a dedicated Arts & Culture category, along with other related categories, such as “Literary” and “Performing Arts.” There is also a “Solar Eclipse April 2024” category. In addition, you’ll find Agriculture, BIPOC Cultural, Food & Drink, Nature, Outdoor Recreation & Sports, and Virtual.
You can select up to two categories for your event.
You can filter by region: Central, North, South, and Statewide, and by town. You can also search by keywords. A Google map is also provided for each entry.
To submit an event, you must first create an account on the site at plan.vermontvacation.com/users/sign_up, which notes that events should:
- Take place for a specified and limited period of time. Events can occur over a period of months, i.e. a special exhibit at a museum or for just a few a hours. Events must have an end date in order to be included in the calendar.
- Be above and beyond what your business normally offers. For example, tour companies would not be eligible to post their daily tours.
- Be appropriate for out of state visitors as well as for local Vermonters. Events like community meetings or anything that would not be of interest to someone from out of state will not be approved for inclusion in the calendar.
- Showcase the unique character of Vermont.
- Vermont events should be accessible to all.
You will be asked to submit the event name and description (limited to 270 characters including spaces), town, organizer, and venue. You may add an image — you retain your rights to the image but it could be used by the Vermont Chamber of Commerce. VDTM notes that the content and images provided may be shared with the Vermont Chamber and VDTM for marketing purposes beyond a listing, such as promotion on their website, email, social media.
It is recommended that events are submitted at least one week prior to the event date. Events are not approved on a daily basis.
Seven Days Events Calendar
Art listings in the weekly Seven Days newspaper are free. They must be received in writing by Thursday at noon for the following week’s paper.
Classes, workshops, and seminars must be free or donation-based with no suggested dollar amount in order to be listed in the free calendar section. There are some exceptions.
Art listings are restricted to exhibits in truly public places; exceptions may be made at the discretion of the editor.
If approved, your submission will be published online in 2-3 business days and in the newspaper the week before it occurs.
For users, entries display a map from OpenStreetMap.
Seven Days also runs a free, self-service ticketing platform called Seven Days Tickets, which is pretty handy if you need to sell tickets. There are small transaction fees for ticket buyers. All events on sale are also listed in a weekly print ad featured in the newspaper.
Do you have another calendar that you like to use? Drop us a line and let us know your experience at [email protected]