Please consider attending one or more days and events at the 2025 Liberty Food Fest at the Bellows Falls Opera House. Food, farming, and fun!

Local vendors will be on hand, food is available, and famous lunatic farmer Joel Salatin is flying up from Virginia to speak on both days. (Joel is a passionate, informed, and highly entertaining speaker!) Other speakers are listed at the Speakers link at libertyfoodfest.com

Here is the official Press Release, further summarizing this exciting event:

LIBERTY FOOD FEST RETURNS TO BELLOWS FALLS OPERA HOUSE, DEC. 11-13; JOEL SALATIN HERO OF LANDMARK BOOK, THE OMNIVORE’S DILEMMA, TO SPEAK, PLUS LOCAL AND NATIONAL CHAMPIONS OF THE LOCAL FOOD MOVEMENT

The third annual Liberty Food Fest, featuring Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms, star of the Omnivore’s Dilemma and major documentaries like Food Inc. will join for three days of celebration and reflection as another growing season comes to a close. Vermont Lieutenant Governor and hemp farmer John S. Rodgers will speak as well about how his farm has been able to create economic value through making cannabis infused products. The event will be held Thursday through Saturday, Dec. 11-13, 2025 at the Bellows Falls Opera House and The Hungry Diner restaurant in Walpole, NH. Salatin will speak on multiple occasions throughout the three day event, touching on the inspirational philosophies behind why small farmers matter and hands-on practical issues like how to effectively integrate youth into a family farm or homestead. He’ll be joined at the three-day event by a compelling lineup of national and regional champions including Dan Kittredge of the Bionutrient Institute, Rep. Billy Bob Faulkingham of Maine who co-authored the bipartisan first-in-the-nation Right to Food Amendment, and Chair of the Vermont State Agricultural Committee, Representative of Bennington David Durfee.

The festivities kick off Thursday evening, Dec. 11, with a sold-out dinner at Walpole’s popular The Hungry Diner restaurant with remarks by Salatin, whose passion for local food systems has made him one of the most sought-after opinions and perspectives in the country. Owners Cait and Chris Caserta will be there with brief introductory remarks by Cait. Other agricultural leaders speaking include farmer, author and politician John Klar, popular podcaster Holistic Hilda and longtime food freedom advocate Pete Kennedy of the Weston A. Price Foundation, leading organic dairyman Pete Miller of Miller Farms, Harley Sterling who coordinates food nutrition for Windham County, author and farmer Ben Falk of Vermont’s Mad River Valley, aquaponics leader Yemi Amu of Brooklyn’s Oko Farms and Leigh Merinoff of Meadows Bee Farm who spearheads an innovative school that teaches youth hands-on farm skills.

Both days there will be a holiday market in the basement of the Opera House with a variety of local vendors selling clothes, artwork, and food. There will also be live music by local musician, fiddler Randy Miller and hands-on youth educational activities hosted by Meadows Bee. Also a live cheesemaking workshop by Lisa Nichols of the Brattleboro Food Co-op.

The event then will be in the Opera House with a full lineup of speakers and films Friday and Saturday. A few tickets are still available for a special dinner Friday night in the Bellows Falls Opera House with warm chili from local favorite Smokin’ Bowls as well as fire-roasted pasture-raised suckling pigs. Joel Salatin, Billy Bob Faulkingham and Leigh Merinoff will be honorary guests at Friday’s dinner, followed by a short work-in-progress film screening of the upcoming documentary The Right to Food. Here is the schedule and the costs to attend the Liberty Food Fest.

For more information, please contact Graham Meriwether at graham@leaveitbetter.com, or (802) 428-6778