Known as the gateway to Vermont’s rural heritage, Billings Farm & Museum in Woodstock, Vermont, will open for its 33rd season on Friday, May 1, featuring horse-drawn wagon rides, free ice cream, and farm programs in addition to the operating dairy farm, restored farmhouse, and farm life exhibits. Billings Farm is a premiere Jersey dairy farm that continues a 144-year tradition of agricultural excellence and offers farm programs and historical exhibits that explore Vermont’s rural heritage and values.

The Farm & Museum will be open daily through October 31 from 10am to 5pm, then every weekend in November through February, plus Christmas and February vacation weeks from 10am to 4pm. 

The weekend of Saturday and Sunday, May 2 and 3, from 10am to 5pm showcases the spring shearing of the farm’s Southdown ewes by Craig Marcotte at 10:30am and 12:30, 2:30 and 4:30pm, along with spinning and carding demonstrations of the skills needed to turn fleece into yarn. Don’t miss herdsman Steve Wetmore and his team of Border Collies as they herd sheep in the farm fields during narrated programs at 11:30am and 1:30 and 3:30pm each day. The children’s farm art show will be on display, and wool craft activities will take place in the activity barn.

Later in May, celebrate Vermont’s rich dairy heritage at the 6th Annual Cheese & Dairy Celebration on Saturday and Sunday, May 23 and 24, from 10am to 5pm. Meet New England artisan cheese makers and sample delicious cheeses and dairy products. Judge Jerseys with the farm manager to improve your bovine knowledge, participate in a dairy scavenger hunt, a “name the calf” contest, an Inside-Out Cow presentation, and a Cow Make-Over. And especially for children of all ages—crank fresh ice cream and make dairy headbands and moo masks.

The Billings Farm & Museum is owned and operated by The Woodstock Foundation Inc., a charitable nonprofit institution founded by Mary French and Laurance Spelman Rockefeller. Since 1983, the Farm & Museum has served as a gateway to Vermont’s rural heritage for over a million visitors and 100,000 schoolchildren. Admission for adults is $14; 62 & over, $13; children 5–15, $8; children 3 and 4, $4; 2 & under, free. Located one-half mile north of the Woodstock Village Green on Vermont Route 12. Please call the farm at (802) 457-2355 for daily activities and programs and a list of seasonal events or visit the museum’s website, www.billingsfarm.org.