1. Bright Lights

Winter is a Drag Ball is like a beacon in the night for Vermonters fatigued by the coldest, darkest season. Thankfully, the pandemic is no match for this 26th annual drag extravaganza hosted by Burlington's own House of LeMay. This year, the party happens online with performances, dancing and two hours of post-show tunes from DJ Craig Mitchell. Viewers can watch, comment and tip the talent. Snag those $10 tickets, dress your best, and party via Zoom or with your pod on the night of Saturday, February 13. Proceeds benefit Vermont CARES, a nonprofit that provides HIV prevention education, as well as services for Vermonters living with HIV/AIDS.

2. Love Language

Are you more likely to declare your affection with a handwritten piece of snail mail or to drop bae a message on social media? Jeanne Beckwith's one-act comedy Love Letters Made Easy juxtaposes modern methods of communication with old-world etiquette in a series of witty vignettes about love. Montpelier theater company Lost Nation Theater presents the funny and heartfelt play live online on Friday, February 12, at 7 p.m. The show remains on demand through Sunday, February 14.

3. Heart Songs

Vermonters no doubt felt a surge of pride in 2019 when Hadestown, the Broadway musical adapted from singer-songwriter and Green Mountain State native Anaïs Mitchell's album of the same name, won eight Tony Awards. Fans can connect with Mitchell's music on Friday, February 12, when Middlebury Community Music Center and OK You've Got this present "Our Winter Table": An Evening Featuring Anaïs Mitchell. Starting at 7:30 p.m., the songbird serves up new and unreleased love songs to promote a sense of connection and resiliency. Register to watch the show for free, or add dinner from the Bobcat Café & Brewery in Bristol or the Arcadian in Middlebury to support Middlebury community refrigerator the Giving Fridge.

4. Science in Motion

Science meets movement in "Dancing the Poetics of Science," a multimedia presentation by dancers and choreographers Emily Coates and Emmanuèle Phuon. Part of Convergence, a Hopkins Center for the Arts initiative bridging arts and sciences, this virtual presentation combines artist talk, performance video and audience interaction on Thursday, February 11, at 7 p.m. "At the core of our new project," reads the show's description, "is a comparative lens on humankind's relationship to the natural world, expressed in the stories that run through our pieces."

5. String Theory

If you've ever played the party game Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, you know how surprising it can be to notice the interconnectedness between humans. Local artist Tuyen My Nguyen's exhibition "Contact Tracing" provides a visual expression of how one individual links to many others. Displayed in the Quick Change Gallery at Studio Place Arts in Barre, "Contact Tracing" is a site-specific installation made primarily of thread and is on view through February 27. Call 479-7069 to schedule a private viewing.

6. The Power of Words

"Undergirding these poems is a restless, resilient spirit: an urgent grappling with the desire to both remember and outrun the past, with history both personal and communal, and the complexities of American racism in its most intimate manifestation — familial love." This is what former U.S. poet laureate Natasha Tretheway said of Kentucky poet Joy Priest's 2020 collection Horsepower. Priest, who won the Donald Hall Prize for Poetry for her work, participates in two virtual events presented by the Vermont Studio Center in Johnson. On Tuesday, February 16, at 7 p.m., Priest gives a 30-minute reading followed by a Q&A. On Wednesday, February 17, at 10 a.m., she delivers a one-hour craft talk.

7. Sweet Surrender

Vermont's famous flavor is front and center during Billings Farm & Museum's annual Maple Celebration. Families who visit the working dairy farm in Woodstock on February 13 through 21 view tools, historic photos and exhibits dedicated to the state's liquid gold. Have a sweet tooth? Snag samples of maple popcorn and maple French toast cookies. Animal lovers coo over sheep, chickens and goats, along with Camelot the Jersey calf, in the animal barn.  If weather permits, guests can glide around farm fields on horse-drawn sleigh rides on February 13 through 20 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

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This is just a small sampling of the state's in-person and virtual happenings in the coming days. Browse our art, calendar and music + nightlife listings for more.

If you're planning or promoting an event in Vermont, please send details our way for a free online listing. Find our event submission form at sevendaysvt.com/postevent.