- Jeff Drew
Ahoy! And welcome to the Seven Daysies, the locals’ guide to Vermont. In our 16th year, we’re setting sail on the SS Daysie for treasures heretofore untold. A record-breaking number of Seven Days readers have picked favorites in food and drink, arts and entertainment, shopping and services, and outdoors and recreation. Hop aboard, and we’ll cruise to the winning results.
The Daysies are more than a handy treasure map to what’s great in this state — they’re a celebration of the people and places that make these hills our home. When it comes to farm-to-table restaurants, independent retailers and natural wonders, we’re luckier than we can fathom.
In this age of Amazon, many locally owned businesses across the country are pushing up daisies. So we’re grateful to live in a place where communities care about indie merchants — they’re what make our downtowns so distinct. The Daysies are our annual opportunity to say thanks.
How did we come to Daysie-crown these victors? First, our readers wrote in their favorites for everything from best ski slope to CBD shop, best food truck to film festival. The Daysies contest captains tallied up the nominations, selecting the top finalists in each category — and, when warranted, dividing them into “inside Chittenden County” and “outside Chittenden County” to allow some farther-flung faves to float to the top. Then we held a final multiple-choice voting round to determine the winners.
Exactly 21,861 readers participated this year. That’s more than double the number from 2017! Thanks, Vermont, for rockin’ the vote — and the boat.
Want more picks?
Check out our staff's recommendations for what's weird, wonderful and worthy of your attention in Vermont.
Did you attend the Daysies party at ECHO?
If you posed for a photo in our cruisin' photo booth, the images are now on Facebook.