The Brattleboro Festival of Miniatures, presented by the Downtown Brattleboro Alliance with festival creator Melany Kahn, will be a town-wide celebration of artistry, nostalgia, and community. It’ s part holiday stroll, part fine art exhibition, and part storybook in motion. More than sixty participating businesses will unveil window displays that showcase the region’ s creative heart, including miniature gardens and gingerbread houses, fairy-tale dioramas, and handcrafted scenes inspired by the town’ s people, history, and cultural legacy. At the heart of it all stands one showstopping centerpiece— a four-foot-tall restored Victorian dollhouse, lovingly nicknamed the“ Painted Lady” and painstakingly brought back to life by Melany Kahn. Displayed in the window of Mitchell Giddings Fine Arts, this luminous miniature home will contain the original work of more than 100 local artisans. Highlights include hand-thrown pottery, carved wooden furniture, woven rugs, stitched quilts, and delicate, hand-blown glass. Every room tells a story, every object a collaboration.“ Each piece that comes in feels like a gift,” says Kahn.“ It’ s a glimpse into someone’ s imagination. When you see them all together, it becomes something so much larger than any one person’ s vision.”
The festival will be anchored by a full calendar of community events, creating a month-long celebration of artistry and holiday spirit. Beginning December 5 – 7, the Gallery Walk and Holiday Tree Lighting will coincide with a Gingerbread Barn Contest and Miniature Cookie Contest at Retreat Farm. The following weekend, December 12 – 14, the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center will host a Model Train Display and Mad Hatter Miniature Tea Party, while Sandglass Theater performs“ Fritzi’ s Flea Circus” and their beloved Shadow Nativity Play. The final weekend, December
Top: Fascinating miniaturized furnishings from a miniature installation. Middle: Small and functional touches bring each miniature project to life. Bottom: The proud members of“ Dollhouse Clubhouse,”( Left to Right) Amelia Farnum, Melany Kahn, and Desiree Stango, as well as the Festival’ s Executive Producer, Nancy Vitale( Far Right)
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