Via Community News Service, a University of Vermont journalism internship
On a sun-soaked evening in late July, Burlington welcomed the Vermont Brewers Festival for its 33rd year. Guests from across Vermont, New England and beyond gathered at Waterfront Park to share the love of craft beer. Forty-one breweries were in attendance, pouring original and specialty beers all weekend, accompanied by local food trucks and music.
Historically, roughly 10% of the festival’s 6,000 attendees have come from Canada, but Canadian tourism to Vermont has dropped in recent years. For the Vermont Brewers Association, a nonprofit that relies on the festival as its main fundraiser for the year, the decrease has been glaring in Canadian ticket sales.
“Before Canadians stopped visiting, we would sell 600-800 tickets to Canadians,” Emma Arian, executive director of the Vermont Brewers Association, said. “Last year, we sold 75 tickets (to Canadians).”
Since President Donald Trump’s reelection in 2024, escalating tensions between the U.S. and Canada have kept many Canadians from crossing the border. According to the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development, credit card spending by Canadians was down 47% in 2025 compared to 2024.
To entice more Canadian visitors, the Vermont Brewers Association offered festival tickets to Canadians without the exchange rate. This “at-par” pricing allowed Canadians to purchase a ticket at $60 Canadian, rather than $60 in American currency. The ticket would have otherwise cost $84.49 Canadian dollars.
“We just wanted to make sure that they felt welcome here in Vermont and remind them that Vermont is part of their community, too,” Arian said.
The annual festival features breweries from across Vermont and New England, as well as two from Canada. Brasserie Dieu Du Ciel! from Montreal has been participating in the event for over a decade.
“We’d like to see more (Canadians),” Dieu Du Ciel! brewer Alexandre Martineau said. “Part of the issue in the last two years, we can’t hide it, is (that) the political issue has crashed Canadian tourism to Vermont.”
Another Dieu du Ciel! brewer, Charles Marcotte Girard, said the festival gave him a reason to visit Vermont.
“It’s fun because I don’t go to the U.S. very often,” Girard said. “We have a few friends in the beer industry here, so it’s nice to meet those people.”
Since April 2026, there has been a slight increase in Canadian visitors to Vermont, according to state data. Still, Vermont’s craft breweries are feeling the decrease in Canadian tourism far beyond the festival.
“Most of the businesses on the board (of the VBA) are still experiencing 20-25% decreases in traffic,” Bob Montgomery, director of quality at Hill Farmstead Brewery, said.
Hill Farmstead, located in Greensboro, is less than 50 miles from the Canadian border. According to Arian, breweries in the Northeast Kingdom are some of the most affected by the decline in Canadian visitors. Like the festival with its at-par pricing, these breweries are trying to entice Canadians back.
“A lot of them have Canadian flags outside. They have menus and signage in both French and English,” Arian said. “They were welcoming places for Canadians prior to this administration. They still are, but they’re definitely seeing more of a decline (in Canadian tourism).”
In the end, the festival’s efforts to attract Canadians brought in about 190 Canadian ticket sales. While still a far cry from previous years, it’s more than double the 75 tickets sold in 2025. Arian said they plan to offer at-par tickets to Canadians again next year.
“They’re still our neighbors,” Arian said. “It’s just part of this greater New England craft beer culture, where folks are entwined and want to hang out and make really awesome beers together.”