Christmas carols playing, the scent of baked goods and wall to wall crafts; the Elizabethton Parks and Recreation Center was packed full on Nov. 8-9 during the city’s annual arts and crafts fair.
The Elizabethton Women’s Club hosts the arts and crafts fair, and the event is used as a fundraiser to fund their other events throughout the year. Vendors pay to rent each 10’x10’ space and then they can keep the money from their sales over the course of the two days.
Tables were also available for rent. Vendors did not have to be members of the club to participate, although some members of the club did rent booths.
Only handmade arts and crafts are considered acceptable to sell at the event. No mass produced items or items made by someone other than the vendor are allowed to be sold.
The event was open to the public to attend with no entrance fee. It only took ten minutes to get there from campus, making it accessible to Milligan students.
The event is a chance for vendors to showcase their goods to the public. The event was mostly attended by older members of the community but multiple families were also in attendance.
Christmas music was played live on a keyboard throughout the event with a couple different performers playing. Friday afternoon, one of the vendors had a birthday, and it was celebrated with a fancy rendition of “Happy Birthday to You.”
“I liked the event,” said freshman Marjie Bemis. “It gave me a chance to support local artists and buy some Christmas presents for my family. I also got some really good homemade bread.”
There were over twenty different vendors showcased in the hall. Items for sale included jewelry, quilts, jean jackets, wooden carvings, baked goods and framed stained glass.
Not all of the items for sale were Christmas themed; the quilts had a variety of patterns. Some of the main quilts on display were decorated for different branches of the military, as well as firefighters and the police force.
Headline photo: A jewelry table from the craft fair. Photo from the Elizabethton Star.