Join Dillsboro merchants on Saturday, July 19, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., for the annual Front Street Arts & Crafts Festival, featuring more than 40 arts and crafts vendors, dance, music and local options for dining as well as food trucks. Admission to the family-friendly event is free, and the shops of Dillsboro will be open for business. An addition to this year’s celebration will be the Dillsboro Maker’s Market, featuring artists affiliated with Jackson County’s Green Energy Park.
“It is important to promote appreciation of crafts made in the Appalachian region as well as in the US,” says Whitney Kreiling, who along with husband Bob, owns The Fox’s Burrow, offering nature-inspired gifts. “Visitors can learn about the origin of mountain crafts and methods used to produce them by talking to the artisans.”
Artist Cory Plott
Participation in this year’s festival will mark a 10-year anniversary for Laura Craig, owner of Shade Tree Farms. “Festivals like this one are great for crafters and the town as a whole,” she says. “They create a sense of community, a sense of closeness and a sense of family. Seeing returning customers who are there to support my small, local business is very heartwarming.” Shade Tree Farms products include goat milk soaps and lotions, natural bug repellent, jewelweed salve and newly developed moisturizing cuticle pens.
“I love the way things were done in times past—handmade and naturally,” Craig says. “The way things should be. This has become my passion! We use as many of our farm-grown ingredients as possible. When those are not available, we try to buy in our community to encourage local agriculture.”
Another long-time festival participant is Cory Plott who began bringing his pottery to the festival in 2014. “I’ve enjoyed working shows all over the southeast, up north, even out to St. Louis,” he says, “but no other show has an old-timey train pull up and drop off hundreds of mountain visitors to shop.”
The show’s size—not too large or too small, in Plott’s opinion—provides the perfect opportunity for visitors to engage with artisans. “My stoneware is Colonial-inspired,” he says, “mostly old German techniques since I’m German and Cherokee. (That’s Appalachian.) I swirl blues and grays into the crocks and vases for a neutral and historical color palette—using only materials that our ancestors had during 1750 to the 1850s— resembling marble.”
The historic, walkable town of Dillsboro boasts locally owned businesses, including more than 10 retail shops, five restaurants, a wine bar and a brewery. Entertainers will include the dance group Jubilee Mountain Cloggers; North Carolina band Celtic Road, playing Irish and Scottish music; and singer-songwriter Anna Victoria.
“We might suggest people make a weekend of it,” says Kreiling. “They can consult our website for information about lodging, dining, shopping and more.”
Learn more at DillsboroNC.org.
