Grey Hawk Bar & Gardens in Lake Lure returns with its second annual Winterfest on Saturday, December 13, transforming the venue into a cheerful marketplace filled with art, live music, and festive food and drinks. Designed as a warm gathering space during the holiday season, Winterfest continues the restaurant’s year-round focus on bringing community together through creativity, cuisine and celebration—especially meaningful as Lake Lure continues to rebuild after Hurricane Helene and a year without a lake.
As the final event in a full calendar of festivals, Winterfest invites guests to browse handcrafted work from more than a dozen regional makers and enjoy seasonal offerings by the fire pits. The day will include live music, with Asheville musician Owen Walsh performing 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Hendersonville duo Marley’s Chain taking the stage later in the afternoon.
“We’re excited about this year’s Winterfest because it’s coming on the heels of such a fun, vibrant year of festivals at Grey Hawk Bar & Gardens,” says Adam Polaski, who co-owns Grey Hawk Bar & Gardens with founding owner George Carter. “It has been an exceedingly challenging year for so many people in Lake Lure, Chimney Rock and Western NC, given the ongoing, long-haul rebuilding and cleanup process following Hurricane Helene. We hope that coming together in a cozy holiday market and admiring awesome art and hand-made goods from nearly two dozen vendors will be healing and nourishing. Winterfest will be like a real-life Hallmark movie, in the heart of a community that has displayed real grit, resilience, community and joy in a very hard time.”
Vendors range from ceramic artists and painters to jewelers, woodworkers and craft food makers. Among them is Misty Johnson of Misty Mountain Studios, a returning favorite with a woodland-inspired aesthetic. “Most of my ceramics center around a whimsical, mystical, witchy vibe,” says Johnson. “I bring gnomes in fairy houses and will likely have some Christmas ornaments and last-minute little trinkets and dishes that people can buy for gifts.”
Johnson’s playful and ever-changing creations reflect her intuitive approach to making. “I very rarely make the same thing twice,” she says. “I make what my heart feels pulled to make, and I find it monotonous to be an artist that makes the same thing over and over and over again…I always have a little something different every time I come.”
Another Winterfest vendor, mixed media and fiber artist Abbie Yandle will bring an array of crocheted blankets, market bags, small day purses, hats and fingerless gloves, as well as several pieces of abstract fluid acrylic art in various sizes and her collection of stones in raw, tumbled and shaped forms. “I create all of the crochet and paintings from inspiration,” she says. “Each piece carries an energetic signature. With the art, orientation matters, and you choose. What you see in a painting changes and I recommend turning the piece for a new perspective.”
After losing her workspace during Hurricane Helene, Yandle has found meaningful support at Grey Hawk. “My spirit prevails, and being creative has carried me through the last year,” she says. “Grey Hawk has given me a local place to meet people and share my art. The space is lovely. The staff is kind. It’s a soothing balm for these challenging times.”
Grey Hawk Bar & Gardens is located at 111 Resort Lane, Lake Lure. Winterfest is free to attend and open to all. For more information and future event updates, visit GreyHawkLakeLure.com or follow @GreyHawkLakeLure.
