2013 Summer Festival News

Craftproducers Summer Schedule Dear Timothy, Summer is coming! In Vermont, the days are getting longer and warmer and we are fast approaching the Festival Season. We bring you two great Art & Craft Festivals this summer, both featuring an amazing array of juried Artists and Artisans. There are some big changes happening this summer and we couldn't be more excited - read on to learn more... Vermont Balloon & Craft Festival Shelburne Museum, Shelburne , VT July 26-28  learn more >> Southern Vermont Art & Craft Festival Camelot Village, Bennington, VT August 2-4  learn more >> VERMONT BALLOON & CRAFT FESTIVAL presented by Fiddlehead Brewing Company July 26-28 Shelburne Museum 6000 Shelburne Rd, Shelburne VT Located on the grounds of the gorgeous Shelburne Museum, the Vermont Balloon & Craft Festival features 150 Art & Craft Exhibitors. And, as the (new!) name implies: Balloons!  Enjoy a day of shopping for incredible Fine Art and Craftwork and stay into the evening for the magical experience of a Balloon Glow with illuminated balloons tethered around the Shelburne Museum. Treat yourself to the once-in-a-lifetime experience of drifting over the Green Mountains in a hot air balloon (special pricing is being offered thanks to support from local commercial pilots).   For those still on the ground, the Festival offers plenty of entertainment for the entire family! In addition to the main tent of Art & Craft Exhibitors, Artisans from the Shelburne Craft School are featured in a special section, with many offering demonstrations of their Craft. The Shelburne Craft School also has kids' activities to keep the younger set entertained. Lose your pre-concieved notions of Festival Food in our food court, where you can find organic wood fire oven pizza (fresh out of the flames), sweet and savory crepes made to order, grass-fed beef burgers, Vermont-made ice cream, and much more. On Sunday, chefs from the best local restaurants offer bite-size portions of their specialties at the Taste of Shelburne (sponsored by and benefiting the Shelburne Craft School). Naturally, Vermont craft-brewed beer and a wonderful selection of wine are available all weekend to accompany your meal. Visit vtfest.com for more details on this Festival. We can't wait to see you there! SOUTHERN VERMONT ART & CRAFT FESTIVAL Part of the Bennington Arts Weekend August 2-4 Camelot Village Bennington VT The Southern Vermont Art & Craft Festival, formerly the summer Hildene show in Manchester, moves down the road to Camelot Village in Bennington this year. While we are sad to leave the beautiful Hildene Meadow, the town of Bennington has been very welcoming and we are all looking forward with great excitement to the next chapter in the life of this Festival! This festival will  be part of a comprehensive Bennington Arts Weekend. Major participants include the Bennington Museum, Vermont Arts Exchange, Bennington Potters, Hawkins House,  Better Bennington, First Friday, Gallery at Four Corners, the Bennington Banner, and others to be announced.  Beyond the change in location, the best parts of this summer celebration remain the same: 150 juried Art & Craft Exhibitors, craft demonstrations in a variety of media, live entertainment, great food, craft-brewed Vermont beer, and more... The soaring white tents hold Exhibitor booths selling unique gifts, home-goods, clothing, jewelry, fine art, games, and many other handcrafted items. Some exhibitors prefer an outdoor booth, creating a festival courtyard to the big tents.    The Artisan exhibitors who bring their work to Craftproducers Festivals are professional artists and craftspeople. Many travel the entire summer and autumn, bringing their elaborate booth set ups and unique handmade work to locations around the country. And many return to our festivals year after year, developing relationships with their customers and friendships amongst themselves. It really is a wonderful community, and Craftproducers Festivals are your opportunity to join in. We look forward to seeing you in Shelburne, Bennington, or both!

Manchester Fall Festival News

After we were forced to leave the hallowed grounds of Hildene in 2012, we had a difficult time at the Field at Riley Rink. It has been well documented that the renovated field did not drain and last fall’s muddy experience did not make for a happy experience for exhibitors and public alike. Despite the ongoing valiant efforts of our friends at Riley Rink, we have determined that their field is still not ready.

Luckily, there is a huge golf driving range at the entrance to Riley Rink. It is an immaculate huge, flat, green, grassy field. This field, known as the Practice Tee, will host the 2013 Manchester Art and Craft Festival. We also have use of the adjoining  gravel yard for public parking.

The Practice Tee is located on Route 7A and is right on that highway. Our tents will be fully visible on the town’s  busiest road. Our dates are always the weekend before Columbus Day. As Columbus Day is later this year, we are back in October when the leaves begin to turn. In 2012, due to the calendar, we were forced to be on the last (fourth)weekend of September when the town is not crowded.  That is when the nearby Peru Festival draws thousands away from Manchester. This year, luckily, we will not have to compete with that festival or the Wood and Furniture Festival in Woodstock, both the weekend before us.

So, other than Hildene, this is the most viable venue for a craft show in Manchester. We hope you give this one a chance. For decades it has been successful and supported legions of artists and artisans. Craftproducers is very motivated to making a triumphant restoration of this show, the “original” Hildene Art and Craft Show. We will make every effort to communicate this to our large and loyal audience of craft buyers on our customer list of 30,000.

If you have not already applied, we urge you to do so. We still have spaces, including a few in jewelry. To apply, please click here. To avoid disappointment, don’t delay applying.

We are extremely fortunate to offer this lovely site for the 2013 show. We urge you to take advantage of this stroke of good fortune.