The Appalachian Center for Craft will host a Holiday Festival this season Nov. 29 through Dec. 1 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The festival will have handcrafted holiday gifts and pictures with Santa.
Friends of the Appalachian Center for Craft, a nonprofit organization, have sponsored mini workshops for the festival, which include bead making and scarf marbling. The proceeds from these workshops support outreach programs for students in fifth through 12th grade.
This is the center’s first Holiday Festival that will have Santa coming to visit with children. Free pictures will be available. Those pictures can be used for free personalized holiday cards.
The sales gallery will have a variety of holiday pieces which include jewelry, scarves, ornaments and more. Lindsey Maestri, exhibitions and programs manager at the Craft Center, said popular items among shoppers include hand-carved wooden ornaments and hand-blown glass ornaments.
Along with the pieces at the gallery, artists of these items will be showing demonstrations to the shoppers.
There will be a holiday exhibition that has a wide variety of items. These are pieces from artists that the Craft Center would not normally sell out of season.
“It’s new work every year and it’s work that’s not in the gallery the rest of the year,” said Maestri.
Maestri said with new workshops, demonstrations, and a Santa appearance at the festival, the Craft Center’s faculty and staff are anticipating more families this year.
Gail Looper, gallery manager at the Center, said the festival has changed dramatically throughout the years.
“Looking back, it started off as a more exclusive white-tablecloth event. Now, it’s grown into a more open festival for everyone of all ages,” said Looper.
The festival will be open Nov. 29 through Dec. 1 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Along with the galleries and demonstrations, there will be guided tours of the different art studios and a special holiday menu available at the Center’s Redbud Cafe.
