The phrase “fiber festival” may conjure up images of healthy salads and crunchy granola, however, in this case, it’s all about animal and plant fibers that play a very important part in our daily lives.

The fiber arts are alive and well, and can be seen in full display at the 7th Annual Central Pennsylvania Fiber Festival, to be held on Saturday and Sunday, May 18-19, 2019 at the Lycoming County Fairgrounds in Hughesville, PA. A team of organizers led by Mike and Elizabeth Longstreth, owners of Lazy Meadows Alpacas of Hughesville, are hard at work preparing for this yearly event, which includes an array of vendors featuring items such as hand dyed and farm raised wool yarns, roving for hand spinning and needle felting, felted items, wooden items, toys, baskets….the list goes on.

Most of the vendors at the festival are local, and hail from right here in central Pennsylvania. This presents a fantastic opportunity for fiber fans and spectators to pick up locally produced goods for that special, one of a kind gift for a family member or friend. A good many of the attending vendors raise their own fiber animals, like sheep, alpacas, llamas, goats, and angora rabbits, and have their fiber processed by local woolen mills.

Underhill Farm, Hollidaysburg, PA, currently raises a heritage breed of sheep, the Leicester Longwool, as well as angora goats. Their fleeces are processed into lustrous, beautiful yarns. The Leicester Longwool was abundantly popular back in colonial times, and forefathers such as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson both kept large flocks of this breed on their farms. Owners of Underhill, Will Churchill and Fred Stowell, will be present at the festival with plenty of their yarns on hand.

Linda Bauer, of the Bauer Family Farm, situated along the Susquehanna River in Dauphin, PA, started with two sheep and soon expanded to include other fiber animals such as llamas, angora rabbits, and MORE sheep. She learned to spin in 2004 and was instantly hooked. Linda also dyes her own fibers, weaves, knits, and felts. Be sure to look for her at the Central PA show.
As knitters, spinners, weavers, felters, and crocheters all know, each of these endeavors require their own set of “tools” and accessories, all of which need to be contained in some sort of bag to keep those tools organized. Good Water and Co. was born out of frustration regarding that very issue. Always struggling to find a bag that would keep yarn neat, notions accessible, and projects safe, this mother-daughter team dedicated themselves to bringing the world a better project bag. From Bento bags to yarn boxes, all items are handcrafted from start to finish, with no two alike. Be sure to look for Good Water and Co. at the show.

A fleece sale will also be held, for those die-hard wool aficionados, who prefer to process their fiber from start to finish on their own, OR just like to purchase wool in its raw form, and take it to a local mill for custom processing.

Also on site will be a variety of fiber demonstrations, including spinning, weaving, and sock knitting on antique knitting machines.

A printed program, listing all attending vendors, will be available.

Admission and parking are free. All vendors are indoors. Food vendors will be on the premises both days. Hours are Saturday 10-5 and Sunday 10-4.

Restrooms on the premises.

For more information and updates, please visit http://www.centralpennfiberfest.com.