TRADITIONS: Teresa Preuss, of Terry, left, teaches her granddaughter Leah Munez, of Jackson, how to crochet at Vicksburg’s first Magnolia State Fiber Festival in 2013.

 

Vicksburg’s first Magnolia State Fiber Festival started in 2013 and three years later has outgrown the arena at Lady Luck Casino, so it has moved to the Vicksburg Convention Center.

The family friendly fiber festival has a selection of fiber and sheep related vendors and features educational demonstrations and workshops.

“We expect over 1,000 people and we have nearly 30 vendors,” event organizer Mike Harrower said. “There are items here that people can’t find anywhere else.”

Vendors from Wisconsin, North Carolina, Louisiana, Arkansas, Alabama, Mississippi and elsewhere will be selling their wares and conducting about 30 workshops during the festival.

“Workshops range in price from $30 to the most expensive being around $90,” Harrower said. “They range from blending and crocheting, fiber processing, knitting, rug hooking, spinning and weaving.”

Harrower knew there was a niche in Vicksburg for an event like this and organized the first festival in 2013.

“A lot of people in this area don’t have an outlet to buy these things,” Harrower said. “I saw a need for this, and I’ve been very impressed with the turnout ever since.”

In 2013, vendor Lise Wilson of Fort Worth, Texas, said the show in Vicksburg rivals many she’s seen across the nation.

“There are many vendors here that I consider to be high-quality, which brings in more good people from the fiber world,”

Wilson said. “Everything here is all-natural and you can’t get this stuff anywhere else.”

The festival is at the Vicksburg Convention Center and is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and will continue Saturday from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m.

Workshops are offered from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and admission is free.