Sheep, wool and fiber festivals connect a largely suburban population with fun, yarn, roving, knitting, spinning, fleece sales, fiber animals, equipment, plus good food, and some awfully nice people – but there is something else going on. A festival is entertaining (and educational, shhh).
Some favorites: The Annual Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival. Dates this year are May 5 and May 6, Howard County Fairgrounds. The Connecticut Sheep, Wool & Fiber Festival is Saturday, April 28, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tolland Agricultural Center. The New Hampshire Sheep and Wool Festival is May 12 and May 13, Deerfield Fairgrounds.
Festival-goers meet sheep, goats, llamas, alpacas, rabbits, and more. While shopping, people may learn (painlessly) about how goods are grown. There’s spinning and lace-making demonstrations, crafts, music, and vendors limited only by the imagination of the organizers. For more, visit our events page – linked here.
Festivals and fairs that feature livestock and time-honored skills are important. Memories made together matter over time – and experiences knit into life as youngsters grow up and create families of their own. They may serve on zoning commissions, school boards, create companies – and make decisions to shape farming, business, land uses. Familiarity with real life – that sheep must be shorn and that fleece may be made into yarn; or where milk comes from – are aspects of agriculture unfamiliar to suburban and urban residents. Whether conscious or not, observed behavior is absorbed and woven into the fabric of life.
