It’s been 41 years since Tim Neumann founded the Old Deerfield Arts and Crafts Festival.
What is the secret to it going strong for four decades?
“We’ve had a lot of creative people working on it,” he said. “The key is to get people here so they have exposure.”
Admission is $7 adults both days, $1 for children ages 6 to 12 on Saturday and free for children 12 and under on Sunday.
Old Deerfield is widely recognized for its association with the international arts and crafts movement of 125 years ago, said Neuman, founder of the fair in the mid-1970s and long-time executive director of Deerfield’s Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, which the fair benefits.
So it seemed right to have a craft fair in Deerfield. We were surrounded by hippies trying to find an alternative way to make a living.”
The biggest impact on attendance has been recessions.
“Over 40 years, we had four. The last one was a real doozy (in 2008). People don’t spend money they don’t have and if they fear they may lose their job,” he said.
Newman noted that the fair founders were in their 20s then and are now in their 60s. Some of the work has been passed to a new generation, such as Craft Fair Coordinator Ella Colton, who is in her 20s.
The fair started with 20 crafters. This year, Colton and her team recruited 175 artisans, who will be selling woodworking, jewelry, apparel, glass, pottery, furniture, prints, paintings, mixed-media art and more.
New this year is a Deerfield Tea Party under a tent in a beautiful garden, said Colton. There will be tastings of hot and iced tea from the Tea Guys in Whately, with cheese and crackers, all free with admission.
Also new, she noted, are garden sculpture installations around the grounds, created by three new-to-the-festival artists, Marty Phinney, Kristen Blaker, and Piper Foreso.
Children’s programs and a children’s book sale will be held in the Children’s Activity Hall, with crafting activities and some fun with dinosaurs and fossils from the Jurassic Road Show.
Sunday is Children’s Day. Dinoman, who brings massive dinosaur balloons, will perform magic, and Annie and the Natural Wonderband will perform their original songs.
For more information, visit www.deerfield-craft.org