Blue Hills Fibre Festival

Exploring the fibre arts through workshops and demonstrations

Fibre arts vendors at a previous festival

Supplied photo

The Blue Hills Fibre Festival is an essential experience for all knitting, spinning and crafting enthusiasts.

Closely following the shearing and lambing season, the festival brings together artisans and farmers from all over Manitoba to celebrate the fibre arts. This includes incorporating a diverse range of locally-grown fibre products and educating the public on every step of the process from preparing raw fibres (wool, alpaca, etc.) to knitting and felting.

Held at the Carberry Community Memorial Hall on June 10 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., the Blue Hills Fibre Festival will feature 19 vendors, selling everything from yarn, raw wool, mohair and alpaca to knitting supplies and handmade bags.

“If you are into fibre arts, you can find anything you need here,” festival coordinator Gail Kasprick says.

There will also be a handful of workshops on topics such as knitting, spindling, needle-felting and drum carding, in addition to a fleece preparation demonstration and a fleece show and auction.

Attendees can also participate in a spinning circle.

“People bring their spinning wheels, and we all sit around and spin and talk,“ Kasprick says.

“We always have a few extra wheels set up, so if anyone wants to take a crack at it, they can try it out for themselves.”

Kasprick says that in previous years, there has been a diverse turnout.

“You’d think that it would be all middle-aged women, but it’s not,” Kasprick says. “There are a lot of young people who have picked up fibre arts.”

Festival admission is free, but there is a registration fee for the workshops. As space is limited and workshops often sell out, Kasprick recommends signing up for sessions in advance through the Blue Hills Fibre Festival website.

WHEN June 10

WHERE Carberry Community Memorial Hall (Carberry, Man.)

$$$ Admission is free, workshops vary $0-20

DON'T MISS The chance to try your hand at spinning on a wheel

WEBSITE bluehillsfibrefestival.wordpress.com

Published in Volume 71, Number 27 of The Uniter (June 1, 2017)

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