More arts and crafts vendors and heritage theme demonstrators are being sought for Apple Day

Douthat State Park is holding it’s annual Apple Day and Arts and Crafts Fair on October 11.  And planners are hoping to find more vendors and heritage themed demonstrators to be a part of the festival.

Katie Graham is the Chief Ranger of Visitor Experience.

“It mainly just celebrates our Appalachian heritage in the area and this is actually our seventeenth year for the event,” says Graham.  “We have live entertainment, bands, clogging groups.  We have great food, a pig roast, Brunswick stew, heritage themed demonstrators, apple butter making.  And we’ve also added the arts and crafts fair.  This will be the second year that that’s been added.”

Jamie Lomasney, the Visitor Services Specialist at Douthat, says they are looking for vendors for the arts and crafts fair.

“Their items we’re looking for are to be predominately handmade or embellished by hand in some way by that vendor,” says Lomasney.  “But in no way does their item have to have an Appalachian theme.  They just have to have somewhat of a handmade background to them.  So for example, jewelry, hair bows, photography, things like that.  And those vendor booths are normally starting at $20 and they go up from there and they have electricity available as well.”

About a thousand people attend Apple Day each year.  And a highlight of the festival is seeing traditional Appalachian practices first hand.

“And the other type of vendor that we’re seeking are the actual heritage theme demonstrators,” says Lomasney.  “And these can be either an arts and crafts theme demonstration or a life skill demonstrator.  And they do need to have an Appalachian theme or a heritage theme to be able to display.  So, more specifically, the arts and crafts demonstrator they might exhibit blacksmithing or leatherworking, maybe quilting or pottery, something like that.  Whereas the life skill demonstrator would be along the lines of lumberjacking, butter churning, soap making, food preservation, just to name a few.  And the great thing about those exhibitors is not only will they be able to demonstrate their skill, but they’ll also be able to sell their items as well.”

Apple Day is Saturday, October 11 from 10 to 5 at the beach complex at Douthat State Park.  The park is located on Douthat State Park Road in Millboro.  There’s no admission fee to the festival, but parking is $5.

“We do have live entertainment for the day and we have cloggers and I have a few bluegrass bands set up, but we still could us one more bluegrass band to perform that day,” says Graham.  “So if anybody is interested in maybe performing, they could also get a hold of me for that.”

For more information about participating in Apple Day, contact Katie Graham at 540-862-8100 or email Douthat@dcr.virginia.gov

The registration form for the arts and crafts fair can be found at www.douthatspeed.org