QUILCENE — This Saturday will mark the third year of the Quilcene Fiber Festival, held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Worthington Park, 151 E. Columbia St.
The festival is an opportunity to engage in various fiber-arts activities, observe demonstrations and purchase fiber goods from vendors.
“Every year it has gotten bigger,” said Brian Cullin, Quilcene Museum board member and event coordinator. “I never really had any idea of the kind of network that forms over the Olympic Peninsula with people involved in fiber. We’ve got knitters, we’ve got weavers, we’ve got spinners and they all communicate with each other. I think that’s why we were surprised how big it got so quickly. It’s because it was working through the network of fiber artists throughout the Olympic Peninsula and probably a little bit beyond.”
The event is hosted by Quilcene Museum, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, who hosts events for the community on their 10-acre property.
The fiber festival, the organization’s largest annual event, according to Cullin, will utilize much of the property.
At 10 a.m., the day will begin with a land acknowledgement, originally planned to be led by members of the Skokomish tribe. Unfortunately, the tribe has experienced the death of an important elder and will not be in attendance this year, said Cullin.
At 10:15 a.m., a full schedule of music and entertainment will begin on the stage, starting with Brinnon based storyteller and musician Mitch Luckett.
At 11 a.m., a sheep shearing demonstration will occur on the stage, performed by Elizabeth Resager.
“She had been here every year,” said Cullin. “She’s fantastic. It’s very popular because people don’t get to see that very often. They’re very reverential to the animal in terms of how it’s done. The year that we had cold weather, the farmers who brought the sheep made sure that it had a coat on. They put coats on them right after they shear the sheep to make sure they don’t get cold.”
The park will also host alpacas, courtesy of Olympic Peninsula Alpaca Rescue.
From 12 p.m. to 2 p.m., jazz guitar duo Ryan Hoffman and Jessica Logan will take the stage to play from a number of jazz selections.
From 2 p.m. to 3 p.m., the stage will be turned over to The Wool Waulkers, whose performance will recreate a traditional Scottish practice of singing while working wool into cloth, a practice uncommon even in modern Scotland, said Cullin.
From 3 p.m. to 4 p.m., Debra Knodel will close the event stage off with Celtic harp music.
Wandering the property and the buildings throughout the day will be Celtic fiddler Derek Stallman of Port Angeles. Nancy Frederick will play the bagpipes.
The event has attracted 20 fiber art vendors from the region, including vendors from Jefferson County, Clallam County, Kitsap County, Mason County and even Olympia, said Cullin.
Vendors will be split between the on-site mansion and vendor tents in the main meadow area near the stage.
From hats to scarves, to mittens, to sweaters, attendees will find an abundance of fiber products, said Cullin.
Demonstrations will occur throughout the day by vendors and others.
“There will be looms and there will be wheels,” said Cullin. “We actually have a fairly large, early nineteenth-century spinning wheel. Nancy Sedlacek demonstrates on this very old beautiful spinning wheel, how to spin. Then there are smaller handheld spinners; there will be at least one loom and some knitters will be there.”
There will also be a learning area near the museum where attendees can learn various fiber art skills. Activities will include lessons in knitting, crocheting, needle felting and weaving, said Cullin.
Attendees can purchase food from Curbside Grill of Port Hadlock and Halfway House Restaurant of Brinnon. Also, said Cullin, the Quilcene School’s culinary arts class will be offering cookies in the museum.
The parking lot, stage area, outdoor vendor area, museum and food court are ADA accessible.
Leashed dogs are welcome outside, but owners are advised to maintain distance from the on-site farm animals.
“Some people like to just come in and sit down in a beautiful environment in the mansion and knit, as well as outside,” said Cullin. “That’s one thing I’ve discovered about this community is that it’s a super peaceful, gentle kind of art, where people like to gather and it’s very social. People talk and they knit.”
