BV Craft Fair is on
Even while festivals and special events are being canceled all over the region, the Bella Vista Arts and Crafts Festival is preparing for its annual event in October. Festival director Dee DiNino said she doesn’t know of a reason to cancel.
The festival will take place Oct. 15-17. Last week, she had 180 vendors signed up and the maximum at the festival is about 210, she said. The vendors include many returning from previous years and some brand new ones. She gets phone calls almost every day.
Also, eight of the 10 food truck slots are filled and she’s working with two more.
Since the smallest booth space is 12 feet across, social distancing won’t be a problem for vendors, she said. But attendees will have to wear a mask. It would be impossible to impose social distancing on the customers as they move between the booths, she said. There may be disposable masks available.
Bella Vista one of the last juried craft shows in the area, according to its website, www.bellavistafestival.org. That means that each exhibitor has to be approved by a committee made up of three members of the sponsoring organization, Artisan Alliance at Wishing Spring. Every item must be handmade. If vendors display items that were not approved by the jury committee, vendors may be asked to remove them.
For the first time, a parking fee of $2 will be charged so there are funds available to repair damage to the venue after the fair. There’s no admission fee.
The fairgrounds are on 1991 Forrest Hill Blvd. DiNino’s office is at Wishing Spring gallery, but the gallery is run by members of the Artisan Alliance group and has not reopened since the coronavirus appeared. DiNino said it might reopen in September. If the festival is to be canceled, she will notify vendors in mid-September, but she doesn’t expect that to happen.
To contact DiNino use her email address, bvfestival573@gmail.com.