GO-Van Buren, host of the spring Aroostook Artisans Craft Fair, has announced that it will be returning this year on Saturday, May 3. As in previous years, the fair will be located in the Van Buren Community Center on Champlain Street. Doors open to the public from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. and admission is free.
Organizers aim for an all-around enjoyable shopping experience just in time for Mothers Day gifting. The event is known for its small-town friendly atmosphere, a fun cup auction and great food – but it can also be noted that Aroostook Artisan’s reputation is building for gathering what the organizers boast is “an interesting variety of high quality items for discriminating shoppers.”
Since GO-Van Buren is a non-profit organization geared primarily to community service, fair chairmen Susan Arendsee and Eleanor Varley explain that booth fees are deliberately kept low “to encourage more of our hidden but exceptionally talented area craftsmen” to market their goods and expand local exposure. Varley stresses that, in line with the host’s service goals, “if a creative artisan contacts us with a product of good value, we’ll find a place somehow” even for last minute applicants.
Spokesmen for the GO-Van Buren group are promising increased promotion for this year’s event, which has proven popular in the past and will offer even greater opportunity in 2014. Arendsee, a crafter herself exhibiting as Scandia’s Scented Corner, explains that as an extra benefit for participating in this year’s craft fair, vendors may choose a space at a reduced price in the exciting Maine on Main, a downtown sidewalk multi-media show being set up as a major feature of the World Acadian Congress in August. More details and sign-up for both events are available on GO-Van Buren’s website www.govanburen.org or you may call 207-495-9120. Both chairmen will be available at the craft fair for direct contact.
