CARIBOU, Maine — About 2,000 people came out to the Caribou Arts and Crafts Fair over the course of last weekend, based on the number of raffle entries collected on Oct. 19 and 20.
Caribou’s annual arts and crafts fair is the largest in The County and, after wrapping up its 47th consecutive year, also the longest running in the region.
With the crafts fair being such a popular event in the region, about 85 percent of the 107 vendors in attendance this year have already signed up for the 2020 fair, according to Caribou Marketing and Events Coordinator Christina Kane-Gibson.
The city will begin accepting general vendor applications for next year’s arts and crafts fair on Nov. 1, when forms will be available at the Caribou Wellness and Recreation Center at 55 Bennett Drive.
Kane-Gibson said that, while Caribou High School was packed throughout the weekend, many of the guests she spoke to about parking didn’t report many issues with finding parking spots, though some said they needed to drive around the lot a couple times before finding a place to park.
Mark and Melinda King, a husband and wife team who run the business “Honeycomb Depot,” sold honey products made with their own bees’ honey during Caribou’s annual arts and crafts fair last weekend.
(Chris Bouchard)
“Some people told me cars were parked all the way down to Sweden Street,” she said. “We are definitely blessed that Caribou High School has a huge parking lot. I honestly don’t know where else in town we could hold an event like this.”
Among the hundred-plus vendors, Mark and Melinda King, a husband and wife team who run the business “Honeycomb Depot,” sold honey products made with honey from their own bees.
The Kings have been in business for a decade, and began with the intention of selling vegetables at local stands and farmers markets.
“We thought about the best way to get vegetables out of the garden,” Mark said. “We need pollination, so we got some bees and started off with two hives. Two years after that, we didn’t even have a garden anymore, just the bees. We moved over to the bees, and have been beekeepers ever since.”
He said they extract honeycomb every year to make regular honey, cream honey and honey butter.
“There’s a variety of products that we’ve developed from the regular base honey products,” he said.
Melinda explained that cream honey doesn’t actually contain any cream, and that it’s more about the actual consistency of the product. She said they also offer cinnamon rolls with cream cheese frosting and honey, for example.
Local artist Travis Levesque sold paintings during Caribou’s Arts and Crafts Fair last weekend, marking his seventh consecutive appearance representing his business Flatline Custom Paint at the city’s annual event.
(Chris Bouchard)
“We mix honey into mostly everything we offer,” she said.
The two have been going to crafts fairs since they started making honey, and they find that venue for selling their products the most efficient.
“It’s really a better way, versus trying to make a web page and worry about shipping,” he said. “A jar of honey is heavy, and there’s a chance that it could break. We felt this is the best way to distribute our product and it’s been working out well.”
The Kings have been at crafts fairs all across The County and as far south as Orono, and have been attending the Caribou Arts and Crafts fair for about eight years.
“We really enjoy this crafts fair,” Mark said of the Caribou event. “It’s only an hour away. The people treat us very well, and it’s very accommodating.”
Though many vendors have attended the arts and crafts fair for close to a decade, this year marked Linda Albert’s first appearance at the fair, selling handmade pillows, cosmetic bags and pillows featuring emojis. She said she has been creating these products for close to 15 to 20 years.
“I had started making pillows,” she said, “and my friends suggested I go to a craft fair about a year ago, so I put my name on the waiting list. Caribou is a good one.”
Local artist Travis Levesque sold paintings at the event, representing his business Flatline Custom Paint.
“It’s all done with an airbrush,” said Levesque, who has been coming to this fair for seven years.. “I paint on slate shingles, cedar wood, and pretty much anything else.”
He said that while the wood paintings are not as clear as the slate shingle paintings, many customers like the look of the wood paintings.
“Pretty much everything is Maine themed, except for some sports,” he said, adding that a single painting can take “anywhere from a half hour to two and a half hours” to create.
Kane-Gibson said most of the regular vendors renewed their spot during last weekend’s show.
“I can’t take credit for this event since it’s been going for 47 years strong,” she said. “I’ve only been a part of it for three years. It’s nice to see everyone come out and support their local artists.”
Kane-Gibson said the massive event would not have been possible without the help of several community volunteers, including the Caribou High School custodial staff and the students with the school’s Jobs for Maine Graduates program, who helped cover the floor and organize the event.
