The Fat Goose Craft Fair will open to the public, offering a fantastic range of locally made crafts and craft services for the holiday season. It will take place at Renaissance Event Venue and will host over 30 craftspeople and community groups.
The fair is the project of a team of professional craftspeople and working artists including Claire Grady-Smith, Maggie Gray, Brandy Olley, Vincent Perez and Kristyn Woodfine. All are committed to making their respective crafts viable in the city of Kingston and to providing opportunities for the crafting community to showcase and sell their work.
“Kingston has a population with a demonstrated interest in supporting local creatives,” says Perez. “It also has a good number of artists and artisans without proper representation or venues to exhibit in. We felt that a fair like this would serve everybody’s interests.”
To help realize the Fat Goose Craft Fair, its organizers have teamed with various community groups including Queen’s University radio station CFRC and Apple Crisp Arts, a local arts and cultural non-profit with a mandate to promote up-and-coming local musicians and artists.
Now in its third season, Fat Goose has become a much anticipated holiday season institution and returning guests know to expect more than they might at a typical craft fair.
“We’ve juried the fair so that there’s a good variety of work from letterpress printing, to hand spun wool, to silversmithing and all this by crafters, both established and aspiring. We’ve got highschoolers in the mix and folks you may not have seen around until now,” says Perez. “We’ve also scheduled the fair as an evening event and in the gala atmosphere of the Renaissance Event Venue’s ballroom. There’ll be booze, a DJ spinning tunes and a catered spread. We’re aiming for an elegant and festive tone.”
