Virginia’s Oldest Juried Crafts Fair Returns for its 71st Year

WATERFORD, Va. - Sept. 25, 2014 - PRLog -- WATERFORD, Va.—Virginia’s oldest juried crafts fair marks its seventy-first anniversary this year when the annual Waterford Homes Tour & Crafts Exhibit, also known as the Waterford Fair, returns on October 3, 4, and 5 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily in the charming, historic village of Waterford, Virginia.

The weekend will feature 155 renowned artisans (many nationally known) demonstrating a variety of traditional crafts.  In addition there will be lively performances of traditional music and dance; reenactments by Colonial and Civil War-era militia and cavalry; and art and photography exhibits.  A tour of the village will offer guests a look into restored historic homes and buildings with more than 12 homes and buildings on the tour (different places open daily), and will include a walk through Civil War and Quaker cemeteries. On Friday, a special reenactment of a day in an 1880’s classroom will take place in Waterford’s one-room schoolhouse.  Check the website for specific homes on tour, walking tours and other activities (www.waterfordva.org).

Other exciting features of the fair include three floors of juried handcrafts for sale in a restored

brick mill; vintage barns full of art for sale, traditional music and dance, Colonial era militia encampments, marching fife and drum corps, Civil War re-enactors including cavalry with

skirmishes.

There are lots of children’s activities throughout the weekend including antique tractor rides, the opportunity to march with Civil War soldiers, and see what lies beneath the earth with an archeologist.  Children can also help to make a penny rug, a stenciled floor cloth, a pine folk art animal, an Appalachian broom, a salt-fired traditional pot; try their hand at the potter’s wheel; weave a basket; dip a candle; watch a magic show; sit on a hay bale and eat lunch and listen to a bluegrass band, eat an ice cream cone with homemade ice cream, sit in on a class at the one-room schoolhouse, tour an old log house or a livery stable, take a hay ride, shuck and shell corn, meet the Dutton sisters interpreters and hear how they dared to publish a pro-Union newspaper in Confederate Virginia; wander through history in the village of Waterford that looks much the way it did in the early 1900s.

There’s a lot of food available throughout the fair including at the Country Store that will offer homemade baked goods, candles, tote bags, ornaments and more. Throughout the day, enjoy sampling of local wines and cheeses. All types of food will be available and a wine garden will offer wines from some of Loudoun County’s top wineries

The Waterford Fair takes place throughout the historic village of Waterford which was founded in 1733 by Amos Janney, a Quaker from Bucks County, Pennsylvania.  Waterford is one of only three villages in the U.S. designated a National Historic Landmark District.  Many of the village homes and structures, and the surrounding farmland, have been preserved thanks to the residents, friends of Waterford and annual proceeds from the Waterford Fair that have helped preserve and protect this unique place.  The Fair provides a once-a-year opportunity to fully experience this community which is brimming with history and character.

Tickets at the gate are $20 per person per day, children 12 and under are admitted free. Tickets for active military with I.D. are $15. Advance tickets are $16 per person per day (order online Aug. 12-Sept. 22). Advance tickets at ticket outlets may be purchased through October 2 by cash or check only (check web site for list of outlets).  There is an additional fee for the Wine Garden.

Advance tickets may be charged by phone through the Waterford Foundation office at 540-882-3018 or online at www.waterfordva.org.  Bus groups and groups of 20 or more are $12 per person and must be booked in advance.  Call the Waterford Foundation office for group arrangements.  Ticket orders by mail, phone or online must be received by September 25.

Waterford is located just 45 miles northwest of Washington, DC and in close proximity to Dulles International Airport.   To get there:  take the Dulles Toll Road/Greenway to Leesburg, exit left and follow signs for Route 7 West.  Continue on Route 7 and Exit onto Route 9 West to Route 662 (Clarke’s Gap Road) and follow to Waterford.  Call 540-882-3018 for more information or visit the web at www.waterfordva.org.