Free Letterpress & Book Arts Street Fair Returns to Havre de Grace May 9, 2026

HAVRE DE GRACE, Md. - April 18, 2026 - PRLog -- The 200 block of N. Washington Street in Havre de Grace, Maryland, will transform into an open-air marketplace on Saturday, May 9, 2026, when the 4th Chesapeake Print & Book Arts Fair returns from 11 AM to 4 PM. Hosted by Glyph Design Studio, the free street fair draws together 15+ studios, presses, and makers from across the Mid-Atlantic for a single-day showcase of letterpress, bookbinding, papermaking, zines, and hand-printed ephemera. The block is closed to traffic, and the public is welcome to browse, buy, and talk craft with the artists.

"Letterpress has always been about the impression — literally and figuratively," said Don Starr, Creative Director of Glyph Design Studio, Professor of Graphic Design at George Mason University, and former President of the Chesapeake Chapter of the American Printing History Association. "What I love about this event is that it puts the presses and the people who run them right in front of the community. You can pick up a card, feel the bite of the type in the paper, and ask the printer how they set it. That conversation doesn't happen anywhere else."

Confirmed vendors include .918 Club, Base Press, Comics & Zines / Deanna Draws, Conestoga Press, Frederick Book Arts Center, Glyph Design Studio, ipsy bipsy studio, Lambs Ear Press, Lead Graffiti, Mason Jar Press, Paper Moon Bindery, Reyookah, Sargent-Thamm, Sea Heart City Press, and Story Supply Co., with more to be announced. Sargent-Thamm will present flag papermaking and relief prints in a nod to the America 250 commemoration. The fair is organized by Glyph Design Studio and sponsored by the Havre de Grace Alliance.

The fair is easily integrated into a full day in Havre de Grace, a historic waterfront town at the head of the Chesapeake Bay. It runs concurrently with the Franklin Street Mother's Day Market (10 AM–4 PM) and precedes the HDG Roper Romp (1–7 PM), a pub crawl where participants dress as Mrs. Roper of Three's Company. Full vendor information is available at https://www.chesapeakeprintersfair.com.

About Glyph Design Studio

Glyph Design Studio (https://www.glyphdg.com) is located at 212 N. Washington Street in Havre de Grace, Maryland. Founded by designer and letterpress artist Don Starr and his husband, former Havre de Grace City Councilman Joseph Smith, Glyph operates a retail stationery and paper goods store (https://www.shopglyphdg.com), a full-service graphic design and letterpress print studio, and a digital marketing agency.