Back of the Wasatch Fiber Art and Wool Festival

SIXTH ANNUAL
BACK OF THE WASATCH FIBER ART AND WOOL FESTIVAL

Will be held Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday as part of the Soldier Hollow Classic Sheepdog Championship Trials in the Beautiful Heber Valley at the Soldier Hollow Olympic Ski Area!

September 3-6, 2004

9 am to 5 pm, every day.

Waulking the Cloth with Norman Kennedy at Back of the Wasatch (BOW) Fiber Art and Wool Festival II (photo provided courtesy of Scott Kendall)

BOWwaulking.jpg (58800 bytes)

bow_logo.gif (54296 bytes)

What Is a Fiber festival?

A fiber festival is a gathering of fiber producers and consumers where fiber is shown, touched, appreciated, evaluated, demonstrated and purchased on the hoof and ready to wear.

Who will be there?

Sheep, goats, llamas, alpacas, bunnies, stock dogs, owners, raisers, breeders, shearers, vendors, spinners, weavers, dyers, felters, knitters, crocheters, quilters, soapmakers, lacemakers, papermakers and everyone who is interested in learning more about natural fiber and farm arts.

Why are we doing this?

It’s fun! It’s educational and it's also a great way to promote and preserve our heritage of natural fiber production and traditional textile arts.

NATURAL FIBERS ARE A RENEWABLE RESOURCE GOOD FOR OUR ECONOMY AND ENVIRONMENT!

In the photo above, 10 yards of handwoven wool cloth woven by Barbara Bentley was thumped and passed around the table while participants sang along with Norman old and sometimes bawdy Scottish ballads. A second cloth was also waulked that was woven by Anne Carroll Gilmour. The weaver sits to the left of the singer. So that Norman wouldn't have to sing alone, several of the waulkers spent an evening at Anne Carroll's house learning many of the old songs including the gaelic. They were rewarded for their efforts by Norman's pleasure and surprise that anyone out here in the Rocky Mountains knew the old gaelic waulking songs.

For Detailed information about fiber classes, demonstrations, activities, lodging recommendations, driving directions, and schedules, all are available online at:

Please, come early, stay late, have fun! Admission is $10 per day for the Fiber Festival and Sheep dog trials. Discount coupons will be available through sponsors.