10th Annual Fiber Arts Festival begins next week

Published 8:00 am Saturday, January 18, 2020

One of Oxford’s signature art events will hold its 10th iteration next week.

The annual Fiber Arts Festival begins on Jan. 23 and runs through the weekend, featuring more than 20 unique classes and a market offering many fiber art items for purchase.

While the festival officially kicks off on Jan. 23, there will be a lecture by quilt expert and appraiser Mary Kerr at the University of Mississippi Museum at 6 p.m. on Jan. 22. A preview market and opening reception will be held at the Powerhouse on Jan. 23.

Email newsletter signup

“I think what’s made it so successful is because nothing else is happening like it in Oxford, for sure,” festival coordinator Andi Bedsworth told the EAGLE last month. “So, it’s kind of this ray of fun in the middle of January.”

The festival held its inaugural event in 2011, when the UM Museum worked in conjunction with the Yoknapatawpha Arts Council in an effort to create coordinated exhibits that would reach beyond the museum walls and into the community. Since then, the event has expanded into a nearly week-long festival.

The market will officially open and classes, which cover weaving, felting, knitting, crochet, quilting, rug hooking and more, will begin at 10 a.m. on Jan. 24 and run through Jan. 26. The Oxford Treehouse Gallery will hold a reception that night from 5 to 8 p.m.

On Jan. 26 there will be a special class by Diane Williams, though the market will not be open that day.

For more information and to register for classes visit oxfordarts.com/events/fiberfest.