Downtown Dillsboro, NC hosts the Western North Carolina Pottery Festival, a juried festival that attracts master potters from across the U.S. This year’s event is Saturday, Nov.5th, featuring the work of 42 clay artists. Half of the potters hail from the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee, while the other half are from as far away as: Texas, Vermont, Wisconsin, New Jersey, Florida and Ohio.
Sales and demonstrations of the craft occur throughout the day, and if you arrive a day ahead (Nov. 4th) you can take in Friday’s “Clay Olympics”, a wheel-throwing competition in which local and visiting potters compete for prizes and bragging rights. The Clay Olympics take place from 1:00 to 3:00 in front of Tree House Pottery. Behind Tree House is the wood kiln firing demonstration; the kiln will take most of Friday to fire and will be opened during the festivities on Saturday.
The village of Dillsboro is small enough to walk, yet varied enough to provide a full day’s worth of sights, sounds, tastes, and textures. There are plenty of working studios and friendly shops, and the autumn color of the Great Smoky Mountains is not to be missed. You might want to do some early holiday shopping — get the pick of the best crafts before the post Thanksgiving shoppers hit the village!
Dillsboro is about a 30 minute drive from Franklin, NC and Sit a Spell Cabin, and is close to Sylva and Cullowhee, NC as well.
Saturday’s festival hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., rain or shine. Admission is $3 per person and includes a ticket for a day-long raffle with hourly drawings. Children under 12 are admitted free. Parking is available at pay and free lots, and free shuttles will run all day between the parking lots and the festival.
For festival info, call (828) 631-5100, or visit: www.wncpotteryfestival.com. For lodging info, call the Jackson County Visitors Center at (800) 962-1911.
This post brought to you by the cutest cabin ever – Sit a Spell Cabin – in beautiful Oak Grove near Franklin, NC.
