The Frankfort Fall Festival packed streets again this year as the Labor Day mainstay brought vendors from across the country with a three-day weekend and near perfect late summer weather.
“This is some of the best weather we’ve ever had for the festival,” said announcer John Herder, one of the emcees for Sunday’s parade.
The 57th annual event was also on the early side. Herder noted the festival is scheduled to coincide with Labor Day, though as Labor Day is the first Monday in September, it’s not always Sept. 1.
This year though, even in late-August, the day held to the 70s and, under a mostly clear sky, hundreds of thousands from around the region returned for something that’s become a beloved tradition.
“Oh, my gosh, this is my favorite time of the year,” said Debbie Flanigan. “I love the arts and crafts. I love all of it.”
The fair has a little something for everyone — food, carnival rides, a parade and live music, but the crafts are one of the bigger draws. The Chamber of Commerce brings in about 300 vendors from across the country and some, like the visitors, return year after year.
One popular tent offered hanging planters made of children’s’ pants. From pots, set into the waists, tendrils and leaves stretched up, while climbing ropes, woven through the belt loops and mounted on a wooden wall display, offered the illusion of a rappelling plant person.
Gabriela Diez-Capt who co-owns The Dudes planters with her husband, said she got the idea about 20 years ago.
“I had my kids’ clothes and I didn’t want to give them to Goodwill,” she recalled. “So, I made planters out of them. We’ve been doing it ever since.”
The booth attracted plenty of notice.
Diez-Capt said she’s originally from Argentina, but now based in Ohio. She and her husband make the eight-hour drive every year. She said they’ve been coming to Frankfort for about a decade.
“It’s beautiful,” she said. “The weather is usually good and the sales are good, so we travel 8 hours.”
The festival is something of a hotspot for craftspeople.
Bob Kennedy, the co-emcee for the parade, announced the event was recognized as the number two arts and crafts event in the country. Indeed, Sunshine Artist, a trade magazine for craft vendors, ranked it as No. 2 in the nation last year.
The Frankfort Fall Festival had been creeping up the chart for years, and the rank is based on the craft sellers’ reported sales, making it significant for attracting more top-tier craft talent.
Many visitors said the main reason they stop by every year was to check out the hundreds of craft booths.
Kennedy said that’s because of the work the Chamber puts in.
“Probably because we jury it,” he said. “You don’t automatically get in.”
Whatever it is — the weather, the crafts or the parade — this year seemed to bring the crowds.
“This is the farthest I’ve ever had to park,” said Carrie Leach.
She, and many others, walked for miles or got a shuttle. Leach said she’d been coming since the 1970s and she loves the crafts, if not the crowds.
“It’s good and bad,” she said. “Bad for me, as I don’t like to walk. Good for the people selling things.”
