About Us:

In February 2005 a group of 12 women met at Knox Farm State Park in East Aurora with the intent to create a fiber Festival.  Most of the women had attended other fiber festivals in the state—notably the one held each fall in Hemlock or the state-wide festival in Rhinebeck—and knew the basic parameters.  All of the women were interested in having a local festival as all were involved in some way with fiber as an artistic medium.  Present were: spinners, weavers, fiber animal owners and breeders, sewers, knitters, a yarn store owner, as well as Park workers.  Some were Friends of the Park and East Aurora locals; some were from Buffalo and the North Towns.  The Park manager and staff were all strongly supportive of the idea.

By September the committee had done its planning and the first Knox Farm Fiber Festival was held.  There was a shoe-string budget of $300 –a gift from a committee member—and the crowd of about 400 people helped to pay the bills: advertising, privy rental, supplies, signs, etc.  There were about 20 vendors—yarn, knitted hats, pumpkins, dolls, jewelry, buttons, felting and spinning supplies—and several demonstrations. The workshops were well-taught and well-attended—drop spindling, basket-making, doll-dressing and lots of requests for future topics.

And so one year builds upon another.  The festival grew to have many volunteers from area Guilds.  Food trucks brought vegetarian sandwiches and the Boy Scouts brought hot dogs and soda.  Vendors brought sheep, alpacas, llamas and herding dogs.. The Park education team brought make-and-take fiber activities for the children.

The Festival was strongly supported by the East Aurora community and the fiber community.  New faces appeared every year to help, buy, contribute, and enjoy.

At its final appearance as Knox Farm Fiber Festival in September of 2010, the crowd was greater than 1800 people—a fantastic turnout for a one-day event.

Then that winter the Knox Farm State Park closed for budgetary and other reasons.  But by September 2011 a new festival emerged:  The Western New York Fiber Arts Festival—in its new home at Emery Park.  The format remains the same, the planners have familiar faces plus energy to spare, and the dedication to fiber arts education remains strong.