Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival

The festival was more fun than I expected it to be. The vendors were friendly and very accommodating, though some of the stock was very repetitive between vendors (i.e. the same hat by the same brand in the same colors was sold for slightly different prices by multiple vendors). I would say that about half the vendors sold unique items that they personally make. The food was good for fair food, and the venue was appropriate.

As always, a good time for those into fiber crafts.

If you have any love whatsoever of sheep, wool, fleece, fiber, or anything to do with knitting, weaving, or spinning, then this is the festival for you. The 2013 festival marked the 40^th year of this sheepy spectacle at the Howard County Fairgrounds. Admission is free (voluntary donation).
There are numerous vendors there to fill all of your fiber wants and desires. For those of us who aren’t inclined in that direction and are brought along as wingmen, it’s always fun to browse around the barns and check out the sheep (and the occasional alpaca or 2). Activities are plentiful throughout the two-​day affair, leaving no reason to be bored if you’re there.
There’s plenty of fair food to be had there, not to mention some tasty lamb from a few vendors. For the best food, go in the 4-​H building and either purchase a BBQ sandwich from the Boy Scout troop or a leg of lamb sandwich from Greene’s Lamb. Yum!

This was an absolutely perfect event for families when we went with an 18
month old and a 4 year old (and again the year after.) I’m definately going back. Lots of animals to pet, sheepdog trials to watch, music, fairground food, shearing demonstrations, storytelling, wool spinning demos — fascinating, and it’s outdoors, so the kids can be as loud as they want. Plenty of shade to stay cool, too. Parking and admission are free. Look for the booth that makes fresh potato chips — so yummy!
From the website:
It’s free! It’s fun! It’s fabulous, and it’s always the first full weekend in
May! Discover the beauty of sheep, the warmth of wool and the delicious taste of
lamb during a fun-​filled weekend celebrating all things sheep, from hoof to
handwoven.
The Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival is sponsored by the Maryland Sheep Breeders
Association, Inc., a non-​profit organization. The Festival’s purpose is to
educate the public about sheep and wool. The Festival is organized and conducted
by volunteers from the sheep breeding and fiber arts communities.

Gets no better than this! I just now started crocheting, and I was overwhelmed at times, but what a fantastic slice of Americana.
Such a huge range of people here — from the real old-​school farmer types to the hippie-​ish eco-​folks who are raising alpaca in their yards to the stitch n bitch crowd who are funkifying yarn crafts now. Had a great time!
Also some excellent festival food — ribbons chips, which are mandolin’d potato chips, homemade, topped with bad nacho cheese, sour cream, chives, and jalapenos. bad bacon bits, so I’d skip those, but delicious otherwise.
The only downside — the diet ‘coke’ was absolutely not coke — they claimed it, but I have a palate for this… it was Diet Rite for sure. no way!
got some gorgeous stuff, heard some great names –including Chewy Spaghetti yarn. perfect!

The MD Sheep & wool fest happens on the first weekend in May.
Most of the times the weather is fabulous.
Here’s more:
The fest is a great coming together of rural America. There is so much livestock, wool, yarn & southeren food here, it’s amazing.
I always go here to stock up on roving for spinning & the wool yarn I use to weave. There are hundreds of vendors from all over the country selling incredible textiles, yarns, antiques & hand crafted items. You need a whole day to do the festival grounds.
The livestock to be seen here are Llamas, Alpacas, sheep, rams, rabbits & more.
The food is ice cream, kabobs, hot dogs, chips & sour cream, lemonade, french fries and a great many things southern.
One of the barns keeps the prize winning entries of all the shawls & yarn that have been entered. Completely drool worthy. I find it very hard to tear myself away from the winners.
It ends with the the sheep dog trials.
This is truly an experience. It’s loud, colorful, social & an education.