Artists and Farmers Unite at Shepherd’s Harvest Festival

This festival will share its abundance of local wools, sheep breeds, fiber artists and craftspeople in order to help the greater community embrace natural fibers and sustainable, low-tech traditions.
Photo by: Free-Photos

There’s a movement afoot - reclaiming the land, our health and our heritage. These days, many consider a new life of farming, wish to reconnect with the natural ways of working with wool, and have the timeless secrets of the textile arts revealed.

The Minnesota Shepherd’s Harvest Festival is at the heart of this renaissance. Held in late November every year just as the fleeces are freshly shorn, this weekend event brings the annual wool harvest together with local artisans to spin forward traditional crafts now welcomed as eco-friendly ways of reconnecting buyers back to the source.

Families can enjoy a hands-on exploration of sheep breeds, try out classes in simple and extraordinary textile arts and shop the richly colored, useful goods crafted by these artists and farmers. Learn how to grow your own socks, spin your own sweater and turn the fleece of one sheep into self-made heirlooms for your whole family.

Beginning farmers can learn the basics of shepherding, select your own starter flock and find the mentors and community that can help you build your own hard-working farm lifestyle.

Self-proclaimed fiber fanatics can meet the shepherds who work all year to bring you the freshest, finest, locally grown wool. Build your skills in fleece preparation, hand-spinning, natural dyes, felting, weaving, rug-hooking and more. Enter your own handiwork in the handspun and felting competitions and soak up this annual gathering of tools, trade and tradition.

There’s fresh coffee, kettle corn, a wide variety of food and music and a spectacular array of vendors. It hosts the only fleece competition in the state as well as showcasing local authors, guilds and even a photo class and competition to help capture the magic.

The festival began in 1997 and is run entirely by volunteers. Llama Magic is held on the fairgrounds the same weekend as Shepherd's Harvest.