Aiken’s Makin’ expecting big year.
The Greater Aiken Chamber of Commerce is getting ready to bring a little DIY style to downtown Aiken with the upcoming Aiken’s Makin’ craft show and sale.
Aiken’s Makin’ opens from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday on a closed stretch of Park Avenue from Chesterfield Street to Union Street.
This year’s show will feature 186 handcraft vendors and 28 food vendors, according to Chamber office manager Amanda Taylor and director of finance and membership development Dianne Phillips.
“The festival continues to attract new applicants,” Phillips said. “That’s evident when you look at that fact that we’ve got 69 new vendors this year, while it’s continued to be successful for its past participants, which is reflected in a total of 112 returning artisans.”
“We had approximately 35,000 shoppers last year, and we were hearing from them that it was a great show, that they loved the layout, that the weather was great, and we had a really diverse group of vendors,” Taylor added.
As with years past, Aiken’s Makin’ will feature a wide range of handcrafted items from jewelry to handbags to pottery to lawn and garden items to artwork to clothing to soaps and scents to toys and children’s items. One of the most unique examples of craftsmanship coming this year, according to Phillips, will be a boat maker who will be working on creating a Black River boat onsite while taking orders for commission work.
“Vendor applications get juried in the beginning of March. The process takes at least two weeks. There are seven different people with different backgrounds and ages on the panel that juries for us,” said Taylor. “What the jury is looking for is uniqueness, quality, saleability, creativity, that the items are handmade and that we have a diverse offering. They try to be very careful about overbooking the festival in any one genre.”
Food vendors will set up in a food court at the intersections of York and Fairfield streets, with tenting and seating available at both locations. The entertainment stages will be at the intersection of York and Union streets, and the slate will run the gamut from dancing to singing to acoustic guitars, according to Taylor.
“The main thing is, if it wasn’t for the artists and food vendors, the volunteers and community support, Aiken’s Makin’ wouldn’t go off like it does. And Aiken Department of Public Safety and the City of Aiken in general, they really play a key role in Aiken’s Makin’,” said Taylor. “It’s part of Aiken’s history. It’s worth it. We’re really looking forward to this year’s show.”
A full list of Aiken’s Makin’ participants and a festival map will be available online Thursday at www.aikenchamber.net.
For more information about Aiken’s Makin’, call the Greater Aiken Chamber of Commerce at 641-1111.
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