As a former professor, Leon Drouin spent most of his time in the classroom teaching, but as co-chairman of the Pink Palace Crafts Fair, he’ll be baking biscuits in an antique wood-burning stove at the Country Kitchen.
“You haven’t tasted real food until you’ve eaten food from a wood burning stove” Drouin said.
According to Drouin, more than 20,000 people are expected to attend the 30th annual event.
“We started 30 years ago with 30 demonstrating craftsmen on the grounds of the Pink Palace Museum to 40 demonstrating craftsmen and 200 handy, culinary and fine arts craft vendors,” Drouin said.
In 1972, the idea of a crafts fair to help fund the expansion of educational programs and expansion of a wing to include: classrooms, laboratories, an auditorium and a puppet theatre, was born.
The Friends of the Memphis Pink Palace Museum Foundation pledged $200,000 to fund the project and the crafts fair project was opened in Oct. 1973. It was originally called the “Mid-South Crafts Fair.”
The demonstrating craftsmen like woodcarvers, quilters, weavers and others will be creating works in progress for visitors to check out.
Craft booths include: metal works, glass and jewelry crafts, traditional crafts such as had knitted items, baskets and apple cider and homemade jellies as culinary crafts.
Even though the fair centers on crafts, it doesn’t sideline the entertainment.
The mainstage will feature acts ranging from bluegrass, pop and jazz musicians.
The Crafts Fair is the largest fundraising event for the Pink Palace. The proceeds help support the Family Museum programs.
“We brought in $100,000 last year for the museum,” Drouin said.
The fair will take place at Audubon Park, Thursday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
