Strange Folk Festival

The Hitchhikers Guide to Strange Folk

admin — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 13:56:57 +0000

The wholly remarkable story of Strange Folk Festival starts very simply. It starts with a gnome. A gnome who no more cares about the weather forecast than a blade of grass cares about what yard it’s in.

To get to Strange Folk, you will need coordinates, I mean, Directions.

Time may be an illusion, but our 125 Artists and Crafters most certainly are not. The first 100 people to present a vendor purchase at the info booth will receive a free Strange Folk Tote Bag filled with goodies!

If you have donations for The Upcycle Exchange, please drop them off with the Ecology Club in the fenced area on the backside of the main pavilion. Don’t forget your coupons! It’s ok if you forget your towel though.

Live Music starts at noon each day.

Your kids will love our giant sandbox, handmade hula-hoops, and an igloo we made from milk cartons! We have all kinds of hand-ons Eco-friendly Projects as well.

The Artisan Guild of Southern IL will be demonstrating a wide range of crafts, and hosting an Alpaca and Llama petting zoo.

The O’Fallon Library has arranged for several local authors to be on hand through-out the weekend at The Writers Block. They are also providing several computers with free internet access in the Laptop Lounge.

Bring your latest project and join Knitters in the Wild at 1 p.m. on Saturday

Two animal rescues will be on hand with a few friends in tow. Meet the REGAP Grayhounds and 10th Life Cats!

The Wine Tasting tent opens at 1p.m. each day.

You must be getting hungry, and we have an exciting variety of Food Vendors. No need to travel to the end of the universe to find a good restaurant.

Twittering at the festival? Tag it #strangefolk

That about sums it up! Now, go round up 42 of your closest friends and come get all your holiday shopping done.

Live Music Line-up

admin — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 14:25:56 +0000

Strange Folk has live music starting both days at high-noon! We are so excited to announce the line-up! You can preview bands on their websites, which we have linked to. Enjoy!

Saturday, September 26th
12:00 – Bob Rueter
2:00 – The Bella Birds
4:00 – The Run Around

Sunday, September 27th
12:00 – eYE(S)
2:00 – The Northwoods
4:00 – TBA

Knitters in the Wild!

admin — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 18:44:46 +0000

On Saturday between 12p.m. and 6p.m., observe knitters in their natural habitat at Strange Folk!

If you knit or crochet, join the pack for a day and reconnect with your amigurumi instincts.

Bring a lawn chair or picnic blanket and join us near the tennis courts at the festival!

On the way, be sure to pick up a free Ravelry button (while supplies last) from Dyeabolical Yarn’s table in the big pavilion.

Nom-nom-gnome.

admin — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 11:58:40 +0000

You may be asking, “What culinary delights await me at Strange Folk?”

For starters, you can get your caffeine fix with 9 Bars Coffee’s organic, locally roasted hot or cold brews. Either would pair nicely with an artisan made baked good from The Hot Cookie.

You’ve done a little shopping, and now you’re really hungry! Get your grill on with Backyard BBQ and Stowers BBQ, or try the meditaranian specialties from Greek God Gyros. Looking for something on the lighter side or vegetarian/vegan? Check out Romeros noodle bowls and fried bananas or Royel Catering’s extensive selection of quesadillas, wraps, and salads. Now, back to shopping!

Snack time! Grab a bag of kettle korn or roasted nuts from We are All Nuts, and let the Boy Scouts fetch you a soda or bottled water.

How could we forget dessert? Sheridans Frozen Custard will be on hand with thier freshly made frozen concoctions, and you’ll find carnival favorites like funnel cake and cotton candy at Aston Concessions. You might also spot the Little Jimmy’s Italian Ice Cart wandering around. Did we mention fried cheesecake? Head back to Stowers BBQ for that and other deep-fried oddities.

We promise you won’t go hungry!

Printable Flyer

admin — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 13:48:13 +0000

Printable flyer is printable, need we say more?

Download the PDF File: 2009_Strange_Folk_Flyer.pdf (473kb)

Volunteers FTW!

admin — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 16:15:26 +0000

We are currently seeking volunteers for Strange Folk! Please, help if you can, and pass it along. Thanks!

Strange Folk Volunteer Schedule
For each shift we need:
2 Info Booth Workers - Sit in the shade, occasionally sell a tote bag, and point at the restrooms. You’ll be in the center of the festival, with a great view of the bands!
2 On-Call Volunteers - Help while you shop! This requires that you be present at the festival for the whole shift, and have a cel phone. We may call you at any time during your shift for various favors from picking up food for a hungry vendor to sitting in at the info booth for a bit, or helping with a busy activity.

Saturday, September 26th
9:30a.m. – 12:00p.m.
12:00p.m. – 2:00p.m.
2:00p.m. – 4:00p.m.
4:00p.m. – 6:00p.m.

Sunday, September 27th
10:00a.m. – 12:00p.m.
12:00p.m. – 2:00p.m.
2:00p.m. – 4:00p.m.
4:00p.m. – 6:00p.m.

For helping out, you’ll get a FREE STRANGE FOLK TOTE BAG!
If interested, please e-mail your NAME, PHONE NUMBER (cel# if on-call),E-MAIL, and your preffered position/day/time to: strangefolkfestival@gmail.com
We will reply promptly to confirm your shift, and touch base with everyone with more details before the big weekend!

Discounts and Freebies at Strange Folk!

admin — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 16:35:02 +0000

This year, Strange Folk is hosting The Upcycle Exchange! This exciting new concept challenges shoppers to clean out from their closets, and withhold from their trash, all kind of things that our crafters use to make merchandise. You’ll be delighted to know that a large portion of wares that Strange Folk vendors create are made with re-purposed materials, and The Upcycle Exchange aims to collect exactly the post-consumer waste they need to do so. As a reward for donating, you’ll receive a COUPON BOOK that you can use at the festival for discounts on purchases and free give-aways while supplies last! Click here to see a list of participating artists. They are also accepting donations for fellow festival exhibitors Tenth-Life Cat Rescue and The O’Fallon Public Library. Just download the following Wish-List, and bring us anything on it you can collect! The Upcycle Exchange will be located on the West side of the large pavilion in the horseshoe pen, and manned by the O’Fallon High School Ecology Club.

Here is the list on spiffy “iPaper”. Click “more” to download, print, and/or share. Be sure to post about it all over your internets, because the more people that participate, the more stuff we can keep out of landfills and put in the hands of imaginative artisans!

ZD Scribd iPaper

If that’s not working for you, here is the PDF file you can download:
Strange Folk 2009 Wish-List PDF
For more details on The Upcycle Exchange program, visit www.UpXchange.com

This is Definitely Our Bag, Baby.

admin — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 00:30:07 +0000

We are giving away goodie bags to the first 100 shoppers to present a Strange Folk vendor purchase at our info booth! If you have the competitive drive of Miss Violet Beauregarde, then you might have a chance! As for the rest of you, said bags (sans goodies but awesome nonetheless)are available for sale at the info booth during the festival. Every year, we offer something a little different with an original new design. We are just SO excited about the 2009 bags and SO sure they are going to sell like hotcakes that we’ve decided to open them up to pre-ordering so we can be sure to get enough for everyone!

These little bundles of shopping joy are 100% COTTON, but not your run of the mill cotton tote bag. They measure 16″ x 15″ with a 3″ FULL SIDE GUSSET. Yes, this is a big reason why they rock. The elongated 1-1/4″ handles are 28″ long. Though not handmade, they are totally worthy of your handmade purchases at Strange Folk! Available in “Raspberry Beret” and “Electric Blueth”. A steal at $5 each!

Pre-Ordering Instructions: You know how to shop online! Add the stuff to your cart! Ok, here’s the deal though, you are going to need to pick-up your bag at Strange Folk. Please print your receipt and present it at the Strange Folk Festival info booth to pick-up your reserved bag(s). If you are admiring from afar and need your order shipped to you, please send an e-mail to strangefolkfestival@gmail.com with the style/quantity you wish to order, and your shipping address. We will e-mail you a custom invoice, and ship your bags no later than September 20th, 2009.

Pre-Order Deadline was AUGUST 31st, 2009. We will also have them for sale at the festival while supplies last!

Why Buy Handmade?

admin — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 21:45:44 +0000

We love Poppytalk’s recent blog post series, “101 Reason to Buy Handmade.” What better way to launch Strange Folk’s brand new site than to convince you to spend your hard earned cash on products by local makers rather than factory produced knock-offs from overseas. Here are some of our favorite quotes from this series:

Reason #14 – Human rights & ecological aspects. Buy handmade and you support a true artist. You can be sure that human rights are respected in the making of your gift. Handmade gifts are for many reasons often more ecological than mass produced: indie artists are superb recyclers (and we mustn’t forget upcycling, upcycled gifts are a big hit this year!) and of course handmade in most cases outlasts mass produced.

Reason #20 – The items are much more fashion forward….there is no “wait-time” for large businesses to design and then mass-produce. One indie designer can list something *today* that he/she made *today.* (So it wasn’t designed and planned last Christmas…for this Christmas)

Reason #48 – You make two people happy. (buyer and seller)

Reason #52 – ITS THE BEST WAY TO AVOID SHOPPING MALLS!

There are atleast 97 more reasons to buy handmade, and if you’re in the area…to buy handmade at Strange Folk this September! Preview all our vendors or explore specific item categories through our tag system (lovely ball-o-words dancing around on the right).

Blog Graphics for Starters!

admin — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 20:18:49 +0000

Our gnome is a bit of narcissist. He likes to live on your blogs and be posted all over your social networks on your internets. More printables and other graphic goodies coming very soon, but these should get you started.
The graphic to the left will work on most side bars, and the one below is a tad larger for placing in posts and such. Just right-click to download! Let us know if you need a special size or whatnot! Press inquiries can e-mail strangefolkfestival@gmail.com with any requests or questions.

Raspberry Beret

Electric Blueth