The Little Festival That Could

Kelly pulled Saturday's destination out of the 'Weekend' section of the newspaper; the Gill Fall Arts and Crafts Festival. In Gill, naturally. We zoomed up about noontime, with fairly sunny skies and a good dabble of color remaining on the roadside trees.



Until we got way north, just above Greenfield. Then the trees were beginning to look somewhat more wintry.



But that was just a small, early patch of bareness. Over all, there is still plenty of foliage left. Sometimes you have to see the forest through the trees. The Gill Craft festival is going on until Sunday. It's not very big in area, by any means. Just a smattering of tents around a big house, really.







But what it lacks in square footage, it makes up for in quality products from the local arts and crafters. There was a good crowd there, proportion-wise to the size of the event. And everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves.

There was plenty of burgers and other grilled food being served up, and this excellent band was providing background music for the perusers.



That's right, that's a homemade bass; just a tub, a stick and some string.



Here's a sampling of their talent:



Nearby, a couple of young modern day blacksmiths were heating up and working iron into useful shapes.







Right next to them, a gentleman was showing kids how to cut up and press apples.



They may or may not have been in cahoots with this guy, selling cider.



There were three - er- sorry, two hens watching the festival goings-ons...



On the other side of the house, most of the tents were pitched, and the local artisans were displaying and creating their crafts.





I thought this very talented artist's paintings were extraordinary.





Her name is Linda Whiting, and her small paintings had an almost photographic quality to them. From a short distance away you could barely tell the difference.



Check out the luminosity of the clouds in this one:



There appeared to be much talent at this festival, and many ideas.







Old skates, wood saws, muffin trays, plates; anything with paintable, or reasonably paintable surfaces, are reborn.





For such a small festival, Gill's was pretty good; further evidence of the strong artistic talents, on all levels, that the Pioneer Valley possesses.