The 38th Annual Center Grove Craft Fair is kicking off this Saturday, Oct. 31 at 8 a.m. … virtually!
Last year the in-person event garnered 5,000+ in attendance and a record number of vendor participants, over 300.
Fast forward 365 days and COVID-19 threatened to completely nix the event. Even though many restrictions have been lifted, the volunteer committee couldn’t find a feasibly safe venue to hold an in-person event. Without any physical options the craft fair is going virtual.
The decision to go virtual is to solely help local vendors – over 150 small businesses. Many of them depend on the Center Grove Craft Fair for much needed income. Amy Chandler, committee volunteer, stated, “We figured out how to create an interactive map and booth pages, and let vendors upload their info.” The site will go live on Oct. 31 at 8 a.m., the date the in-person craft fair was supposed to take place. Most vendors decided stay as a vendor this year, but virtually. “We are super excited,” said committee chair, Becky Stambaugh. We are also partnering with local businesses to host vendors’ products throughout the holiday season and support us in other ways like Shop to Donate. We plan to have different campaigns from the kick-off through Dec. 20 to help facilitate sales for our vendors.
The public is encouraged to join the Center Grove Craft Fair – VIP Group on Facebook to support all the participating virtual vendors. Group membership surged in the past 24 hours from 200 to 1,300 members. Several sales have taken place, too.
New Website: centergrovevirtualcraftfair.com.
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The Center Grove Craft Fair has been a staple of the Johnson County community for 37 years. The event is powered by multiple volunteers from the CGHS Football Program and is an important fundraiser for student-athletes.
