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A crafts renaissance at the L.A. County Fair

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The end of summer inevitably brings the stories about county fairs and the deep-frying of everything on the planet. (Fried, chocolate-dipped, bacon-wrapped Oreo, anyone?) But this year another story has emerged from the L.A. County Fair: a crafts story. It turns out that craft submissions are up. Substantially.

As writer Veronique de Turenne reports:

‘In recent years, indie craft fairs such as Felt Club, Renegade and Unique L.A. have let younger ‘makers’ showcase their monster dolls, silk-screened alt T-shirts and chic letterpress stationery, but if the spike in the number of participants is any indication, the crafts renaissance has circled back to one of its traditional homes here in L.A. County. ... In 2009, 694 contestants entered 1,940 items in the fair. This year, 750 people made 2,248 items to be judged. Crafts contestants ranged in age from 17 to over 90.’

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Read more about this year’s uptick in crafts at the L.A. County Fair, which runs through Oct. 3, or check out our photo gallery for a peek at some of the best of the 2010 fair crafts.

-- Deborah Netburn

Top photo: A mosaic by Susan Helms. Credit: Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times

P.S.: While we’re on the topic of the L.A. County Fair, I can’t resist adding this link to a 2007 story about competitive table setting at the fair. I remember loving it. Hope you enjoy!

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