A unique festival is coming to Orillia Saturday.
Marie Sternberg and Shelia Klugeschied are the organizers behind Sunshine Fibre Fest which will bring diverse vendors, demonstrations, live animals and more to ODAS Park from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
“We went to a fibre fest not long ago in Woodstock and thought we really need to see this up in Simcoe County,” Sternberg said. “We want to make this an annual event that attracts knitters, crochet spinners, weavers, and slow cookers.”
Sternberg says fibre festivals in Toronto can tend to be commercialized, while the Orillia event will have a more local feel.
“We want to get back to basics and where the fibre comes from,” she said. “We want it to be local and small scale.”
While the event will share a farmers’ market-like atmosphere and celebrates the local community, Sternberg has also managed to score a weaver coming from B.C. and a lady with qiviut fibre coming from Alberta.
The event also features live animals including alpacas and angora rabbits. The goal of the event is to promote fibre to the next generation.
“We want kids to learn where we get fibre from and how we make things from it,” Sternberg said. “I think crafts are really important and I want people to realize how relatively easy it is to do this stuff yourself.”
Using animal fibre is also a more green way of living rather than using synthetics Sternberg says.
“Knowing how to make things for yourself and knowing how to sew things is just so important,” she said. “With COVID I think a lot of people got involved with crafts again and realized there is a lot of satisfaction to get out of it.”
Working with fibre also teaches people to appreciate the work that goes into making things that are used daily such as clothes.
“It’s a heritage craft and I don’t want to ever lose it,” she said. “It’s basic that we should make stuff for ourselves rather than always going out to buy things, that way we value stuff more.”
Sternberg, the owner of Greenelf Arts & Crafts, has been involved with the crafts community now for 30 years in the Barrie area. However, Orillia is close to Sternberg’s heart which is why she elected to host the event at ODAS Park.
“Orillia is a nice rural setting,” she said. “It’s also very accessible to the surrounding communities.”
Admission for the event is just $5 and $3 for children 12-years-old and under.
