Fernie foodies were in heaven on Sunday as local bakers and cooks showcased their culinary skills, and farmers their fresh produce.
The Fernie Fall Fair and Mountain Market featured market stalls, apple cider pressing and blue ribbon contests, as well as traditional fall fair games and live music.
Wildsight’s Courtney Baker and Casey Brennan had the privilege of judging entries in the blue ribbon contests, which ranged from preserves and cider to homegrown vegetables.
For $2, festival-goers could sample chillis and pies, and cast their vote for the people’s choice award.
Entries were down in some blue ribbon categories this year, which Brennan attributed to the wet weather.
Going forward, he said Wildsight would try to connect with past entrants in an effort to boost numbers.
“We just want to celebrate people’s efforts towards food security and growing your own food, and health and sustainability,” he said.
“These are core values for Wildsight – promoting and providing and showcasing people doing what they can to improve community health and improve community sustainability, that’s really important.”
Zucchini races were a new addition to the fall fair program and well received, according to Brennan, with prizes for best dressed vegetable.
“That was a big hit even in the pouring rain, we had a huge crowd over there, people were loving that,” he said.
“Everyone came back from it saying ‘oh that’s a winner, we’ve got to do that one next year’ so that was a cool addition.”
Fernie fibre artist spins a yarn
The dying arts of spinning, yarn dying and blacksmithing have been revived at the Fernie Fall Fair.
This year’s event featured demonstrations by local tradespeople and artists, including the Fernie Spinners and Weavers Guild.
Members of the guild dyed yarn using onion skins, while fibre artist Cathy Smith-Clark demonstrated how to make yarn from animal hair on her spinning wheel.
“People have no idea what you can do with what you brush out of a long haired dog,” she said.
The Fernie woman studied primitive weaving in her 20s before being drawn to spinning by a chance encounter with a woman who taught her how to make yarn from dog hair.
“Ever since then I’ve really loved spinning, it’s relaxing, it’s therapy for me,” said Smith-Clark.
“I can’t think about my problems when I’m spinning or I’ll screw up the yarn. It’s really fun and I love that you don’t have to hurt the animal to spin their hair.”
Smith-Clark attends “spin ins” with other spinners in the area, using the yarn to make presents for friends and family,
She said events such as the Fall Fair helped to revive interest in the dying art.
“People are very curious and a lot of times people come up to me and they say ‘my grandmother used to spin’ and then we can talk about the grandmother and her spinning and what she made… it’s really fun and the guild is really good. We help people by having little weaving and spinning courses,” she said.
