5 things we love about the Mulberry Street Arts & Crafts Festival

The oldest festival to be held in Macon is a not-to-be-missed event.

The 47th annual Mulberry Street Arts & Crafts Festival will be held 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday. The weather forecast for the weekend appears to be peach-perfect for lookers and shoppers at the outdoor arts and crafts festival, but it will be held rain or shine.

The festival, sponsored annually by the Middle Georgia Art Association, is held along two blocks of Mulberry Street between Second Street and Broadway in downtown Macon.

Here are five things we love about the festival:

1. Plenty of vendors

The free event will have 198 vendors, mostly from the Southeast, and it attracts thousands of visitors from all over the country. So it’s a way to support artists and crafters — some who do it for a living.

 

Visitors line Mulberry Street during the annual Mulberry Street Festival in 2015. JASON VORHEES / jvorhees@macon.com

2. Lots of unique items

Enjoy shopping in a single place for a variety of one-of-a-kind items, from handmade jewelry to wooden bowls and children’s clothing to artwork. Where else can you do that in Macon?

 

Curtis Cecil of High Point, North Carolina, uses a flame to color glass he intends to make into pendants at his booth during the Mulberry Street Festival in 2014. JASON VORHEES / jvorhees@macon.com

3. Watch how it’s done

In some cases, you can watch the crafters make items at the festival — a leather vendor makes personalized items while you wait. Some vendors make items out of recycled materials, such as a kid’s swing out of an old tire.

 

Jim Owens hangs a handmade recycled tire horse swing along Mulberry Street in preparation of the Mulberry Street Festival in 2014. JASON VORHEES / jvorhees@macon.com

4. Do some decorating

You could find something you didn’t know you wanted or could use for yourself or do some early Christmas shopping. You could decorate the interior of your home or your garden with something you won’t find at your neighbor’s house.

 

Kris Kraft places a purchased metal garden butterfly under a Yoshino cherry tree behind her booth at the Mulberry Street Festival in 2015. JASON VORHEES / jvorhees@macon.com

5. Catch up with friends

Even if you don’t come to buy, it’s a social event. You will run into friends and neighbors you may have not seen in a while, or you just saw the day before. Sometimes families of more than one generation get together for the event. Or a group of longtime friends make a day of it together.

 

Beth Morris, left, walks along side her mother Betty Brooks, center and mother-in-law Connie Morris at the Mulberry Street Festival in 2014. JASON VORHEES / jvorhees@macon.com

This story was originally published March 30, 2017 at 1:45 PM with the headline "5 things we love about the Mulberry Street Arts & Crafts Festival."