Lambtown Festival

Start: Saturday, October 7, 2023 9:00AM
End: Saturday, October 7, 2023 5:00PM

Lambtown Festival 2023 is Sheepy Fun for the Whole Family [DIXON, CA, September 17, 2023] The 37th annual Lambtown Festival, held Oct. 7th & 8th in Dixon, CA, aims to transform popular misconceptions about sheep and wool. “When most people think about wool, they’re thinking about a scratchy gift from grandma, or an itchy, heavy blanket,” says festival president Roy Clemes. “But wool is so much more than that. It was really the first miracle fiber, which is why humans started cultivating sheep thousands of years ago. It’s fire resistant. It keeps us cool when it’s hot out and warm when it’s cool out. It can absorb 30% of its weight in water. A garment made of wool is fully compostable, meaning it does not have to go to a landfill when it is no longer usable.” Vendors are known to encourage squishing their wares, a tactile experience that relays how soft and comfortable wool garments can be. Attendees to this two-day celebration of sheep, lamb, and wool will find enthusiastic instructors, demonstrators, and vendors ready to sing the praises of their favorite ruminant. Taking over the Dixon May Fairgrounds, the festival features three pavilions of fiber-arts-related vendors, workshops by renowned fiber arts teachers such as Jillian Moreno, Jacey Boggs Faulkner and Stephenie Gaustead, and competitions for hand-spun yarn, finished garments, and textiles. Spectators with a vested interest as well as the uninitiated find themselves mesmerized by the rhythms and pageantry of sheep breed and fleece competitions. A fan favorite is the Sheep to Shawl competition wherein a raw fleece is turned into a finished shawl by a team of spinners and weavers in a matter of hours. Popular demonstrations include sheep shearing and sheep herding, in which working dogs show off their abilities to drive, turn, and hold a flock of sheep at the shepherd’s command. New for this year is a circular sock machine crank-in, a demonstration of hand-operated knitting machines that can turn yarn into socks in a matter of hours. The festival derives its name from the fact the city of Dixon used to produce more lambs than any city in the country, earning itself the nickname “Lambtown USA” early in the 20th century. But there is little evidence of the burgeoning city’s sheepy past as fields that used to be home to sheep have been turned into housing tracts. A variety of activities are designed to entertain, educate, and re-normalize sheep and wool as an integral part of our daily lives. There is a sheep-themed outdoor play area for little ones to burn off some energy, along with Wooly Adventures, a hands-on learning experience for all ages, with make-and-takes and demonstrations of spinning, felting, and weaving, as well as sheep-themed crafts. Add to all this an array of food vendors with a special emphasis on lamb, live music featuring local bands, and convenient on-site tent and RV camping, and Lambtown Festival will be a weekend to remember for the whole family. Admission is $10 per day, with Weekend Passes available for $15 in advance or at the gate Entrance is free to children 17 and under, and kids activities are free. Parking is free. To order your tickets, view the schedule, reserve a campsite, or register for workshops and competitions, visit http://www.lambtown.org.