Kings Mountain Art Fair

50th Annual Kings Mountain Art Fair

For 50 years now, every Labor Day weekend, a magical transformation
occurs in the redwood forest just 30 miles south of San Francisco.
Artist booths pop up around the Kings Mountain Fire Station like
mushrooms overnight, local beer and wine begins to flow, and a
harpsichord plays softly in the background. The forest becomes an
outdoor gallery displaying some of the finest handmade arts and crafts
on the West Coast.




More than 400 community members of all ages create the
transformation. Local volunteers look forward to this weekend all year
long, which is why the person handing you a map as you enter the fair is
beaming so brightly, and why the folks at the grill are laughing and
dancing as they serve up thousands of hamburgers. Fairgoers tell us the
enthusiasm is infectious.




Other art fair directors have approached us over the years asking how
they can recreate this magic. But it’s more alchemy than recipe – you
can’t build this sense of community and tradition overnight.




Local residents started the Art Fair in 1963 as a fundraiser to help
create a volunteer fire company for the remote Kings Mountain community.
The first fair, held in a red barn, featured mostly local artists and
raised $50.




The fair has only grown since, and now has a reputation among artists
and fairgoers alike as one of the best art shows on the West Coast. It
was recently ranked in the Top Five Fine Art Fairs in California by the
Art Fair SourceBook (2011).




Families will find lots of old-fashioned, fun activities, including
face painting, balloon shapes, and various crafts and games in Kiddie
Hollow (open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.)




The grill serves a pancake breakfast, including eggs and sausage, as
well as satisfying “fair food” for lunch, including burgers, corn on the
cob, chili, nachos, and more. Our volunteers at the cook shack seek out
the highest quality ingredients every year, like 100% natural beef. And
the Kings Mountain Elementary School has dessert covered with Grandma
Jenny’s famous giant cookies.




Proceeds from the Art Fair go back to the community, still supporting
the Kings Mountain Volunteer Fire Brigade, which responds to more than
150 emergencies a year, and the Kings Mountain Elementary School, a
3-room school for grades K-5.




Visitors can park along Skyline Boulevard and catch the complimentary
trolley to the fair, which stops at designated locations about two
miles north and south of the main fair entrance.




Because much of the art is fragile, dogs and bicycles are not
permitted on the fair grounds. Bicycle racks are available. And since
the location is the coastal redwood forest, we strongly recommend
dressing in layers, as temperatures can vary dramatically through the
day.