Taos Wool Festival website: The Annual Wool Festival at Taos Immerse yourself in the more than 400 years of wool tradition as New Mexico, Colorado and Texas breeders and fiber artists celebrate the 23rd year of the Taos Wool Festival on October 7 & 8. Join us in Kit Carson Park for two days of family fun ~ a look at traditional and contemporary fiber artistry, an opportunity to get up close and personal with sheep, goats, rabbits, alpacas and llamas, and an invitation for kids to try their hand at a fiber project.
Don Juan Ońate first brought the sturdy churro sheep to the region in 1598 as a walking commissary and fiber source for his small group of settlers. The churros quickly became a major basis of subsistence for both these newcomers and the indigenous people. Generations later, wool growing and fiber artistry maintain their economic viability for the people of the mountains and valleys who have added new artistic techniques and exotic products to traditional wools.
Within the circle of tents you will find vendors displaying a rainbow of natural and dyed yarns, woven, knitted, crocheted, and felted into wearables, tapestry and rugs. Raw wool fiber, wool prepared for spinning, yarns, tools, equipment and books tempt the novice to begin a project and the expert to expand horizons. Look for wool in more forms than you ever imagined… from more sheep breeds than you knew existed. And don’t forget to feel the exotic fibers…. mohair, cashmere, alpaca, llama and, angora rabbit.
Our Vendors are a select group - juried into the Wool Festival from among the membership of the Mountain and Valley Wool Association (MAVWA), which produces the annual Wool Festival. Only U.S. animal fibers are allowed in the fiber products at Wool Festival, and most of these fibers should come from Colorado, New Mexico and Texas – the regions that MAVWA exists to promote fiber from. Quality is of course, high. For more Membership/Vendor jurying information, please contact:
membership@taoswoolfestival.org.
The Tents scattered around the center of the park are well worth a visit for those interested in the Wool and Fleece Competition, Handspun Yarn Competition, the Garment and Home Accessories Competition and Demonstrations of wool handling techniques.
The Information booth, also among the central tents, is where you can find, not only information, but the official collectable Wool Festival T-Shirts and Canvas Bags. These special shirts and Bags are designed for each year of the festival and go quickly.
Keep the Wool Festival spirit all year-round by ordering souvenir WF Logo Items from our NEW Promo & Souvenirs page! Help fund the festival by purchasing these goodies!
On Sunday the Silent Auction will be held in a central tent. The Auction is a major fundraiser for production of the Wool Festival and the items come both from our wonderful, generous vendors and other equally wonderful supporters of the Festival.
The “Fiber Critters Showcase” and two days of shearing demonstrations are both reminders that before the shawl wound its way around your shoulders, the hat graces your head, the blanket covered your bed or the rug your floor, there was a living, breathing fiber critter keeping warm with those fibers, which are renewed each year. Now you have an opportunity to see various sheep breeds, angora goats that give us mohair fiber, alpacas, llamas and angora rabbits. Talk with breeders about the care and feeding of their animals… about an agricultural life style… and about what drew them to the fiber industry. Do you need a break? Wend your way among the central tents and follow the delicious scents to delectable eats! Lamb delicacies, vegetarian choices, goat cheese, scones, cinnamon roasted almonds, cold drinks, hot coffee provide food for the body, while Taos musicians provide food for the soul. Find a grassy spot for a seat and enjoy the passing activities.
No entrance fee Time: 9:00 am – 5:00 pm each day
