We checked out food and arts festival CRAFT over the weekend. It was a cozy, community-supported event that reminded us how small intimate gathers can help people connect with one another in a way blockbuster festivals can’t.
The Drinking Partners had a craft beer sampling booth, The Sleeping Iron Foundry held clay sculpting workshops and design studio Fictive Fingers showed off some pretty textiles. Without a giant crowd to attend to, the reps from each business had enough time to really talk to attendees and explain their products and services.
One of the most interesting stalls was run by non-profit literary arts company Word Forward. Associate artist manager Marc Nair turned a bunch of pictures he took on a holiday in Eastern Europe into postcards. Each guest picked one, and then told him what they thought of it. You could tell him anything—it was sort of like free association. After that, guests left him for 15 minutes and he worked on a special message, just for each individual, based on what they told him. It’s was like light-hearted psychoanalysis. Plus, participants got to keep the postcard as a nice memento.
Fun, experimental and not-too-serious, CRAFT was a real and human escape from the city’s too-many flashy performances and events. Here’s to the next edition.
