Washington plans annual craft fair for Saturday

WASHINGTON - Washington's annual craft fair is happening this Saturday with nearly 100 vendors.

The 31st annual fair will take place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Central Park, with thousands of one-of-a-kind items.

Jewelry, clothing, pet items, homemade soaps, seasonal décor and more will be available. The fair accepts vendors of all types and Washington Chamber of Commerce event coordinator Alisha Davis said the variety of vendors is important because people have many tastes and styles.

The number of vendors this year is similar to previous years. A few of the vendors are local to Washington, but many are from all over Iowa, some coming from Missouri, Illinois and South Dakota., Davis said.

There are also six food vendors including, Stone Wall Brick Oven Pizza, Salty Hog BBQ, Cheryl's Ice Cream Shack, Gabby's Snacks, Lugo's Gourmet Popcorn and Sweet P's Concessions.

Free chalk painting tutorials are being held at the bandstand by RePurpose It. Tutorials are 15 minutes and will take place at 9:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m., and 1 p.m.

The vendors will be spread out in and around the central park with at least 10 feet of space between each. Masks are required for vendors and strongly recommended for attendees. For additional safety, sanitizer will be provided by each vendor and their temperatures will be checked at registration.

Signage will be up to promote social distancing and hand washing and additional hand washing stations will be available.

On Friday, the Chamber of Commerce will decided it the event needs to be postponed due to weather. If that does occur, their fair will take place the following Saturday, Sept. 19.

Davis said people can make a morning or a day out of the event and spend time eating food and checking out the different vendors.