More than 100 craft and food vendors will soon be gathering at Audubon State Park in Henderson for the annual Lions Arts and Crafts Festival.
What started as a small arts and crafts festival 50-years ago, and grew large enough to attract over 20,000 people, is once again growing. This year’s festival will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 7 and Sunday, Oct. 8. The only admission will be $5 to park.
Some of the crafts you will find this year include stained glass, hand-stamped jewelry, seasonal door hangers, homemade soaps and candles, custom framed prints, suncatchers, wood crafts, pottery, T-shirts, kitchen towels and placemats, handmade toys, crochet, wildlife crafts, hand-made plates and bowls, quilts and much more. It’s also a great place to find, fall, Halloween and Christmas decorations.
Food booths will be selling tenderloins, chicken and dumplings, BBQ pork, tacos, burittos, hot dogs, hamburgers, popcorn and kettlecorn, cinnamon rolls and lemon shake-ups.
About 5,000 to 6,000 people attended the festival last year. This will be the eighth time the Henderson Lions have put on the festival, which has been around in some form since the 1970s.
Money raised stays in Henderson and supports eye conservation, including eyeglasses and eye surgeries for those who cannot afford them, eye screening first, third, fifth, and seventh-graders in Henderson Schools, scholarships for local high school seniors and grants for local non-profit organization.
The festival started as the Big Rivers Arts and Crafts Festival in the 1970s and later became the Green River Area development District Arts and Crafts Festival. The Henderson Lions have coordinated the festival since 2015.