Valle Country Fair
October 18 @ 9:00 am - 4:00 pm
Prices vary. See website.
Started as a small church bazaar to raise money to build a parish hall, the Valle Country Fair has turned into a major attraction attended by ten thousand people a year. The combination crafts fair, mountain music jam and harvest festival now raises funds for human service organizations in Avery & Watauga Counties, generating more than $1.3 million for people in need since the event’s founding 46 years ago.
Always held on the third Saturday in October, the 2024 Valle Fair is happening Saturday, October 19, on the grounds of the Valle Crucis Conference Center on NC Highway 194 from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. Festivities include crafts, food, children’s activities and mountain music. Admission is free and ample parking is available adjacent to the Fair for a fee.
The event takes place in a huge meadow between a picturesque red barn and a field planted with sorghum. The tents of more than 100 craft exhibitors line wide lanes that meander back and forth across the grounds. Bales of hay are stacked in the intersections of these alleys to offer fairgoers a spot to sit as they ponder which craft booths to visit next.
Handmade is the organizing principle behind the arts and crafts items available for sale at the Fair In addition to insuring that all work is made by artists’ hands, organizers jury the craft vendors see that there is a wide variety of creative products available to shoppers. Craft shopping is even more fun for fairgoers when they know that the exhibitors donate at least ten percent of their proceeds back to the charitable work of the Fair.
Two stages are set up to provide entertainment throughout the day. The main stage is for homegrown mountain music, while a smaller venue presents story tellers, folk dancing and other children’s entertainment.
Guests can feel good about pigging out at the Valle Country Fair because most of the food concessions are operated by the church or other non-profit organizations that dedicate 100 percent of their proceeds to community service. Tables and chairs are provided under a large tent located near the main stage so that fairgoers can enjoy the music while they dine.
Food concessions include Brunswick Stew, barbecue, chili, hot dogs and hamburgers, sausage with onions, ice cream, funnel cakes, baked goods, jams and jellies, fresh-pressed apple cider, and hot-out-of-the kettle apple butter.
