– Tara McGee, a potter from Raleigh, will be participating in the largest pottery festival in North Carolina.
She will be joined by some of the premier potters throughout the Southeast. With more than 130 artists showcasing their wares, the event brings the largest selection of traditional, contemporary, utilitarian and fine art pieces to one location.
The 5th Annual Sanford Pottery Festival will be held on Saturday and Sunday, May 6-7, at the Dennis A. Wicker Civic Center campus in Sanford.
TRANE/Joyner and Dickens Heating and Air Conditioning, Inc., Central Carolina Hospital, Kangaroo Convenience Stores, Caterpillar, Wyeth, Progress Energy and Roy Mashburn Investments are major sponsors of the event.
Master potter Kenneth Neilsen, of Sanford, will be the featured potter. Since the festival’s inception, nearly 50,000 collectors and pottery enthusiasts from throughout North Carolina and neighboring states have enjoyed the show.
And so have children. Each one will receive a free half-pound bag of authentic stoneware clay just for attending the show. In the Teacher’s Tent, an area will be set up for children and parents to glaze and fire a pot to take home. The cost of each unglazed pot is $15.
Because of the popularity of the event, organizers have made the event more shopper-friendly with wider aisles, larger booths, more room to walk and browse and plenty of parking.
Sanford is located in the central region of North Carolina and has traditionally been considered a part of the famous Seagrove area potters.
“Pottery enjoys a rich past in North Carolina,” says festival founder Don Hudson. “Our focus in Sanford is to celebrate the fact that pottery in our state has a brighter future. New technologies, better equipment, information and raw materials allow artists to design more durable pottery with new styles, glazes and textures.”
The 5th Annual Sanford Pottery Festival will be open on Saturday, May 6, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Sunday, May 7, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is $5 per person. Groups with 10 or more members may purchase discounted tickets for $3.50 by calling 919-777-9933. The deadline to order group tickets is April 30. Parking is free. The Dennis A. Wicker Civic Center is located at 1801 Nash Street, in Sanford. For more information, call (919) 777-9933 or visit www.sanfordpottery.com.
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