BENTONVILLE (KFSM) -- The Spanker Creek Farm Arts & Crafts Fair in Bentonville kicked off a big weekend for artisans and vendors in the region Wednesday (Oct. 12).
The Spanker Creek fair is one of nearly 10 fall craft fairs that will be up and running in Northwest Arkansas through Sunday. It is the first time Catherine Bersted's and her lavender products business are set up as in Bentonville.
"It's rainy, it's been raining all morning and there's still individuals out in their ponchos and their umbrellas and they're ready to shop and buy and ask questions," Bersted said. "You can tell that it's a tradition that people have been doing for years and years."
Bersted said her business, Lavender Falls Farm in Jamesville, Missouri, is the region's only lavender farm.
"People can't believe that lavender does grow in this area," she said. "I'm hoping to expand the knowledge of lavender. I hope to have a huge influx of questions from people wanting to grow and bring this natural herb to the Ozarks area."
She is also hoping to grow her business and a loyal clientele.
"Events like this are crucial for small businesses," Bersted said. "You're able to really sit one-on-one with different individuals as they come in and answer questions and then we can also share on social media and just be able to post a check-in and it just expands."
Earline Brown and her husband are set up at the fair too, but this is their fifth year selling handmade patio lights and rain gauges at Spanker Creek.
"He does the cutting of the wood and I stain it and then he puts it together and I put the bling on," Brown said. "So we got a mom and pop operation."
From here they head to Texas, but they are hoping to do one thing before they leave.
"That we sell a lot of product and everything," Brown said. "[That] our trailer is going to be empty when we go back and everything."
For the Spanker Creek craft fair schedule, click here.
The other craft fairs in the area start Thursday and include:
- War Eagle Fair, for more information click here
- War Eagle Mill Craft Fair, for more information click here
- Sharp's Show at War Eagle, for more information click here
- Bella Vista Arts & Crafts Festival, for more information click here
- Ozark Regional Arts & Crafts Show, for more information click here
- Frisco Station Mall Arts & Crafts Festival, for more information click here
- Rodeo of the Ozarks Arts & Crafts Festival, for more information click here