The Prairie City Fiber Fest, July 25-27, features workshops and shopping for all things fiber. (Justin Davis/Blue Mountain Eagle)

PRAIRIE CITY — After a one-year hiatus, Prairie City Fiber Fest is back.

The sixth annual Fiber Fest runs Friday, July 25, through Sunday, July 27, and welcomes a large variety of fiber vendors from all over the Northwest and beyond to showcase their wares in downtown Prairie City.

Last year’s event was cancelled due to road closures and wildfire smoke.

Fiber Fest attendees will have their choice of 14 workshops, covering various topics, including ice dyeing, pine needle and wicker-style basketry, and needle felting. Workshops are held all three days — register at prairiecityfiberfest.com.

Shoppers will be able to find everything from raw fleece and roving to colorful plied yarns and finished handcrafted items. Shopping hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. July 26 and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. July 27.

Prairie City Fiber Fest Board President Trish Lindaman said vendors at the event seem to prefer the smaller setting at Prairie City, as opposed to the massive festivals elsewhere.

“We’ve been going since 2019 and there are about 10 vendors that have come here every year,” she said. “Last year, when we had to cancel, 99% of our vendors said, ‘we’re going to come back next year, just keep my money (because) we’ll be back.’”

Calico Farm Fiber Art, Westwynd Fiber, Rabbit Hill Wool Mill, Stacy’s Wool & Whimsy and Felting Fiber will be making their first appearance at the Prairie City festival.

One of the goals of the Fiber Fest is to draw tourists to Prairie City and Grant County. As the only multi-day event in Prairie City, Lindaman said she thinks Fiber Fest’s efforts have had a positive effect on the city’s businesses and residents.

“In addition to fondling all this fun fiber, whether it’s yarn or fleeces or a shawl or a hat — we also want to get people to visit Eastern Oregon,” she said. “It’s an attempt to, yes, pull all these fiber people here, but it is also an attempt to draw (other) people here.”

Fiber Fest awards a $1,000 scholarship each year to a graduating Grant County FFA or 4-H member. This year’s recipients are Prairie City graduate Skylar McKay and Grant Union graduate Monell Anderson.

For those who have heard about the Prairie City Fiber Fest but have yet to attend the event, Lindaman quoted Nike’s famous slogan by saying, “Just do it.”

“Even if you never want to learn how to knit or spin or weave, there are still things that you could purchase here,” she said. “You can talk to all these experts and they love talking about their craft — because we’re not this enormous fiber show that you have in other places, you will get one-on-one experience here with people who know their craft.”

To find out more about the Prairie City Fiber Fest, including its schedule, visit www.prairiecityfiberfest.com.