Artisans sought for Ocrafolk Festival

February 18, 2021 | Island Features | From The: Ocracoke Observer

Ocrafolk artisan booths typically situated along School Road and Howard Street during the Ocrafolk Festival will be relocated to the Berkley Manor for this year’s scaled back festival. Photo: C. Leinbach

The Ocrafolk Festival this year will be scaled back, relocated to the Berkley Manor grounds and is seeking local and regional artisans to sell their work.

Musician lineup, sponsor and ticket info will be announced soon.

Ocracoke Village received significant damage from Hurricane Dorian on Sept. 6, 2019, and reconstruction is still underway at Ocracoke School, the Ocracoke Methodist Church and Howard Street.

That’s why the festival this year will be centered around the Berkley Manor property near the National Park Service parking lot, which is where the festival originally began in 2000.

Because the COVID-19 pandemic is still a concern, the festival will operate on half-size audience capacity and half-budget, and will practice pandemic safety protocols, David Tweedie, festival executive director, said in a press release.

“Many of our Ocrafolk Festival attendees are in the highest risk category for the coronavirus,” he said. “We want to make sure that everyone stays healthy, and that we do our part to help control this health crisis so that we can look forward to many future years of gathering under the live oaks for great performances.”

Using COVID-19 safety guidelines and regardless of the status of vaccines, all participants and attendees will be required to wear face masks covering nose and mouth.

In the performance areas, access will be restricted to a set number of people and all seating will be reserved using safe distancing protocol.

The Artisan booth areas will be adjacent to the performance areas. So, you will be able to hear the music, but artisans won’t be able to enter the audience areas unless they have a reserved ticket and seat for the specific performance time.

Since artisan booths will not be located within the restricted seating areas, shoppers will be able to access your booth even if they don’t have an admission ticket.

In past years, all artisans received passes to wander the performance grounds freely. Due to COVID-19 safety guidelines and restrictions this year, admission to performance areas will be restricted to audience members who have purchased reserved tickets and have received assigned seating for specific times.

Artisans are juried and selections of the artisans will reflect the festival committee’s desire to exhibit quality and variety. Applications are due by March 15. To access the application, click the Ocracoke Alive website here.