2023 DATE: October 6-8, 2023
AUTHOR’S NOTE: Since this review, the festival has changed cities.
This post documents my experience on September 29, 2012.
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When I arrived at the Darke County Fairgrounds…
…vendors were setting up piles of gourds based on type…
…dividing warty gourds…
…smooth roundish gourds…
…bowling pin gourds…
…goose-necked gourds…
…and alien gourds..
(None of these are the official names, by the way.)
But I knew these gourds weren’t for eating…
.
…and the food vendors were rather limited….
…so what brought people to Ohio Gourd Show for these past 50 years?
It only took a watchful eye to understand the appeal…
…for as I walked down the path of vendors…
…and made my way through the piles of interestingly shaped crop…
…I realized that people turned gourds into decoration…
…heads and pigs…
…and even musical instruments (Story Gourd Workshop).
I snapped pictures like crazy, amazed by the creative uses I saw…
…but this was before I even entered the Coliseum.
(FOR THE EXTRA GOURD PICS – CLICK HERE).
Inside, the upper level was occupied primarily by vendors…
…who not only sold more creative gourd items (The Gourdnut Shop)…
…they showed you how you could play them…
…play with them…
…and get yourself set up to decorate your own (Blue Whale/Caning Shop).
And, believe me, after going to the lower level and seeing the judged pieces of art…
…I actually considered it.
My mind was blown away by the flow of creativity that made…
…whale lamps…
…drums…
…headgear…
…manger scenes…
…kitty memorials…
…and giant fish tackle.
In fact, in an adjoining building…
…some festival goers disappeared…
…to practice their hand at the various workshops taking place.
The rest of us decided to relax and enjoy the music (Rum River Blend)!