March 14, 2026 • 15 mins
Lovers of the fiber arts and all things witchy are making their way to Salem, Massachusetts next month for the upcoming Fiber Witch Festival! With trolley tours, a maker's market, and a special sea-themed gala, it's an enchantingly creative celebration of crafters and the supernatural. Ana Campos, the festival's founder and owner of Circle of Stitches in Salem, joins Nichole to share all the details.
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
From WBZ News Radio in Boston. This is New England Weekend.
Each week right here, we come together and talk about
all the topics important to you and the place where
you live. Thanks for tuning in again this week. I'm
Nicole Davis. One of the benefits about such a bitterly
cold winter is that you've got plenty of time to
sit inside and get under a cozy blanket, grab a
warm cup of tea, and work on fiber arts projects.
(00:31):
Fiber arts are anything from knitting to quilting, crocheting, weaving.
There's all kinds, and honestly, they're a great way to
calm your mind and keep your hands busy. For me,
they are also a really good way to test your patients.
I mostly am kidding here now. Salem, of course, is
a city that's got deep ties to all things supernatural
and witchy, but it's also home to fiber artists who
(00:51):
love to integrate all things mystical into their work. So
in Salem next a month, you're going to find the
Fiber Witch Festival setting up. Let's learn all about it
now with the founder of the festival on a campus.
She is also the owner of Circle of Stitches and
the Toil and Trouble Studio in Salem. An, it's great
to have you here on the show. So tell us
a bit more about this festival, how you came up
(01:12):
with the idea, and how it all came together.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Well. So, I think that sometimes people get a little
bit scared when they hear witchcraft and what that means, right,
And so when we say witchcraft, we're really talking about,
you know, being in tune with nature, with the elements,
with you know, the movements of the earth. But also
it's a space for people who sort of feel like
they're on the fringes, right, Folks who feel like they
(01:35):
are outsiders and don't have a place where they belong.
They tend to be attracted right by all the different
things that witchcraft can mean, because there's not just one definition.
And so it's really a place where people can come
and feel comfortable being themselves and knowing that they're going
to be seen and held and supported. I own Circle
of Stitches, which is the yarn shop here in Salem,
(01:57):
and Circle of Stitches is a play on Circle of Witches.
You know, I cracked myself up, but for many years
I sort of wondered if people would be interested in
visiting Salem in sort of a different way than what
we usually see the usual tourism. Folks who are into
knitting and crochet and fiber arts tend to be really passionate,
and we have big events all over the country, and
(02:20):
I really wanted to do something that was our special
flavor of what we could offer. I love Salem and
I love yarn, and I figured other people might as well.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
So I really percolated on this idea, honestly for several
years before I even did anything, because I had, you know,
all the self doubt of would anyone even care about
this idea? And then a few years ago I was
sitting down with my amazing friend Emily, who co organizes
with me, and I said, Hey, I'm thinking of doing
(02:51):
this sort of witchy fiber festival in Salem. What do
you think? And she says, that sounds amazing and I'd
love to help you. And so, you know, we got
to plan it and sort of figuring out what we
wanted to do. And here we are going into our
third year and you know, I'm based here in Salem,
my own circle of stitches, but Emily's actually based in Louisville.
She owns a business called Kitty with a Cupcake and
(03:12):
she helps organize remotely and then she flies up the
week before for the event.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
Oh wow, that is dedication right there, because Louisville's not close.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Right.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
Well, let's talk then a little bit about what exactly
goes on when it comes to planning a festival like this,
because festival planning is not easy as it is, but
there are a lot of different moving parts here when
it comes to okay, how do you find people who
are going to sell stuff? And how do you find
people who are going to demonstrate things? What has it
been like putting this together?
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Been really fun and challenging in different ways. You know,
the first time that we did this, we're going into
our thirtyear now, but the first year, I'm going to
be really honest. You know, we put this out there
and I said, well, I hope people show up. And
then when we went to open the doors, we had
a line going down Essex Street around the corner and
(04:03):
we were just like, oh my goodness, what have we done?
And so from there we really got the idea of
you know, people really obviously people want to come to Salem,
but our target audience knitters and crochetters they want to
come too, and so from there it's kind of grown. Right.
The main event was the market, which happens at Old
(04:23):
Town Hall, and it's a mix of indie yarn vendors
and folks who do sort of witchy art and things
that are adjacent to knitting, but all with that same vibe.
And since then we've expanded to do private trolley tours.
We rent out the Salem Trolley and so folks can
knit and crochet on the trolley tour. We have our
own walking tour. We have a whole ball that happens
(04:45):
at the Hotel Salem. This year, the theme is Song
of the Sea, so everything is about you know, like
sea witchery and ocean magic, and so we have the
Sware of the Sea at the Hotel Salem. So it's
really really grown. I've been in the fiber industry for
a very long time. I opened my shop in twenty fifteen,
and even before that I was hand dying yarns under
(05:06):
the label Toil and Trouble. I have a die studio
here in Salem, so we had a lot of industry
connections as well, and so for our first year we
put out a call to vendors, but I also just
reached out to people that I knew in the industry
who sort of had that witchie vibe, who were creating
their own yard, and said, hey, we're doing this festival.
(05:26):
It's the first year. Are you willing to sort of
take a chance on us? And now we have folks
who apply from all over the country, and people fly
in from all over the country and also abroad, so
it's really amazing and exciting.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
Sure, Salem is so popular. I mean it has been
for so long anyway, but I know so many people
who live in Salem who tell me these days it
seems like September first comes around and Salem is packed.
It's not just for Halloween anymore. Frankly, Salem is getting
busy all year round, and it's not just for your
typical Halloween stuff. I think that people are finally coming
(06:00):
to see everything that the beautiful city of Salem has
to offer.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
That's definitely true. And honestly, when I looked at the calendar,
are sort of went, Okay, when is Salem not busy?
And that's when I want to bring folks here. So
that's why we picked April. And now we have close
to two thousand people who come.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
Wow, okay, two thousand people. That is a lot, and
you said from all over the country. So it's probably
a good thing that you've got all these different venues
that you're working with, right.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
So we have hotel blocks at four hotels around town.
You know, we've really created a lot of partnerships, and
you know, we didn't expect it was going to be
this big when we started the first year. So when asked,
you have hotel blots and I was like, I didn't
think him one would be coming from that far. So no,
but for next year, yes, you know, last year we
rented out two trolleys. This year we're about to contract
(06:48):
our sixth because we've already sold out with five of them.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
Sounds overwhelming, but in the best way.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
Yes, that's a good way to describe it.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
Here on the show. I've talked about five or arts
a couple times before, but if you could, because you're
somebody who's been in this industry a long time and
been surrounded by fiber arts, what are you noticing when
it comes to people taking to the arts in that way?
Speaker 2 (07:09):
Well, there, it's really really healing in a way, right,
it's something that allows you to slow down and you know,
make something with your hands, and there's so much research
on the psychological and emotional benefits of that. But for me,
it's also very special because it's an opportunity for like
cross generational gathering and communication, right because we have customers
(07:32):
that are you know, in their teams in their early
twenties up through their eighties and nineties, and there's not
really a lot of opportunity for that kind of intergenerational gathering.
I think people really really enjoy that. But there's also
something that is a bit of an act of resistance
to say, I'm going to create something by hand that
is made for me exactly the way that I want,
so that I can show up in the world as
(07:54):
my authentic self.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
Individuality is so important, especially as I feel, you know,
with society, we watch our architecture get a little more
standardized in gray, or our retail shops get a little
more standardized in gray. But I love when a city
embraces arts. Salem is so great at that. But the
fiber arts community, especially with like TikTok and Instagram, I mean,
(08:16):
I think that people are embracing this in a whole
new way that we didn't see before.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
Yeah. So I actually used to work in architecture before
I left to open my shop and do this full time.
So I really feel what you're saying. And you know
fiber arts well, I mean in times of turmoil, right,
people really turn to the arts and the creativity, right,
It's really what keeps us going, what gives us hope,
what keeps us fueled. And so in a way, the
(08:43):
harder things get and the more people are struggling, the
more they tend to turn to creativity because they need
that kind of healing and that kind of safe space
to exist in.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
Let's talk about your theme. Song of the Sea is
this year's theme for the festival. Why did you go
in that direction?
Speaker 2 (09:01):
We implemented the idea of a theme for our second year,
which was last year, and last year the theme was
the coronation of Persephone, Queen of the Underworld, and all
our vendors really embraced it. So everything at the festival
was really scened and really amazing and really special. And
so for every year we're sort of trying to connect
to different aspects of what the witchcraft practice can be.
(09:22):
We looked at mythology last year, we are an ocean
front town and that's a beautiful thing about Salem, and
so we wanted to explore be an ocean magic in
this year's festival.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
Give us a little bit of a rundown really quickly
of what people can expect. You've got the market, you've
got the get together, you've got the trolleys. What can
people expect if they decide to show up?
Speaker 2 (09:42):
We kick off on our Friday night of April twenty fourth.
We kick off with one of our first trolley tours.
It actually goes from Old Town Hall, which is going
to be our venue, and goes around Salem and ends
at Pickering Wharf where my shop, Circle of Stitches is
and then there we kick off with hour sip and shop.
So it's just you know, like a fun hangout party
(10:03):
at the shop where you can meet other attendees and
you know, meet some of the vendors there. We actually
have a group that comes every year now and they
all get like a group kattoo together, so Hooks we'll
be meeting it for that, which is so special. And
we also have an introduction to Tarot Workshop on Friday
evening with a lease Grim who is a local witch
(10:23):
and a tarot teacher. And then on Saturday we kick
off the morning with another trolley tour. The tour in
the morning leaves from Pickering Wharf and then it ends
at Old Town Hall right in time for the market
to start. The market opens at eleven am. It runs
until five on both days. We do have you know,
a tier ticketing system, so it's more expensive in the
morning if you want first DIBs, we have a masked
(10:46):
hour because a lot of our attendees are compromised. But
then after three pm on both days it's free. And
at the market you have you know, all these indie
arn't creators, and what that means is that these are
people who are hand dying yarn and small batches, either
in their kitchens or small dye studios, or folks who
have their own farms and work with micromills, and so
(11:07):
these are things that are you know, the people that
are there selling these yarns created them themselves. And then
we have folks who you know, make their own project bags,
you know, sew them on their own sewing machines, and
you know, they're designing their own like knitting notions and whatnot.
And then we have like folks who make beautiful handmade
brooms and folks who make candles by hand. So it's
(11:27):
very much focused on you know, artism work, and so
that happens both days Saturday and Sunday. Saturday evening we
have our Square of the Sea Witch at the Hotel Salem,
which we which is a you know, really fun party.
We had that party for the first time last year
and we sort of said, you know, dress code is
(11:48):
whatever you want, and people came decked out in the
most amazing, like Perseephony inspired outfits. It was amazing, and
folks are already all over Instagram now creating their like
Sea Which inspired outfits. So it's really fun, really spectacular.
And then we also have both Saturday and Sunday afternoon,
we have the Fiber Witch Walking Tour, which is hosted
(12:08):
by aj who's a local witch who actually works part
time at My Dye Studio, and he takes everyone for
a special walking tour that you can actually nit in
criste along the time and you actually get to do
a little bit of like divination and spillcasting on the tour,
which is really wonderful. And we have on Sunday we
have a Going Deeper with Tarot workshop and we also
(12:31):
have a rune crafting workshop that are happening at my
studio at Shtland Park. Right again, the market's happening again.
There's another trolley tour on Sunday morning. On Sunday, we
also have a private tour of the witch House and
we do that in partnership, you know, with a witch House,
and we actually donate a portion of the tickets to charity.
This year we'll be donating to I don't know if
(12:53):
it's pronounced loose or Loosey in Massachusetts, which is the
Immigrant Support Network, which we're really excited about. And so
there's all these different things happening. Right there's the market,
there's parties, there's trolley tours, walking tours, and then honestly
that town is just packed with folks mini and crocheting everywhere,
and so you know, there's a lot of community happening
(13:14):
even outside of the official things that we are hosting.
Speaker 1 (13:17):
As a crocheer myself, the fact that I will be
able to go to Salem and see people crocheting outside
all over the place, it warms my little crochet heart.
I think that's the coolest thing.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
It's really fun. I actually found a ball of yarond
that someone lost on SX Street yesterday during the weekend,
and that's just I got it back to them. But
it just made me so high to me to be like, oh,
we're here, we have taken over.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
Yes, worse things, frankly worse things. And it's important to
note I think that, like, if you want to go
to this, you don't have to go to everything. You
can buy tickets to individual events. You don't have to
sign up once and attend everything.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
Absolutely, And also for the market, you know, we do
sell some advanced tickets online, but there are tickets available
at the door, so even if it says sold out online,
don't worry. Come on down. The line moves surprisingly fast,
and again both days after three pm it's free. So
if you're like, you know, I'm not sure if I'm
interested in this or not. I don't really want to
pay twenty bucks for a ticket, just come after three pm?
Speaker 1 (14:13):
Beautiful, all right? Where can people go and get tickets?
Find out more about the festival? And you know, you
and your yarn dying and everything else you are up
to these days.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
So for the festival, we have the website which is
Fiberwitch Festival dot com and all the information and the
tickets are there. You can also follow us on Instagram
at Fiberwitch Festival. My shop is Circle of Stitches and
you can find our website at Circle of Stitches dot
com and we're on Instagram at Circle Stitches without the o's.
There's a whole story with Twitter and that back in
(14:44):
the day, but I won't get into that. And my
yarn dying studio is called Toil and Trouble. It's at
Shetland Park in Salem and our website is Toil Dash
and Dash Trouble dot com. We do have you know,
open hours if the studio folks want to visit, but
during the weekend of the festival we're going to be
hosting workshops here so people will have a chance to
(15:05):
see it. And my co organizer is Emily. Her website
is Kittywitthcupcake dot com and she's an artist and illustrator
and she creates like the cutest like pins and charms
and flare for folks, So definitely worth checking out.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
Anna, thank you so much for the time on the show,
and I hope you have a great festival. And it
sounds like you've already got some wonderful turnout, and I
hope the weather holds and you have a great time.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
Thank you, and I hope that you come to check
us out too.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
Have a safe and healthy weekend. Be sure to join
us again next week for another edition of the show.
I'm Nicole Davis from WBZ News Radio on iHeartRadio.
From WBZ News Radio in Boston. This is New England Weekend.
Each week right here, we come together and talk about
all the topics important to you and the place where
you live. Thanks for tuning in again this week. I'm
Nicole Davis. One of the benefits about such a bitterly
cold winter is that you've got plenty of time to
sit inside and get under a cozy blanket, grab a
warm cup of tea, and work on fiber arts projects.
(00:31):
Fiber arts are anything from knitting to quilting, crocheting, weaving.
There's all kinds, and honestly, they're a great way to
calm your mind and keep your hands busy. For me,
they are also a really good way to test your patients.
I mostly am kidding here now. Salem, of course, is
a city that's got deep ties to all things supernatural
and witchy, but it's also home to fiber artists who
(00:51):
love to integrate all things mystical into their work. So
in Salem next a month, you're going to find the
Fiber Witch Festival setting up. Let's learn all about it
now with the founder of the festival on a campus.
She is also the owner of Circle of Stitches and
the Toil and Trouble Studio in Salem. An, it's great
to have you here on the show. So tell us
a bit more about this festival, how you came up
(01:12):
with the idea, and how it all came together.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Well. So, I think that sometimes people get a little
bit scared when they hear witchcraft and what that means, right,
And so when we say witchcraft, we're really talking about,
you know, being in tune with nature, with the elements,
with you know, the movements of the earth. But also
it's a space for people who sort of feel like
they're on the fringes, right, Folks who feel like they
(01:35):
are outsiders and don't have a place where they belong.
They tend to be attracted right by all the different
things that witchcraft can mean, because there's not just one definition.
And so it's really a place where people can come
and feel comfortable being themselves and knowing that they're going
to be seen and held and supported. I own Circle
of Stitches, which is the yarn shop here in Salem,
(01:57):
and Circle of Stitches is a play on Circle of Witches.
You know, I cracked myself up, but for many years
I sort of wondered if people would be interested in
visiting Salem in sort of a different way than what
we usually see the usual tourism. Folks who are into
knitting and crochet and fiber arts tend to be really passionate,
and we have big events all over the country, and
(02:20):
I really wanted to do something that was our special
flavor of what we could offer. I love Salem and
I love yarn, and I figured other people might as well.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
So I really percolated on this idea, honestly for several
years before I even did anything, because I had, you know,
all the self doubt of would anyone even care about
this idea? And then a few years ago I was
sitting down with my amazing friend Emily, who co organizes
with me, and I said, Hey, I'm thinking of doing
(02:51):
this sort of witchy fiber festival in Salem. What do
you think? And she says, that sounds amazing and I'd
love to help you. And so, you know, we got
to plan it and sort of figuring out what we
wanted to do. And here we are going into our
third year and you know, I'm based here in Salem,
my own circle of stitches, but Emily's actually based in Louisville.
She owns a business called Kitty with a Cupcake and
(03:12):
she helps organize remotely and then she flies up the
week before for the event.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
Oh wow, that is dedication right there, because Louisville's not close.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Right.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
Well, let's talk then a little bit about what exactly
goes on when it comes to planning a festival like this,
because festival planning is not easy as it is, but
there are a lot of different moving parts here when
it comes to okay, how do you find people who
are going to sell stuff? And how do you find
people who are going to demonstrate things? What has it
been like putting this together?
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Been really fun and challenging in different ways. You know,
the first time that we did this, we're going into
our thirtyear now, but the first year, I'm going to
be really honest. You know, we put this out there
and I said, well, I hope people show up. And
then when we went to open the doors, we had
a line going down Essex Street around the corner and
(04:03):
we were just like, oh my goodness, what have we done?
And so from there we really got the idea of
you know, people really obviously people want to come to Salem,
but our target audience knitters and crochetters they want to
come too, and so from there it's kind of grown. Right.
The main event was the market, which happens at Old
(04:23):
Town Hall, and it's a mix of indie yarn vendors
and folks who do sort of witchy art and things
that are adjacent to knitting, but all with that same vibe.
And since then we've expanded to do private trolley tours.
We rent out the Salem Trolley and so folks can
knit and crochet on the trolley tour. We have our
own walking tour. We have a whole ball that happens
(04:45):
at the Hotel Salem. This year, the theme is Song
of the Sea, so everything is about you know, like
sea witchery and ocean magic, and so we have the
Sware of the Sea at the Hotel Salem. So it's
really really grown. I've been in the fiber industry for
a very long time. I opened my shop in twenty fifteen,
and even before that I was hand dying yarns under
(05:06):
the label Toil and Trouble. I have a die studio
here in Salem, so we had a lot of industry
connections as well, and so for our first year we
put out a call to vendors, but I also just
reached out to people that I knew in the industry
who sort of had that witchie vibe, who were creating
their own yard, and said, hey, we're doing this festival.
(05:26):
It's the first year. Are you willing to sort of
take a chance on us? And now we have folks
who apply from all over the country, and people fly
in from all over the country and also abroad, so
it's really amazing and exciting.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
Sure, Salem is so popular. I mean it has been
for so long anyway, but I know so many people
who live in Salem who tell me these days it
seems like September first comes around and Salem is packed.
It's not just for Halloween anymore. Frankly, Salem is getting
busy all year round, and it's not just for your
typical Halloween stuff. I think that people are finally coming
(06:00):
to see everything that the beautiful city of Salem has
to offer.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
That's definitely true. And honestly, when I looked at the calendar,
are sort of went, Okay, when is Salem not busy?
And that's when I want to bring folks here. So
that's why we picked April. And now we have close
to two thousand people who come.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
Wow, okay, two thousand people. That is a lot, and
you said from all over the country. So it's probably
a good thing that you've got all these different venues
that you're working with, right.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
So we have hotel blocks at four hotels around town.
You know, we've really created a lot of partnerships, and
you know, we didn't expect it was going to be
this big when we started the first year. So when asked,
you have hotel blots and I was like, I didn't
think him one would be coming from that far. So no,
but for next year, yes, you know, last year we
rented out two trolleys. This year we're about to contract
(06:48):
our sixth because we've already sold out with five of them.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
Sounds overwhelming, but in the best way.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
Yes, that's a good way to describe it.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
Here on the show. I've talked about five or arts
a couple times before, but if you could, because you're
somebody who's been in this industry a long time and
been surrounded by fiber arts, what are you noticing when
it comes to people taking to the arts in that way?
Speaker 2 (07:09):
Well, there, it's really really healing in a way, right,
it's something that allows you to slow down and you know,
make something with your hands, and there's so much research
on the psychological and emotional benefits of that. But for me,
it's also very special because it's an opportunity for like
cross generational gathering and communication, right because we have customers
(07:32):
that are you know, in their teams in their early
twenties up through their eighties and nineties, and there's not
really a lot of opportunity for that kind of intergenerational gathering.
I think people really really enjoy that. But there's also
something that is a bit of an act of resistance
to say, I'm going to create something by hand that
is made for me exactly the way that I want,
so that I can show up in the world as
(07:54):
my authentic self.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
Individuality is so important, especially as I feel, you know,
with society, we watch our architecture get a little more
standardized in gray, or our retail shops get a little
more standardized in gray. But I love when a city
embraces arts. Salem is so great at that. But the
fiber arts community, especially with like TikTok and Instagram, I mean,
(08:16):
I think that people are embracing this in a whole
new way that we didn't see before.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
Yeah. So I actually used to work in architecture before
I left to open my shop and do this full time.
So I really feel what you're saying. And you know
fiber arts well, I mean in times of turmoil, right,
people really turn to the arts and the creativity, right,
It's really what keeps us going, what gives us hope,
what keeps us fueled. And so in a way, the
(08:43):
harder things get and the more people are struggling, the
more they tend to turn to creativity because they need
that kind of healing and that kind of safe space
to exist in.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
Let's talk about your theme. Song of the Sea is
this year's theme for the festival. Why did you go
in that direction?
Speaker 2 (09:01):
We implemented the idea of a theme for our second year,
which was last year, and last year the theme was
the coronation of Persephone, Queen of the Underworld, and all
our vendors really embraced it. So everything at the festival
was really scened and really amazing and really special. And
so for every year we're sort of trying to connect
to different aspects of what the witchcraft practice can be.
(09:22):
We looked at mythology last year, we are an ocean
front town and that's a beautiful thing about Salem, and
so we wanted to explore be an ocean magic in
this year's festival.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
Give us a little bit of a rundown really quickly
of what people can expect. You've got the market, you've
got the get together, you've got the trolleys. What can
people expect if they decide to show up?
Speaker 2 (09:42):
We kick off on our Friday night of April twenty fourth.
We kick off with one of our first trolley tours.
It actually goes from Old Town Hall, which is going
to be our venue, and goes around Salem and ends
at Pickering Wharf where my shop, Circle of Stitches is
and then there we kick off with hour sip and shop.
So it's just you know, like a fun hangout party
(10:03):
at the shop where you can meet other attendees and
you know, meet some of the vendors there. We actually
have a group that comes every year now and they
all get like a group kattoo together, so Hooks we'll
be meeting it for that, which is so special. And
we also have an introduction to Tarot Workshop on Friday
evening with a lease Grim who is a local witch
(10:23):
and a tarot teacher. And then on Saturday we kick
off the morning with another trolley tour. The tour in
the morning leaves from Pickering Wharf and then it ends
at Old Town Hall right in time for the market
to start. The market opens at eleven am. It runs
until five on both days. We do have you know,
a tier ticketing system, so it's more expensive in the
morning if you want first DIBs, we have a masked
(10:46):
hour because a lot of our attendees are compromised. But
then after three pm on both days it's free. And
at the market you have you know, all these indie
arn't creators, and what that means is that these are
people who are hand dying yarn and small batches, either
in their kitchens or small dye studios, or folks who
have their own farms and work with micromills, and so
(11:07):
these are things that are you know, the people that
are there selling these yarns created them themselves. And then
we have folks who you know, make their own project bags,
you know, sew them on their own sewing machines, and
you know, they're designing their own like knitting notions and whatnot.
And then we have like folks who make beautiful handmade
brooms and folks who make candles by hand. So it's
(11:27):
very much focused on you know, artism work, and so
that happens both days Saturday and Sunday. Saturday evening we
have our Square of the Sea Witch at the Hotel Salem,
which we which is a you know, really fun party.
We had that party for the first time last year
and we sort of said, you know, dress code is
(11:48):
whatever you want, and people came decked out in the
most amazing, like Perseephony inspired outfits. It was amazing, and
folks are already all over Instagram now creating their like
Sea Which inspired outfits. So it's really fun, really spectacular.
And then we also have both Saturday and Sunday afternoon,
we have the Fiber Witch Walking Tour, which is hosted
(12:08):
by aj who's a local witch who actually works part
time at My Dye Studio, and he takes everyone for
a special walking tour that you can actually nit in
criste along the time and you actually get to do
a little bit of like divination and spillcasting on the tour,
which is really wonderful. And we have on Sunday we
have a Going Deeper with Tarot workshop and we also
(12:31):
have a rune crafting workshop that are happening at my
studio at Shtland Park. Right again, the market's happening again.
There's another trolley tour on Sunday morning. On Sunday, we
also have a private tour of the witch House and
we do that in partnership, you know, with a witch House,
and we actually donate a portion of the tickets to charity.
This year we'll be donating to I don't know if
(12:53):
it's pronounced loose or Loosey in Massachusetts, which is the
Immigrant Support Network, which we're really excited about. And so
there's all these different things happening. Right there's the market,
there's parties, there's trolley tours, walking tours, and then honestly
that town is just packed with folks mini and crocheting everywhere,
and so you know, there's a lot of community happening
(13:14):
even outside of the official things that we are hosting.
Speaker 1 (13:17):
As a crocheer myself, the fact that I will be
able to go to Salem and see people crocheting outside
all over the place, it warms my little crochet heart.
I think that's the coolest thing.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
It's really fun. I actually found a ball of yarond
that someone lost on SX Street yesterday during the weekend,
and that's just I got it back to them. But
it just made me so high to me to be like, oh,
we're here, we have taken over.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
Yes, worse things, frankly worse things. And it's important to
note I think that, like, if you want to go
to this, you don't have to go to everything. You
can buy tickets to individual events. You don't have to
sign up once and attend everything.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
Absolutely, And also for the market, you know, we do
sell some advanced tickets online, but there are tickets available
at the door, so even if it says sold out online,
don't worry. Come on down. The line moves surprisingly fast,
and again both days after three pm it's free. So
if you're like, you know, I'm not sure if I'm
interested in this or not. I don't really want to
pay twenty bucks for a ticket, just come after three pm?
Speaker 1 (14:13):
Beautiful, all right? Where can people go and get tickets?
Find out more about the festival? And you know, you
and your yarn dying and everything else you are up
to these days.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
So for the festival, we have the website which is
Fiberwitch Festival dot com and all the information and the
tickets are there. You can also follow us on Instagram
at Fiberwitch Festival. My shop is Circle of Stitches and
you can find our website at Circle of Stitches dot
com and we're on Instagram at Circle Stitches without the o's.
There's a whole story with Twitter and that back in
(14:44):
the day, but I won't get into that. And my
yarn dying studio is called Toil and Trouble. It's at
Shetland Park in Salem and our website is Toil Dash
and Dash Trouble dot com. We do have you know,
open hours if the studio folks want to visit, but
during the weekend of the festival we're going to be
hosting workshops here so people will have a chance to
(15:05):
see it. And my co organizer is Emily. Her website
is Kittywitthcupcake dot com and she's an artist and illustrator
and she creates like the cutest like pins and charms
and flare for folks, So definitely worth checking out.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
Anna, thank you so much for the time on the show,
and I hope you have a great festival. And it
sounds like you've already got some wonderful turnout, and I
hope the weather holds and you have a great time.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
Thank you, and I hope that you come to check
us out too.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
Have a safe and healthy weekend. Be sure to join
us again next week for another edition of the show.
I'm Nicole Davis from WBZ News Radio on iHeartRadio.
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