Record Number Of Vendors At Rice Arts & Craft Show

RICE (WJON News) -- This is a big weekend for craft lovers in central Minnesota.

The 27th annual Rice Arts & Craft Show is this Saturday and Sunday from 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m.

Mark Larson is the owner of the Old Creamery Cafe and is one of the organizers of the event. He says they have a record 180 vendors signed up to sell their products this year. Some are coming from a distance away, but there are also many local vendors.

One thing that's changed over the 27 years is I started out with about 25 to 30 vendors and we've gradually been growing. Initially, we had vendors from more of a distance like North Dakota, South Dakota and Iowa, and over the last 15 years, it's been mainly regional.

Larson says his business is just one of many in the community that benefit from the large show.

People have expanded into the Rice Lions building with different artists there, we've got artists in the old village hall, the Rice blacksmith show - which is one of the most unique blacksmith shops in the whole tri-state area - they do different types of blacksmith metal work, and of course the businesses in town benefit from it.

Larson says with no construction this year in Rice there's good access and plenty of parking for everyone who wants to stop and shop.

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Larson says it is intentional that the Rice Arts & Craft Show is held on the same weekend as the Little Falls Arts & Crafts Fair, so shoppers that are either on their way to Little Falls or are coming home from there can also stop in Rice.