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N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – The 9th Annual JunkFest will be held in Carrington on September 7th.
“We are in our 9th year of JunkFest. What started in a garage has grown to encompass the entire Foster County Fairgrounds.” Lynette Caylor, one of the co-founders of the festival.
“Four of us gals started the festival. We were experimenting with turning cast off furniture and farm bits into attractive, useful & unique items for home and garden. We decided to try a sale and see if anyone else was as interested in the “junk” movement as we were. We found out that there are lots of “junkers ” who like the one-of-a-kind aspect to what we do or they like to hunt for the raw goods to make their own creations.”
Today, only three of them continue the tradition as well as fill the JunkFest Building with roughly 200 pieces of “Junk” each year. The items they create and sell are interesting to say the least.
“We try to hunt down unique, but reasonably priced pieces for our shoppers and then we try to create interesting and functional pieces. At previous sales, we have had bars crafted from old and beautiful piano wood as well as a heavy glass door from a long ago main street business in Carrington, desks made from old doors with cast iron bases from vintage sewing machines, a bar made from a huge old radiator cover & the bar top was made from the footboard of an antique wood bed…wine racks are made from old gears and other farm yard elements, coffee tables made from vintage suitcases and interesting legs. We have had antique claw foot tubs, jewelry made from silver spoons and embellished old keys, and iron beds painted in modern colors, a gazebo made from old porch columns, a huge variety of cupboards/dressers/china cabinets that were repaired and repainted to fit into today’s homes. We enjoy the hunt and creativity!”
Junkfest has grown over the years and includes over 90 additional vendors this year. Some vendors sell handmade’s like quilts and handmade jewelry and others sell furniture, re-purposed creations, raw salvage, pecan pies, and kuchen. It has become an outlet for lots of vendors from North Dakota as well as South Dakota and Minnesota.
“Our shoppers come from all over ND, SD, Montana, Minnesota..and even Canada! The population of Carrington more than doubles on JunkFest day and lots of businesses and garage sales jump on the bandwagon…it makes for a full day’s worth of fun in Carrington!”
Live music will be provided by Amanda Standalone with Alien Brain and the Jugular Vein, a jug bound out of Fargo.
“Some of their instruments are made from junk-y items so they fit right in!”
There will be local food vendors present throughout the day as well according to Lynette.
“A Shish Kabob guy, mini donuts, some kids raising money for a trip to France will serve concession food like taco in a bag as well as crepes, burgers and more from a catering wagon, and our local Healthy Communities organization will serve knoephla soup.”
There has also been word that women save up all year for JunkFest and it has kind of become a girl’s weekend event. Although, the event is open to everyone. One event that many women look forward to is the “Dash To The Door”.
“A thousand or better women arrive early, patiently wait behind the caution tape till 9 am and when we cut the ribbon, they run into the JunkFest building and the Fairgrounds. My dad drove here from Virginia Beach to see JunkFest. He said watching the women run in was worth the drive.”
The 9th Annual JunkFest will be held at the Foster County Fairgrounds in Carrington, North Dakota on September 7th. The event is slated to start at 9 am. For more information, check out their website here.