Lewisburg Arts Festival full of memories, traditions

Justin Strawser, The Daily Item, Sunbury, Pa.
·3 min read

Apr. 28—LEWISBURG — Jen Sisk and her son Finn started a traditional two years ago at the Lewisburg Arts Festival.

The Lewisburg mother and son started collecting homemade ceramic bowls from local artists at the annual festival in downtown Lewisburg. This year at the 2024 Lewisburg Arts Festival was the family's third year of collecting.

"We make it a point to come here," said Jen Sisk on Saturday. "We count down the days from January. We look forward to the new artists and ceramists. We get a soup bowl each year for our collection."

Thirteen-year-old Finn Sisk said the festival is cool. Lewisburg, he said, is one of the best places to live, according to Google.

Despite the afternoon rain, thousands of people still came out to the 2024 Lewisburg Arts Festival, which took place along Market Street between Front and Seventh streets from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. The festival featured 119 artists and 44 food and beverage vendors.

Fourteen different styles of art were featured from 119 artists: artisanal food, bath and body, caricatures, ceramics and pottery, clothing, digital art, drawing, food and beverages, furniture, glass, home and garden, information, jewelry, leather, metal, mixed media, musical instruments, painting, photography, textiles/fiber and wood. Half of the vendors are local and half were returning vendors from seven states, including New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and Ohio.

Fiber artist Linda Doucette, of Eyers Grove, returned to the festival as a vendor for the first time in many years, she said.

"It's nicely attended," she said. "You meet new people, and we people from all who come to the festival."

Doucette used natural fibers like wool, cotton or silk to create her artwork.

Hands-on activities and live art took place in the Interactive Arts area along South Sixth Street with 19 different non-profit organizations, like the DIG Furniture Bank, of Milton, and the Merrill W. Linn Land & Waterways Conservancy, of Lewisburg.

Syd Del Vecchio and Caroline Havill, both Freshman at Lewisburg Area High School, spent time with the conservancy for their Nature Painting Tent.

"It's really expressive," said Del Vecchio about loving art. "You can literally do whatever you want. It's really interesting for any age to do and really accessible to everyone."

Adventure coordinator Becky Stugart said the goal of attending the festival is to share the Conservancy's programming and encourage nature through art.

"Nature is not just about science, it's about art, too," said Stugart.

Sandi Herner, of Selinsgrove, volunteered her time at the DIG tent as part of Kohl's Cares Program.

"I just started working at Kohl's (department store in Hummels Wharf)," she said. "I wanted to help."

Samantha Beaver, of Lewisburg, brought her son, Knox Beaver, a Boy Scout of Troop 3538, to help decorate a chair for the furniture bank. Participants placed their thumbprints on the chair and then added their artwork to it.

Cherie Martin, a volunteer coordinator with DIG, said the chair will be taken back to the store and a client will be able to claim it.

"It's great for the community to do something like this, especially the small business part," said Beaver. "You can support small business and they can show off their work. It gives us something to do on a Saturday."

"You can also get kicked by an alpaca," said Knox, who said the animal from the Ashburn's Animals petting zook kicked him in the shin. "But I still want one."