Harvest Howard County Magazine

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Maryland Sheep
& Wool Festival
“Pray for glorious
springtime weather
and a let-up in the gas
shortage for Friday,
April 26 and Saturday, April
27, 1974” were the words that
appeared in the January 1974
issue of the Maryland Sheep
Breeders Association (MSBA)
Sheep News to announce the
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Crafts Festival in 1974 at the
Carroll County Fairgrounds.
Following the weekend, the
event received recognition in
The Shepherd,The Pennsylvania
Farmer,The Cooperative Farmer
and various other publications
for being a “smashing success.”
What is today known as the
Maryland Sheep andWool
Festival begin in 1974 as an
event to offer public education,
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for the MSBA as well. After
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so rapidly that it needed to
move to a larger site, which is
when it moved to the Howard
County Fairgrounds in 1980.
According to its website, the most
striking thing about the history
of the Maryland Sheep and
Wool Festival is that it has been
conducted for so many years “for
one purpose and one purpose
only—the promotion of lamb
and wool and the education of
sheep producers and the general
public about sheep and sheep
products.”They also dedicate
their success to the tremendous
number of volunteers who
have donated countless hours
toward the success of the event.
The 2016 event marked the
43rd annual Maryland Sheep and
Wool Festival.The event is held
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Howard County Fairgrounds and
is still sponsored by the MSBA.
The festival chairman, Gwen
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is “farmers, shepherds, spinners,
knitters, dyers, artists, chefs, animal
lovers, entrepreneurs, educators,
parents, men and women of
culture around the world, all with
a reason to appreciate sheep.”
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contests and competitions, demos,
shows and sales, entertainment,
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workshops and family activities.
Popular festival attractions include
the sheep dog demonstrations,
the sheep-to-shawl contest,
the wonderful food and
the nearly 300 vendors.
Another noteworthy feature of
the Festival is their new design
every year. Each year, the cover of
the catalog boasts new artwork
chosen from artists’ submissions.
The chosen design adorns
a whole new set of Festival
merchandise available for the
public to purchase.These are truly
‘collectable items’ as they are only
offered one year over two days.
To this day the festival remains
free of admission.
For more information, visit
ALL PHOTOS BY CARL SCHMITT, FEDERAL HILL PHOTOGRAPHY
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