4,800 attendees. 160 volunteers. 156 artisans. 120 raffle winners. 388 lobster rolls sold. 39 native plant species for sale. Too many warm cider donuts to count. 2 wonderful days celebrating art, nature, and coastal conservation. 38 Laudholm Nature Crafts Festivals now in the books.

“Our largest fundraiser of the year netted more than $130,000 to support science, education, conservation, continued renovation and inspiration at the Wells Reserve at Laudholm,” said Nik Charov, president of Laudholm Trust, the nonprofit partner of the Wells Reserve. “We’re so proud of this little show: the volunteers and staff, local businesses and sponsors, that make it happen each year, the talented artists and thousands of attendees that make it such a beautiful, vibrant event. The stray showers over the weekend did nothing to dampen our spirits – we’ll do it again next year, always the weekend after Labor Day.”

Thanks to all of you for what you brought to this special event - your generous spirit, your beautiful artwork, your patronage of the artists, your enthusiasm for this place.

Saturday, the festival was packed nearly to the brim with the kind of picture-perfect, sunny fall day we look forward to all year. Sunday brought steady (much-needed) rain all day and déjà vu for everyone who remembers last year’s Craft Festival Sunday. We were grateful we did not have a repeat performance of last year’s downpour, flooding, and damage, and were pleased and inspired by the number of you who turned out despite the weather.

We are thrilled to report a record number of new (welcome aboard!) and renewed (thanks for sticking around) memberships sold during the festival this year. If you missed the raffle and membership room, be sure to add it to your rounds next year. If you’re not a current member, now is a great time to join. Then, by this time next year, you’ll be ready to renew at the festival and enjoy free raffle tickets as a bonus!

Join as a Member Today

Each year we make a few tweaks to elevate your experience and allow this tradition to continue as smoothly as possible. We took a chance on a new parking scheme that, as we hoped, significantly cut down traffic and wait times compared to last year, even at the busiest times on Saturday. Thanks for your patience on the way in and an extra shout-out to our unwavering parking volunteers!

One of the joys of this festival is seeing artists reunited year after year, while also welcoming new artists to their first Laudholm Show. We are always proud to hear from artists how much they enjoy participating in this show. Our festival organizers are exhibiting artists themselves and bring firsthand knowledge of and particular attention to the artists' experience.

Finally, we owe it all to our hardy, hard-working, and high-spirited team of volunteers. This festival (and this place) would not succeed without you. Days leading up to the event, and all weekend long, volunteers help mow lawns, electrify tents, hang signs, gather raffle prizes, collect admission, direct parking, make hot dogs and lobsters rolls, support artisans in their booths, train their fellow volunteers, and so much more. The Crafts Festival becomes its own ecosystem for the weekend and we are grateful to each of you for the role you’ve played in it.

If you’d like to join in as a volunteer next year, keep an eye on wellsreserve.org/crafts next year - we'll put out a call.

If you’d like to participate as an artist or know of someone you’d like to see here, bookmark this page. Applications will open in mid-January 2027. Stay tuned!

Mark your calendars now for next year!
39th Laudholm Nature Crafts Festival: September 11 & 12, 2027
Always held the weekend after Labor Day.