It’ll be buzzing in Tokeland this weekend as the 13th annual Tokeland Woodfest brings live woodcarving and live music to the Tokeland Hotel from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
Jeannette Bush-Hudson, lead organizer of this year’s event, said there will be more than 30 vendors, at least six carvers, and three live bands for the popular festival, back after a year off because of the pandemic.
Just how popular is the event?
“I think one year about three years ago we did a head count and it was over 3,000 people,” said Bush-Hudson.
“I think we have a total of 32, 35 vendors, and we always get some coming in at the last minute,” she said.
There will be food vendors, including Bay City Sausage, and the hotel restaurant will be open and serving and will have its festival beer garden in operation.
Vendors will cover just about every type of art and craft item you could think of.
“Anything from wood carving to blown glass, soap, jewelry, woodworking, textiles, watercolors” said Bush-Hudson.
One vendor will be selling handcrafted table runners and aprons to build a hospital in Uganda.
Something a bit different this year is parking. Rather than parking at the hotel, there will be a designated parking area about two blocks north off of State Route 105. For people who aren’t going to be up to the walk to the venue, the Half Moon Bay Pirates will have shuttles available to take visitors from the parking area to the event, said Bush-Hudson.
“They look like little pirate boats, three of them, for someone who needs to be assisted to pick them up and take them down if they need a ride,” she said.
Local artist Jeffro Uitto put together the music and woodcarving lineups for the show.
The bands include Hellbound Glory, an America country and roots rock band featuring singer-songwriter Leroy Virgil, who cites such influences as Hank Williams Jr. and Nirvana. Alessandra Rose and Daniel “Mudcat” McKinstry and DnA round out the lineup. New this year is an actual stage, a covered lighted stage that was used previously at Westport’s Pirate Daze festival.
Chain saw carvers include Jeff Samudosky, who was featured on Discovery Channel’s Saw Dogs. Josh Blewitt of Ridgefield will be there; you can see his work around the region, including welcome signs for Long Beach and Ocean Park.
Also new this year is a brand new 12×20 safety trailer that “looks like a little log cabin,” said Bush-Hudson. It will house the festival’s safety and first aid needs. The Half Moon Bay Pirates will also have little pirate boat trains that kids can ride for a donation.
For directions and other details, visit the Tokeland Woodfest Facebook events page, facebook.com/events/1068578193549940/, and the Tokeland-North Cove Chamber of Commerce Facebook page, facebook.com/TokelandNorthCoveChamber.
