Mark this weekend on your calendar to take an unique opportunity to purchase gifts from a wide variety of artisan gourds, to compete in the annual gourd competition, and of course the chance to choose the right raw gourds for your personal projects. There is no admission fee to the first floor of the Museum to view the competition and make purchases at the Virginia Gourd Show, Sale & Competition but there is a small fee for nonmembers to enter the upstairs exhibits.

The ancient art of decorating gourds never fails to amaze. Many people have no idea that gourds – used by our ancestors as food and medicinal containers – can be skillfully rendered as works of art that sell for hundreds or thousands of dollars.

Multiple techniques come together to create a gourd art piece. They can be carved, wood-burned, painted, dyed, inlaid, coiled, woven, or just about anything else you can think of. They are even built into sculptural pieces.

The Lone Star Gourd Festival, sponsored by the Texas Gourd Society, is an annual event open to the public. Gourd art classes will open early as noted above. Competition gourds will be judged and ribbons placed Thursday night so that the public may see the winners. All visitors are encouraged to vote for their favorite piece and the artist winning that vote will receive the People’s Choice award, announced on Sunday.

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This year’s gathering will be held Thursday, June 14th thru Saturday June 16th.  The gathering will host a variety of workshops and vendors to meet all of your gourding needs.

Workshops will be held all 3 days. Click on the 2018 Show tab for ALL SHOW information. Everything you’ll need to know about the show is there. We have instructors coming this year who have never taught at our show! We are so excited to have them here – everyone has fun at the KY Show!