The first annual “Love the Spring in Lenoir” festival will usher in the return of artisans, food trucks, and festival booths lining the pavement of downtown Lenoir, after a near two year hiatus.
When Rebbeca and Daniel Phillips opened MoonJoy Meadery in the middle of the 2020 pandemic, “all anybody talked about were the festivals that were no longer happening because of Covid,” Rebbeca Phillips said.
“We’re really trying to bring that energy back to Lenoir and be a part of that,” she said.
The festival, which coincides with the Spring equinox, is described by Phillips as a “local North Carolina craft vendor festival.”
In addition to food trucks and alcohol vendors, Phillips says there will be booths of local businesses, organizations and around 40 craft vendors, though as the date draws closer, “I do think it will be closer to 50 plus,” she said.
The featured alcohol vendors are Twisted Vine, Liquid Roots and MoonJoy Meadery.
The event will also offer entertainment booths including ax throwing and local author, Caitlynne Garland.
“Her best seller is one about a three legged dog named River,” she said. “River’s going to be there paw printing books for kids…who doesn’t love that?”
While the event isn’t geared towards children, Phillips says they are more than welcome to attend.
“I would’ve loved a craft festival when I was a kid…there’s not kids games but there are numerous vendors that I could name that have stuff I think kids would enjoy looking at,” she said.
“Our main goal was really to showcase what Lenoir has to offer all in one space, including our amazing crafters,” she said. “There’s so many amazing artists and crafters in this area, so we really wanted to give them a chance to be seen.”
Phillips said a big mission of MoonJoy Meadery is to be intertwined within the local community, “and help it grow and feed energy into it.”
“We have really tight relationships with quite a few businesses downtown, and it was also a way for us to work together and have a day together where we’re not separate businesses. We’re all working towards the same goal,” she said. “That goal is to bring people into downtown Lenoir.”
Some of those businesses have helped fund the event, including Down South Off-Road and Outdoor, Down South Strong, Main Street Magic Cafe, Folk Keeper Gallery and Antiques, and Golden Cardinal Gallery.
Phillips also attributed joining the Caldwell Chamber of Commerce as a contributing factor to the festival's support.
“It’s been amazing. I knew that it would help networking wise, but I had no idea to what extent,” Phillips said. “I mean, we now have relationships with the city, and the police department, fire department, and 50 some odd small businesses.”
The Caldwell Chamber’s president and CEO, Bryan Moore, said, “The chamber is very excited to see this festival come to downtown Lenoir in March.”
“It’s a great time to get our businesses and our artisans together for some sense of normalcy,” he said. “The chamber loves connecting business and community to have a better quality of life in Caldwell Caldwell county.”
The event is free to attend and will be held in the municipal parking lot at the Alden E. Starnes County Office Plaza, across from MoonJoy Meadery from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 19.