Melrose Arts & Crafts Festival April 23 & 24

NATCHITOCHES – The 48th annual Melrose Arts and Crafts Festival is scheduled for April 23 -24, 2022, according to Vicki Parrish, president of the Association for the Preservation of Historic Natchitoches (APHN), sponsor of the event.

This annual outdoor event will feature more than 80 vendors selling hand-made items, many of which are one-of-a-kind. Among the items available to visitors will be: original art, gourmet tea and jellies, hand-made jewelry, clothing, candles, pottery, wreaths, toys, woodworking products, wrought iron artwork, and many other arts and crafts.

Guided tours of the plantation home, the “Big House,” and African House will be available. Many renowned writers and artists visited and lived at the plantation. Probably the best known resident of Melrose was Clementine Hunter, who came to the plantation as a field hand and taught herself to paint using paints and brushes discarded by an artist at Melrose. The restored Clementine Hunter murals are on display in their original home on the second floor of the African House. Hunter’s paintings have gained national and international notoriety, and some of her works hang in the Louvre in Paris. She is one of the most recognized primitive artists in Louisiana history.

The festival is sponsored by APHN and annually attracts more than 2,000 visitors during the two-day event. The Melrose Arts and Crafts Festival will open at 9 a.m. on Saturday and at 10 a.m. on Sunday. Tickets are $5 for adults and $2 for children ages 6-12. Tickets for tours of the Big House are $5.

Additional information about Historic Melrose and the annual Arts and Crafts Festival may be found at: http://www.melroseplantation.org/festivals. Tickets can be pre-purchased on Eventbrite at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/melrose-arts-and-crafts-festival-tickets-291317517537