EDITORIAL: Fiber Festival a unique event for Whitehall

A fifth-generation rancher, Kami Noyes had a longtime dream of bring fiber artistry back to its roots. Noyes of Ranching Fiber Traditions was able to accomplish this in 2017, when along with Betty Kujawa of Snowdrift Alpacas joined forces for the Copper K Fiber Festival.

The festival will return for its second year starting this Saturday and is a wonderful opportunity the residents for a unique event for the Whitehall area. The festival is free of charge and offers both classes and vendors.

A trip to the festival is also worth it to see the former lambing barn her sister Lacee has turned into one of the premier event venues in Southwest Montana.

Having the event at the barn is something that stands out about the Fiber Festival when compared to others – and another huge reason to go. Noyes told the Ledger many similar shows and festivals are oftentimes in big conference centers and motels and they use the barn to bring back the fiber arts to its roots.

She also said that people who don’t do a lot of fiber art enjoyed themselves.

Another huge high point of the weekend is an Open House/BBQ at the Montana Wool Barn in Cardwell owned by Paul and Cheri Shaw.

This will serve as another great opportunity to see the recently renovated barn and learn more about their new wool business.

Kudos to Noyes and Kujawa for not only putting together the event, but for also bringing people from across the United States to the area.

Please try to make it out to the event and for more information visit http://www.ranchingtraditionfiber.com

JHS