What you need to know about 111th Arden Fair
The 111th Arden Fair on Saturday, Sept. 1 celebrates the end of summer and the unique character of Arden, Ardencroft and Ardentown.
Here’s our annual insiders’ guide to Delaware’s longest-running annual event.
The details: The fair is expected to draw 7,000 to 9,000 visitors in and around Gild Hall, 2126 The Highway, Arden. It starts at 10 a.m. with “Oh What a Beautiful Mornin’” on the loudspeaker and ends at 6 p.m. Admission is free. Parking is banned on most nearby roads, so the best place to park is the Brandywine YMCA’s Hanby Outdoor Center, 35 Chestnut St., according to ardenclub.org/about/arden-fair. It’s a five-minute walk to the fairgrounds, and shuttles run every 10 minutes.
Big change: Unlike years past, when the fair used the next day as a rain date, this year’s fair is going on rain or shine, according to Toby Ridings, who’s organizing the holistic expo.
Utopia off Harvey Road: Arden was founded in 1900 as a summer home and single-tax village based on the philosophy of Henry George, the Arts and Crafts movement of William Morris and the Garden City movement of Ebenezer Howard. Ardentown followed in 1922, Ardencroft in 1950.
The Georgist philosophy means that the towns own all the land, which homeowners rent.
The Arts and Crafts movement was “a reaction against the industrial revolution and valued hand-crafted goods and the incorporation of individualistic design,” according to the Arden Craft Shop Museum, at 1807 Millers Road and open 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Many homes sport Arts and Crafts elements.
The Garden City movement involves urban planning (half of Arden is woods and greens) and a pastoral harmony. “Fundamental to the plan was that the value would be retained in the community,” according to The Guardian, an English newspaper. “Every citizen was to be a shareholder.”
Bottom line: theater, craftsmanship and art generate a close-knit character seen at the festival.
Reunion time: Five friends who grew up together in the Ardens will celebrate their 60th birthdays at this year’s fair, coming from as far as Seattle. “It’s our common ground, our roots,” Arden resident Heidi Hoegger said. “Growing up, the fair was the biggest day of our lives.”
What’ll be special for Robin Laskey Chipman, Becky Hannover, Julie Schein, Karen Wynn and Hoegger at the fair? “We’ll just be holding court in the beer garden,” she said.
Arden native Terry Lipstein, now a resident of Colorado, makes a point of returning to town often for the fair, proven by his collection of fair T-shirts. “It’s a reunion. I hang out and just go from one conversation to the next.” But he regrets that first raising children and now financial issues have kept him from coming back annually. “I’m sorry that I’m missing this year,” he said.
Going for the gild: The fair supports the Arden Club, the umbrella group for component gilds that unite members to “act, sing, cook, dance, garden, read, listen, swim and think deeply.” They’re not guilds. Another utopian element was speling words like they sound. That largely didn’t happen, tho.
The gilds all help with fair duties, said fair chairman Pat Toman. The Scholar Gild handles parking, security and buses; the Swim Gild has a meatball stand; and the Bridge Gild runs the information booth. Early arrivals get first dibs on donated plants in a Gardeners’ Gild sale; books and related items from a Library Gild sale, with help from the Writers & Poets Gild; and baked goods from a Dinner Gild sale. Ditto the antiques market (admission $2), with 50 vendors. There’s also a food court.
Entertainment: The Concert Gild has arranged live music all day on a stage in Shady Grove. The lineup: the Diamond State Concert Band, Crazy Chester and the Space Farmers, Mtn Lion String Band, Stone Shakers, Cure for Pain, The Blues Reincarnation Project, Sarah Koon and The Tall Pines.
That’s entertainment, too: The Folk Gild plans dance demos 1-3 p.m. with audience participation. Ardensingers runs a booth selling wine and beer in Shady Grove, and there are children’s games, carnival rides and pony rides (11 a.m.-3 p.m.). Tickets need to be purchased for all games and rides.
By hand: The hand-made emphasis of the Arts and Craft movement shows up with 120 juried artisans, and there’s an art show in Gild Hall. A holistic expo runs in the Buzz Ware Village Center, 2119 The Highway. Admission is $1 for Peddlers, Potions and Practitioners.
More
Records show state forced 26 businesses this year to stop serving food
Fierce disability rights advocate Jamie Wolfe dies at age 52
From mayor to street cleaner: Newark's Funk hits Main Street every morning
Ken Mammarella is a Wilmington freelance writer.