Celebrating its 43rd year, Stone Mountain Park’s Yellow Daisy Festival (YDF) is one of America’s favorite and most well-known arts and crafts festivals. Featuring more than 400 artists, YDF is consistently voted one of the nation’s top arts and crafts shows by Sunshine Artist Magazine’s Annual “200 Best” survey. This year’s show will be held September 8, 9, 10 and 11 at Stone Mountain Park’s Special Events Meadow.
The Yellow Daisy Festival features 425 crafters and artists from across the U.S. The artists are selected from a pool of applicants by the Yellow Daisy Jury to display their distinctive hand-made work in categories such as pottery, fabric, painting, jewelry, sculpture, dolls, photography, fine arts and crafts and traditional arts and crafts. “One of the best things about the Yellow Daisy Festival is seeing the same shoppers year after year,” said Wendy Thomas, Stone Mountain Park Special Events Manager. “Generations of women come in groups to spend the day shopping and socializing; it is a unique aspect of this event.” The annual celebration attracts an estimated 200,000 shopping enthusiasts to the four-day event. The event draws multi-generational shoppers as a family pilgrimage to shop for the hot craft item of the year.
In remembrance of the 10th anniversary of 9/11, select YDF crafters are donating a piece of their artwork to be sold in a “We Remember” display. All proceeds from these sales will go to HeroBox, a non-profit organization that supports deployed American service members. More information about HeroBox can be found at http://www.herobox.org/.
New for 2011, Yellow Daisy Festival shoppers can also enjoy accommodations right inside Stone Mountain Park at Marriott Evergreen Conference Resort. Yellow Daisy Festival Girlfriend Getaway Packages start at $209 a night, include a one-night stay at the newly renovated Marriott Evergreen Conference Resort, breakfast and a meet and greet with this year’s featured artist.
The Yellow Daisy Festival selected chARiTy elise as the 2011 Featured Artist. Originally from Maine, Elise has travelled the globe and currently resides in Tucker, Ga. Her artwork features designs including flowers, leaves, the sun, wavy lines and geometric shapes. This year’s featured artwork is a kaleidoscope design using vibrant colored acrylics on a 19 inch round masonite board. A glowing yellow daisy is predominantly situated in the center of the design. Her artwork will be included on all promotional and marketing materials for this year’s festival. “It seemed like a perfect kind of design for such a tremendously vibrant festival,” said Elise.
In addition to the unique arts and crafts, the festival offers entertainment for everyone in the family and festival foods to meet a variety of tastes. Throughout all four days of YDF, there will be live main stage entertainment including the JaneDear Girls. The JaneDear Girls are a new breed of country music. They will perform their hit song “Wildflower” Sunday evening. The Children’s Corner will provide crafts, entertainment, face painting and Fair Hair. The Men’s Den is a great venue for the gentlemen coming to the event that don’t want to miss the big game. The Men’s Den is outfitted with recliners and big screen TVs showing fall football.
Guests may also visit the 40th Annual Yellow Daisy Flower Show at Memorial Hall. The theme for the 2011 flower show is “Daisy…Fabulous at 40!” The Yellow Daisy Flower Show runs from September 9-11. The flower show is sponsored by the Redbud District of the Garden Club of Georgia.
Shoppers can stop by the Humana tent, the festival’s presenting sponsor, for free giveaways and to enter for a chance to win a Stone Mountain Park Annual Pass Package good for four (4) Mountain Memberships. For more information on the Yellow Daisy Festival, please visit http://www.stonemountainpark.com/.
Or watch a slideshow of the event at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09o9uN_IVbI. Listed in Frommer’s 500 Places to Visit with Your Kids Before They Grow Up and cited by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution as one of “35 Natural Wonders in Georgia You Must See Before You Die,” Stone Mountain Park is located 16 miles east of downtown Atlanta.
To get to the park, take I-285 to Exit 39B, Hwy. 78 East. Stone Mountain Park is Exit No.8 on Hwy 78. More information regarding Stone Mountain Park attractions and hours of operation is available at 770-498-5690 or by visiting http://www.stonemountainpark.com/.
We had a great time at this event thanks to you... Any good events coming up this fall?
ReplyDeleteSorry I missed this. Sounds like a good time.Gaye
ReplyDelete