The Blue Ridge Craft Trails link 75 craft sites across the 25 counties of Western North Carolina to promote craft businesses and coordinate the marketing of crafts on a region-wide level, while branding Western North Carolina as a leading craft destination, developed by the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area Partnership. 

The awarded anchor position will feature the Historic Shelton House displaying, sharing and promoting high end crafts with residents and visitors to Haywood County.

To celebrate the opening of the Blue Ridge Craft Trails, the Shelton House will host the inaugural Blue Ridge Heritage Weekend on June 22-23. newly formed Shelton Campus. 

From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, June 22, a craft fair will feature juried crafters who will display and demonstrate their crafts in this outdoors festival, on the Shelton Campus grounds. A variety of activities for this weekend event are being planned by all members of the Shelton Campus with the Historic Haywood Farmers Market offering local food and the HART Theater featuring a special performance of our Appalachian music heritage on Sunday, June 23. 

The Shelton House Museum of North Carolina Handicrafts will also be conducting open house tours featuring displays of local life, history and artifacts, as well as traditional crafts, a quilt exhibit, tribute to Mary Cornwell and the Village of Yesteryear, and a special Native American exhibition.

In 2019, the Shelton House will also continue its Crafter Showcase Series for its third year. The Crafter Showcase Series selects six professional crafters and features one each month to demonstrate their process and craft on the third Saturday of each month at 10 a.m. 

The Crafter Showcase runs April through September. In June, the showcase will be part of the Blue Ridge Heritage weekend on the fourth Saturday. The crafters will also be displayed in the Shelton House gift shop all season. The showcase is open to the public with a $5 donation requested. 

The Shelton House is now accepting applications for the Shelton House Crafter Showcase until March 15. Selected crafters will be notified by March 31.

Applications for the Blue Ridge Heritage Weekend will be available, on line, shortly with a deadline by May 1. More information is available at www.sheltonhouse.org or calling 828.452.1551. 

For more information about the Blue Ridge Craft Trails, visit www.blueridgeheritage.com/blue-ridge-craft-trails.