CHARLESTON, W.Va. – With the holidays just around the corner, the chance to do some gift shopping and find unique products returns to Charleston with the 56th annual Capital City Art and Craft Show.
The show is presented by the Kanawha City Lions Club and brings vendors from all around to the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center for two days of handmade crafts and food products.
“You name it, it’s there, and one thing that you’ll find is that in our show, we have turnover every year, so about 25 percent of the exhibitors are new to the show, so if you came last year, you aren’t going to see all the same old stuff,” show chair John Robertson said on 580 Live with Dave Allen.
Robertson is excited for some of the new vendors that are making their debuts in Charleston this weekend. He said that the list of items available is going to be long.
“We do have some painters that are quite accomplished that are new. We have a lot of pottery, a lot of jewelry, woodworking, textiles, West Virginia food products,” he said.
One of the hallmarks of the Capital City Art and Craft Show is the variety of unique products that are on sale across the two days. Robertson believes that it gives people an opportunity to take their gift-giving to the next level.
“You’ve got that special person that you’ve bought enough sweaters or you have too much of the same thing, and something unique means something. I think a lot of people enjoy doing that,” he said.
In its 56th year of running the show, the Lions Club continues to focus on giving back to the community. According to Robertson, every cent of profit that is made through the show goes to local charities.
“When you do anything with the Lions Club, you can be assured that the profits aren’t eaten up with administrative costs, and over the years, we’ve donated $1.6 million to local charities,” Robertson said.
The Capital City Art and Craft Show runs from 1pm to 7pm on Friday and 10am to 7pm on Saturday. The first 250 attendees each day receive a “Lions Buck” discount, and those who bring nonperishable food items to be donated to Mountain Mission receive a $1 discount on admission.
