Furniture Festival Spotlights Local North Carolina Craftsmanship and Artistry

For years, people have traveled to Hickory to purchase their furniture in a region where quality craftsmanship, diverse selection, superior design and down home friendly customer service is well- known around the world.  Each July, Hickory Furniture Mart celebrates local furniture heritage and artistry by inviting local furniture craftsmen and artisans to participate in their annual Furniture Festival & Clearance Sale.  This year’s event takes place Friday, July 25, 9am-6pm; Saturday, July 26, 9am-6pm; and Sunday, July 27, 1pm-6pm.  

On Saturday, a local craftsman from Vanguard Furniture, one of North Carolina’s local furniture manufacturers, will demonstrate the 8-way hand-tied springing process throughout the day for customers.  There will also be an Amish craftsman from Millcraft Furniture on hand to display his product and talk to customers about how he carefully hand-crafts and customizes each piece of his furniture from the ground up.  You’ll be able to interact with a stained-glass artist demonstrating her unique craftsmanship in addition to meeting several local artists, including a photographer specializing in portraitures, landscapes, fine art, travel destinations, pets, commercial, architectural, aerial and macro photography.  There will be an enamel artist who expresses her creativity through enamels in jewelry and artwork, an acrylic painter, a children’s mural artist, two fine woodworkers specializing in hand-carved bowls, clocks, wooden & acrylic pens, a lighting designer who uses locally sourced sustainable materials in all of her one-of-a kind lighting creations, two seasoned North Carolina potters using their own unique styles and techniques, and a multi-talented landscape painter and jewelry designer.  The local orchid society will offer re-potting demonstrations and will be selling colorful local orchids, which make a beautiful accessory for any home.  Stop by the Mart’s lighting gallery for demonstrations on lamp repairs and advice on your next indoor or outdoor lighting project.  In addition, a major clearance sale will take place throughout the building all weekend long as manufacturers and showrooms mark down spring and summer products to make room for their new fall inventories.