A Woolen Affair is coming to Kingston – and no, we aren’t trying to lure you in with a catchy headline today, since this Friday the Red Hook-based fiber arts-focused day-long festival A Woolen Affair opens at its new home base at the Hutton Brickyards in Kingston.

A Woolen Affair is complex. Though it emphasizes the diverse range of the fiber arts industry with its 70-plus vendors, bearing both local and international roots, creator Catherine Clark, a midwife and owner of Brooklyn General Store, a successful fiber arts business of 23 years, said she wanted to create a festival that combined more than just your typical skein-laden and lanolin-scented fiber fest.

To add to the allure, Clark wants the festival to feel like a “party” for fiber arts fanatics, with six live bands lined up, a hangout space with self-care practitioners such as astrologists, tattoo artists and tarot card readers, live educational classes focusing on different aspects of fiber arts, eight food trucks and more.

Located right on the sweeping Hudson, Clark set the theme for this year’s iteration of the fest, Down by the Riverside, based on the landscape attendees will admire as they traverse the many vendors and knit alongside fellow crafters on a predictably beautiful autumn day. There is even a Waterview Tent, which will hold a handful of teachers providing free classes in an area of their expertise with a perfect view of the Hudson.

This year’s event is Clark’s third iteration of the Affair and is by far her biggest yet. Having taken place at the bucolic-but-tight space at Rose Hill Farm in Red Hook for the past two years, Clark quickly realized that her vision for the festival was quickly outgrowing the space, which only accommodated 10 vendors last year compared to their 73 this year.

The timing for this event taking place the day before the highly anticipated and publicized Rhinebeck Sheep and Wool festival is no coincidence; for Clark it was a driving force of bringing the event to its actualization.

“There are so many more vendors than can ever get in there, it gives an opportunity for people to show their work when they might not be able to otherwise,” Clark said. “I wanted to build something that was more than a market. I love music, I’m more excited about the music than the rest of it,” Clark laughed.

The vendors include a conglomerate of artisans from far and wide, some, Clark said, coming as far as the west coast and even Europe to sell their hand-crafted goods.

With Clark’s reach being expansive, and a good number of fiber arts purveyors and leaf-peepers already traveling to the area for Rhinebeck’s festival on Saturday and Sunday, she has already sold around 2,600 tickets, which are around $50 for a full-day pass from 10 a.m.-6 p.m., or a half day ticket of around $35 which spans from 2 p.m.-6 p.m.

“I try to have it be a welcoming haven,” Clark said. “It’s very curated and warm, very much so about community and supporting each other.”

To learn more about A Woolen Affair, check out their website here, their Instagram @awoolenaffair, and purchase tickets here. Parking passes to park at Hutton Brickyards are currently sold out, but there is a ride sharing program which can be located on the tickets page, or attendees can park at nearby public parking spaces.