By Shane Bevell
Vendors from around the country gathered in Provo the weekend of the Fourth of July to sell arts, crafts and food of all kind.
For one couple, the Freedom Festival Arts Fest is business as usual.
Gary and Sharon Liedl of Florence, Ariz., said their brief stop in Utah is one of 21 states they have been to in the last six weeks.
Liedl said they travel all over the country selling their custom-made crafts and baskets.
“Utah has always been good to us,” Gary Liedl said.
Business is better for the Lields in Utah than in the East, which they attribute to the lifestyle of Utahns.
Reg Minton of Eureka, Calif., wishes it was that way for him.
Minton, a ceramics teacher at the College of Redwoods in California, said he didn’t do as well as he expected this year.
Minton sells ceramics and attributes the lack of success to the different lifestyle in Provo.
“They use their money differently in Provo,” Minton said.
Minton said he would usually be working the crafts fair circuit in Southern Oregon at this time of year, but came to Provo because his daughter lives here.
“It is fun to come and see the different artistic abilities and variety of work,” said Melissa Posner, 24, a graduate student from Connecticut studying school counseling.
More vendors were turned down this year than any other year, said Jay Knight, event chairman for Arts Fest 2000.
“There are approximately 120 vendors this year,” Knight said.
They came from such places as Utah, California, Arizona and even as far away as Minnesota and Illinois.
Knight said vendors were selected either because they were invited back to the art show after doing well in years past, were seen at another event or were successfully accepted after turning in an application.
The arts and crafts show is becoming a tradition and is gaining popularity throughout Utah, like the traditional Swiss Days in Midway on Labor Day weekend, Knight said.
“The vendors are great people to work with,” Knight said.
Food booths are popular at the art show, with cuisines ranging from German to Greek to American.
Jeff Wilde of St. George said he travels to various places in Utah to do business.
Wilde said he travels as far as Bear Lake for Raspberry Days and as close as St. George for the Washington County Fair to sell his roasted sweet corn.
Wilde said the booths at the various festivals offer a unique service that can’t be found in stores.
Lance Rich of American Fork said he comes to the Arts Festival because of the good family atmosphere and for the unique booths and food.
