With the suc­cess of sites like Etsy in the last few years, and with groups like the Sev­enCi­ties Crafters pop­ping up all over the U.S., it was only a mat­ter of time before a doc­u­men­tary like Hand­made Nation showed up. The film doc­u­ments the rise of the new DIY cul­ture, and shows the way it dif­fers in from place to place. And although we wish they would have brought it sooner (the movie goes to DVD on Novem­ber 3rd), we are glad the Naro decided to bring it in for a one-time show­ing this Saturday.

Start­ing this Memo­r­ial Day week­end, the Old Beach Farm­ers Mar­ket begins their sea­son with local pro­duce such as aspara­gus, var­i­ous peas, onions, greens, spinach, and straw­ber­ries. In addi­tion to fresh fruits and veg­eta­bles, there will be addi­tional local ven­dors pro­mot­ing a loca­vore lifestyle.

Twice a year, Hope House puts on an arts fes­ti­val that show­cases the best art, crafts, and music around. Over the course of the week­end, over 150 artists and sev­eral of the best local bands con­gre­gate in Ghent to show­case their skills. We’d be remiss if we didn’t men­tion that there’s tons of great food, lots to do for all age groups, and a good time to be had by all.

There are two types of quilt­ing nowa­days: tra­di­tional and exper­i­men­tal. We take a look at an artist doing some of the best exper­i­men­tal quilt­ing in the world, and then show you a local gallery open­ing that brings it back to the roots of tra­di­tional quilting.