NYC’s only sheep shearing festival is headed to Queens County Farm Museum this Saturday, May 13th. The unique event provides New Yorkers with a rare opportunity to be immersed in life on the farm.
The main events consist of farmer-led tours and sheep shearing demonstrations, but there will also be local bites and brews, live blue-grass music and more.
“The one-and-only Sheep Shearing Festival is a wooly good time,” said Jennifer Walden Weprin, Executive Director of Queens County Farm Museum. “We are excited to welcome New Yorkers to this annual festival tradition at Queens County Farm Museum.”
Watch the farm’s sheep get a spring haircut from professional shearer Donald Kading and learn all about dyeing, spinning, weaving and knitting from local fiber artisans.
The process of shearing sheep dates back more than 10,000 years and no, it doesn’t hurt the sheep! Rather, “sheep shearing is an important part of the farm lifecycle along with crop planting and harvesting, compost production, and seasonal changes in the growing fields,” explains Queens County Farm Museum.
All of the fleece from the festival will be processed by Battenkill Fibers, a longtime partner of Queens County Farm Museum, into yarn that will be sold at the Queens County Farm Museum’s Farm Store.
Tickets for the festival are $12-15, but free for those ages two and under.
“The Sheep Shearing Festival gives the public an opportunity to connect with local fiber artisans and engage with NY-based textile production on a deeper level in a fun-filled, family friendly festival environment across Queens County Farm Museum’s bucolic 47-acre historic site,” shared Queens County Farm Museum.
Other 2023 programming for Queens County Farm Museum includes Milk & Honey Month, the 44th Annual Thunderbird American Indian Powwow, and the 40th Annual Queens County Fair. You can view the full lineup on the Queens County Farm Museum website.
When: Saturday, May 13, 2023, from 11 am to 4 pm
Where: Queens County Farm (73-50 Little Neck Pkwy, Queens)