My Weekend at the SoCal Fiber Fair: A Festival of Fun

I had the pleasure of spending this past weekend at the 2024 SoCal Fiber Fair. It’s been a real treat watching this event start to become a fixture in my local fiber arts scene. And you know what was just as much fun? Getting to host a couple events of my own this year!

This is kind of a new event and word still hasn’t spread as far as it should. As a result, I thought I’d write a blog post with an overview of the festival and some tips for getting the most out of your time if you decide to attend next year.

How the Fiber Fair Works

The SoCal Fiber Fair is held at the Pomona Fairplex not far from Los Angeles. There are several large exhibit halls there, and the fiber fair fills one entire exhibit hall.

Layout

What I love about this particular event is how extraordinarily well organized it is. There are three aisles of booths running the entire length of the event hall. The organizers leave space at the front, middle, and back for relaxing and gathering.

Offerings

This year there were 71 vendors (by my count), including independent dyers, notions makers, yarn stores, knitting guilds, people selling textile goods like project bags and totes, and more. There was lots of live music at the back of the space where there were also tables where you can sit and knit and enjoy yourself.

They also have a variety of classes. Some are hosted at tables where everybody can join in. Others are held in a couple of curtained-off areas used as classrooms for more intensive learning experiences (these require prior registration at the time of your ticket purchase). Many booths also host free demonstrations of products or techniques.​

There is a tram running from the parking area that runs regularly, and there’s also a first aid station. I especially love the attention paid toward keeping the bathrooms clean and stocked.

Tips for Making the Most of Your Time at the SoCal Fiber Fair

Although this is still a fairly new event, it’s growing pretty rapidly. I’m excited to see what it will become in the coming years! Because it is likely to keep expanding, I thought it would be helpful to share some information for you to plan your visit in future years.

Tip #1: Be prepared for the parking setup

I mentioned above that there is a tram running from the parking lot to the event space. That’s because the parking lot is fairly far from the event space. As a result, you should check when you get out of the car to make sure you have everything you need for the day ahead of you. While you can go back to your car, it will take more time than you might want to spend, especially if there are timed events that you would like to participate in at the fair. A few moments of checking pockets and bags to make sure you have all your stuff is well worth the slight delay at the beginning of your day.

Tip #2: Check the list of vendors and events ahead of time

The staff of the fiber fair does a great job of posting information on their website ahead of time. The schedule of events for both Saturday and Sunday was available on the website at least a week or two ahead of the festival. That meant I could check and see where I wanted to be at different times during the fair. It helped me make sure I didn’t miss anything I had really been looking forward to. It also helped me plan out which booths I wanted to stop and visit.

Tip #3: Do a lap around the fair when you first arrive

Even if you’ve done a little research ahead of time into which vendors will be at the fair and whose booths you want to visit, a large part of the fun of these events is discovering vendors you likely wouldn’t have encountered otherwise. The best way to do that is to do a circuit through the event space. This way, you can check out each of the booths before you settle in for your day’s activities.

Because this is a moderately sized event, you can get a pretty good sense of the different booths after a leisurely wander. Then you can start making your way over to the booths where you had noticed something that caught your eye earlier. This is an especially helpful tactic if you have set yourself a budget for the day and want to make sure you don’t blow it all right at the very beginning.

Tip #4: Consider your arrival time

Last year, I arrived at the very beginning of the first day because I wasn’t sure how big the crowds would be. I did the same thing for the second day. This year, I took a somewhat more leisurely approach. I figured the crowds would be bigger, which they were. I also knew, though, that the event was run well enough that I would be able to wander easily.

Very focused shoppers can probably achieve most of what they want to in a half day at the fiber fair. Of course, there are still the classes and workshops and meet ups and good company to enjoy. I recommend spending the whole day if you can, but it’s good to know that you can hit the highlights relatively quickly. 

That also means that if you can’t arrive until lunchtime, it’s still a good idea to come anyway. There’s still lots of fun to be had. Conversely, if you have to leave early, you can squeeze in just about everything you might want to do except for maybe a workshop that is scheduled for later.

Tip #5: Budget for incidentals

As with any event, there are expenses that might surprise or sneak up on you if you haven’t thought of them ahead of time. One is the cost of parking. From my understanding, parking is run by a different vendor, and so the fiber fair has no control over how much it costs. As of this year, parking was $18 per day. You can minimize the cost by having somebody drop you off and pick you up or by taking a local bus, but public transit is fairly limited in the area.

Concessions are similarly pricier than they would be at some events. Lunch will run you $15-$20 for food and another $5 to $10 depending on your beverage choice. The food vendors are mostly serving county fair-style foods (hamburgers, bbq, funnel cake), though this year there were a couple special dishes for the food fair that were on the lighter side (I had a grilled chicken sandwich one day that was tasty, and I had some Philly cheesesteak fries another day). If you have dietary restrictions or are looking to minimize costs/maximize your yarn budget, you can also bring a packed lunch and your own drinks.

Finally, if you are coming from out of town, bear in mind that there are several options for overnight lodging. I like to get a room at the Sheraton Fairplex, which is literally next door to the fiber fair. Rooms are usually about $150 a night, and you can bring that cost down by sharing with a friend. Many of the rooms have two queen beds or a king bed and a sofa with a pull-out mattress. There are also other hotels nearby with a range of prices, as well as some short term vacation rentals if you and some friends want to go in on renting a house together.

Why Go to a Fiber Festival?

As this past weekend grew closer, every time I told somebody I was headed to a fiber fair, they would look at me with a puzzled face and ask, what’s that?

Fiber fairs and festivals are definitely more common in other regions of the country than they are here in California. We are not a particularly abundant wool-producing region, nor do we have especially cold winters.

So in case you’ve never been to a fiber festival, here’s why I recommend checking one out.

Making New Friends

For one thing, it’s a great chance to spend time in the company of lots of people who enjoy the same things you do. Even when I go to these events by myself, I end up making new friends. It’s so easy to strike up conversations with others. If you have been craving the company of fellow fiber artists, this type of event is a great way to get to know folks who share your hobby and perhaps other interests and values, too. It’s a great way to build fiber community. 

Supporting Small Businesses

It’s also a great way to support small and local businesses. Every one of the vendors at the fiber fair was either a small business or a local business. Most frequently, they were both. Many of us fiber enthusiasts particularly appreciate local businesses with unique inventory and community focus. We all know how tough it is out in the world for small businesses. Events like this are a great way for us to help keep alive those small businesses we care about.

Building Connections Organically

Finally, I love how fiber fairs are an opportunity to connect with people I might not have crossed paths with otherwise. Our social media landscape is increasingly driven by algorithms that don’t always show us everything we might be interested in. Geographic distance also makes it hard to find each other sometimes. Fiber fairs are an easy way to bring together yarn enthusiasts from all over.

I hosted a couple “meet the designer” hours at one of the tables in the middle area. It was so fun getting to show people my design samples in person, make new friends, and talk about my design philosophy. If you came to visit me during either of those meet ups, thanks for helping to make my weekend so much fun!

I am already looking forward to next year‘s fiber fair. If you haven’t gone, I hope you’ll consider attending in 2025. If you were there this year, I hope to see you again next year!