A sunny afternoon brought hundreds of visitors to the Jeremiah Lee Mansion Gardens on Saturday as the Marblehead Museum and Discover Marblehead hosted their fifth annual Fall Fair, a popular event that featured local vendors, tarot card readings, and pumpkin-themed fundraisers.
“It was such a great day,” said Melissa Stacey of Discover Marblehead. “We were all setting up, and it rained for like four minutes — maybe not even four minutes — and then it was absolutely gorgeous for the rest of the day.”
Stacey said hundreds of people visited the Jeremiah Lee Mansion Gardens, where the event was held, enjoying drinks from Bubble Bar Boston and Bent Water Brewing Co., shopping, and hot dogs from Mad-Dogz.
Attendees also got tarot card readings and portraits drawn by students from the Acorn Gallery School of Art, Stacey said.
Turnout this year was “fabulous,” and everyone involved thought it was the biggest one yet, Stacey said. “I have to agree,” she added, noting that it may be due in part to the fact that it’s an annual event. “People start looking out for it,” she said.
While the fair continues to grow each year, Stacey said she wants to ensure that all vendors can fit inside the Jeremiah Lee Mansion in case of rain. A new addition this year was the card readings by Peyton Pugmire, owner of Creative Spirit.
Stacey said Discover Marblehead and the Marblehead Museum always host a fundraiser at the fair, assembling pumpkin kits to raise money for the Marblehead Food Pantry.
“This year, we actually raised $710,” Stacey said. She added that they sold out of sugar pumpkins in just two-and-a-half hours. “I was like, ‘Oh, I’m going to have to ask for more pumpkins next year,’” she said.
The pumpkins are sold alongside the kits, which include a pen for drawing on the pumpkin as well as stickers, for $10 each, Stacey said.
Aside from needing more pumpkins next year, Stacey said she is pleased with how the fair is progressing, especially in terms of the variety of vendors and artists it hosts.
One change this year was the setup in the lower garden. “Instead of having all the vendors facing out, we had them facing in,” Stacey said. By doing this, she said, it created a “community down there,” adding, “So, moving forward, we will definitely keep doing that.”
Another change was the fair’s hours. Previously, it ran from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., but this year it was extended until 3 p.m. “There were a lot of vendors who said they made quite a few sales in that last hour,” Stacey said. “So, we’ll continue to keep it from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. moving forward.”
