Working artisans featured at Under the Harvest Moon in downtown Dowagiac on Saturday, Oct. 11, will demonstrate hand-thrown pottery, wool spinning, along with fine wood carving, sculpting and wood burning.

Hosted by the Greater Dowagiac Chamber of Commerce, the fall festival opens at 10 a.m. and brings together collectors of antique farm tractors, family events and a marketplace of Michigan-grown produce, autumn mums, handmade products and antiques.

Vickie Phillipson, event co-chairman and program director of the Chamber of Commerce & DDA, said she is pleased to welcome artisans Doloros Meisterheim and Don Wilcox, who will demonstrate their art at the Dowagiac Area History Museum.

Steve Arseneau, museum director, said Meisterheim will present a basic spinning demonstration and will answer questions about spinning and weaving from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the museum. Meisterheim, who has an arts degree with a specialty in fiber arts and leather, took up spinning and weaving in the 1980s. As part of a Shaker Crafts Guild, Doloros and her husband, Richard, eventually put together a small business that included the repair of spinning wheels.

Also appearing at the museum will be master carver Don Wilcox, a member of Fruit Belt Wood Carvers, who will present a live carving demonstration. Wilcox, whose depiction of historic downtown Dowagiac can be seen at Front Street Crossing, will present a live carving demonstration by replicating a pattern for a nameplate to a Round Oak D-16 heating stove. He will also discuss pattern-making and explain some of the molding process with visitors.

Festival organizers are also pleased to welcome back Mike Evans, an award-winning ice carver from Edwardsburg. Evans, who has appeared numerous times at this community’s Ice Time Festival, will present a wood carving exhibition outside Saylor’s Front Street Pizzeria from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

From Dowagiac, wood burning artist Larry Collins, who began drawing at the age of nine, will have pieces of his art for sale. At 22, Collins became interested in wood burning and has since incorporated many of these pieces into other art forms such as note cards, limited edition prints and screen printing.

From Sister Lakes, artisan Michelle Stambaugh, owner of Mud-Luscious, will present pottery demonstrations throughout the day on Front Street, working outside Rosy Tomorrow, where her work is also on display for sale.

Phillipson said more than 30 commercial exhibitors from southwestern Michigan and northern Indiana, who have joined the festival, will line Front Street with their booths, selling antiques, hand-crafted wares, fall produce and sweet delicacies.

Family events will be featured throughout the day, including an interactive children’s workshop with Zelda the Witch, horse-drawn wagon rides, children’s games, pumpkin decorating, street entertainment and more.

The fourth-annual event has been underwritten by The Pokagon Fund and these corporate sponsors: Creative Vinyl Signs, local grower Charlie Dohm, Dowagiac Area History Museum, Kim MacGregor’s office of Edward Jones, Forest Glen Assisted Living, Hale’s Hardware, Leader Publications, Skibbe Business & Tax Service, Smoke Vision Care, Sustainable Recycling Inc., Town & Country Garden Club and Williams A-1 Expert Tree Service.

For a full schedule of activities or to register for commercial booth space, visit www.DowagiacChamber.com or call 269-782-8212.