The finest local crafters will display their talents at the 2nd annual Octoberfest Arts and Crafts Festival this Saturday at the Briggs Library main branch in Ironton sponsored by the Friends of the Library.

From 10 a.m.-4 p.m. the second-floor concourse will be packed with vendors displaying handmade items ranging from quilts and blankets, doll clothes, jewelry, paintings and woodcarvings.

“It’s a great opportunity to see local crafters and vendors,” Nancy Norris, of Friends of the Library, said. “There will be a variety of vendors there, some familiar faces and some new.”

There will be a candy sale and unique items, such as book covers will be sold.

The popularity of the Friends of the Library’s Junefest Arts and Crafts Festival had vendors asking when another event might take place, and that’s how Octoberfest was born this past year.

“We filled vendor spots for this event very early,” Norris said. “There really has been a great response.”

Part of the event’s success hinges on other things happening simultaneously in downtown Ironton on the same day, such as the Farmers Market and Lawrence County Bicycle Giveaway Street Fair.

“We had last year’s event at the same time as the Farmers Market,” Norris said. “But what ended up happening was people who made a trip to town for the Farmers Market also came to the festival. It was another thing for them to do.”

Using the library as another venue, Norris said, is beneficial to the vendor and the library.

“We do what we can and just hope people show up,” she said. “It gives us a chance to promote the library to a group of people who may not have ever been in the library and just promote it to the community in general. The ultimate goal for (Friends of the Library) is making people realize what a wonderful library we have here.”

There are currently 21 vendors signed up for the festival and Norris said new vendors have provided “unique additions” to the event.