If you like good quality craftwork, historical buildings and medieval castles, you could do worse than visit the village of Chinchilla de Montearagón in the province of Albacete during the weekend of 28, 29 and 30 June, because then the old town centre will be the background for an original craft market in the style of the beginning of last century.
All participants will dress up in the clothes they would have worn 100 years ago and some of them will not only sell their work, but also show their skills in making lace, traditional pottery, carving stone, weaving or converting antlers and horns into spoons, knives or decorative key rings.
About 30 stalls are expected, with a wide range of hand made goods for all tastes. You can choose from ceramics and pottery, beautifully hand made leather bags, wooden and soft toys, funny hats, leather belts made to measure and much more. There will also be several stalls with designer jewelry in alpaca, macramé, porcelain, ceramics and paper. All participants are real craftsmen or women, who bring their tools along so they can make small changes or personalize a chosen item or even accept special orders.
To amuse the children there will be workshops, table games, a small ferris wheel and story telling, while three musicians and two jugglers will guarantee a lively atmosphere, as they will be making music, walking around on stilts and riding crazy bycicles. Every night the market closes with a lively fire show.
The market opens on Friday the 28th of June at 7 pm, on Saturday and Sunday stalls will be open from 11 am till 2 pm and in the afternoons from 7 till 11 pm or later (on Sunday the market closes earlier). For more information about the Craft Fair (also in English and German) you can ring the organising association Amata at 639 979 678 and photographs of last year’s market (also organised by Amata), you’ll find at http://www.amata.es/Chinchilla_18.html.
Chinchilla de Montearagón lies on the A31 Motorway from Alicante to Madrid, 16kms before Albacete town. Chinchilla offers free camping for motor homes and there are several “casas rurales” (B&B’s, some even in caves!) and a hotel.
