Photo courtesy of Puget Sound Bead Festival
BEAD IT. With more than 100 vendors and 125 classes, PSBF draws all levels of beaders from across the country.
The Puget Sound Bead Festival (PSBF) will be coming to Tacoma July 10-12. The largest national bead show on the West Coast, PSBF organizers expect an attendance of around 5,000 in this 14th year of the festival.
The PSBF, which is owned and operated by Viki and Mark Lareau of The Bead Factory Inc. in Tacoma, began in 1995. The main focus of the festival is to bring together high quality bead merchants and national bead instructors to the Pacific Northwest. Each year the festival tries to increase the quality of the show by adding features and services to enhance the attendees’ experience. With more than 100 vendors and 125 classes, PSBF draws all levels of beaders from across the country, even from Canada and Japan. Its attendees are mostly professional women who use beading as a source of therapy. It’s what they turn to for relaxation and as a creative outlet. Also fashion driven, these women crave higher quality materials than can be found in a local craft store. The Bead Factory has built its total business model on the concept of catering to this contemporary beader, offering classes in all the latest jewelry techniques and showing how anyone can make fashionable jewelry. The PSBF is a spin-off from that concept in a trade show setting.
Regardless of how expansive the PSBF is, the show’s philosophies never change: to deliver a bead show unlike any other, with the highest quality vendors, classes and show services for vendors, teachers, students and attendees.
Some of the festival’s activities and services:
- Demo stage all weekend featuring your favorite vendors and teachers
- Preview night July 9 from 5-8 p.m. for students only
- Tool rental program available on site – leave your tools at home
- Teachers’ Showcase July 9 from 7:30-9:30 p.m. – meet and greet the fabulous instructors
- Saturday Night Bead Party at The Bead Factory (3019 Sixth Ave.)
- Family Day July 12 – Ladies, bring your husband or boyfriend and up to two kids for free admission with Mom’s badge. Additional children only $2.50
- Bead Treasure Hunt for the first 25 kids that sign up on July 12
The Puget Sound Bead Festival will be held at the Hotel Murano Bicentennial Pavilion, located at 1320 Broadway. All services are wheelchair accessible and all ages are welcomed. For more information, visit http://www.pugetsoundbeadfestival.com, http://www.thebeadfactory.com, or call (888) 500-BEAD.
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