Hundreds made their way to the Shippensburg Fairgrounds earlier this month for the Pennsylvania Chainsaw Carvers Festival.
Now in its fifth year, the three-day festival is hosted by the Shippensburg Area Chamber of Commerce and was held April 17–19. Carvers from across the country attended this year, carving “quick-carves” and a “masterpiece” carving.
This year, 28 carvers were invited to Shippensburg to show their skills. The first two nights, carvers had 60 minutes to carve a piece, which then went to auction immediately.
On April 19, the auction featured pieces of the “masterpiece” variety, as well as additional quick carvings, for more than 50 sculptures. The artworks depicted a range of subjects, including bears, eagles and other wildlife. Other sculptures were of American flags, cartoon characters like Woody from Pixar’s “Toy Story” and several depictions of Sasquatch.
One piece, a large sculpture of a buck looking over its shoulder, sold for $2,050. According to Chamber President Wendy Kipe, it was the day’s highest bid.
According to Kipe, the Chamber brings the carvers for three nights and pays for their lodging. The funds from the auction are split between the carvers and the Chamber, which then uses the proceeds for two of the events.
Those events are the Back to School Family Fun Day and the Community Christmas Party, both of which are free to the community.
The size of the festival has varied over the years. Last year saw 53 carvers attend, which organizers felt was too many in retrospect. They aimed for 30 this year.
The Shippensburg festival falls the week before the much larger Chainsaw Carvers Rendezvous in Ridgway, Pennsylvania.
“It’s a very unique festival where you start with a block of wood and create that,” Kipe said, referring to one of the sculptures. “Not every community has a Chainsaw Festival.”
The Chamber’s Back to School Family Fun Day, where they give away backpacks and school supplies before the school year kicks off, is scheduled for Aug. 9.
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