The Pennsylvania Chainsaw Carvers Festival returned to the Shippensburg Fairgrounds April 16-18 for its sixth annual event.
Hosted by the Shippensburg Area Chamber of Commerce, the festival is an opportunity for chainsaw carvers to demonstrate their skill and hard work for hundreds of guests. All three days were open for the public to see one-of-a-kind pieces and carving demonstrations.
Thirty-six carvers from across the United States were invited to Shippensburg this year, according to Chamber President Wendy Kipe. This year also had an international representative, with one carver coming all the way from Mongolia.
The first two nights had a quick carving event, in which carvers had 60 minutes to create a piece that immediately went to auction.
The main event of the festival, the masterpiece auction, was held on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. Prior to the auction beginning, a bald eagle statue painted to resemble the American flag was given the first-place award by a panel of judges. A majority of the 36 masterpiece carvings were designed to resemble woodland animals like bears, eagles, owls and deer. There were also wooden benches and other creative displays.
The funds received from the auction are split between the carvers and the chamber, which uses the proceeds to support free community events for local families.
Kipe said, “We provide two events specifically that give back to the community: Back to School Family Fun Day, that’s held in August right before the kids go back to school, and our second event is the Community Christmas Party. At the high school we have a totally free evening, we provide the meal, everyone gets gifts, crafts. Just a free event for all the kids in the community.”
In addition to carving, there were also numerous local vendors selling crafted goods, including handmade bird houses, jewelry, hand carved soap and more.
The Slate welcomes thoughtful discussion on all of our stories, but please keep comments civil and on-topic. Read our full guidelines here.