Saint Andrews – The New Brunswick Wood Carving Show began in 2006, when a group of carvers in Saint Andrews formed a committee to formalize their interest in woodcarving. The 2019 show will be the 14th year that the event will be taking place, and will be held in Saint Andrews on August 9, 10, and 11 at the Sir James Dunn Academy.
In 2018, the New Brunswick Woodcarving Association was formed out of some of the members of the wood carving committee. The new association has expanded their scope to the promotion of woodcarving in the province, as well as overseeing the annual show.
The show includes both a competition component as well as a workshop component, with the workshops being spread throughout the three days of the event. The workshops will feature local wood carving artists giving a demonstration of various woodcarving techniques including power carving, chainsaw carving, habitat construction and many more. Details on the workshops and demonstrations, along with registration forms can be found at nbcarving.ca.
Last year’s competition had over 60 carvers from the Maritimes, Quebec, Ontario, Saskatchewan and the New England States., with over 200 carvings being entered into the competition.
The competition aspect of the show includes five different categories from youth to master carver, each with a ribbons and financial awards for the top three submissions in each category. Additionally, some of the sponsors of the show will be offering purchase awards for specific carvings, including $300 from the Picket Fence Motel in Saint Andrews for the creation of an 8 inch tall Santa, $1500 from AV Group NB for a carving of a 50 per cent scale eagle, and $1500 from J.D. Irving for a carving of a 60 per cent scale loon with one chick. The total prize money awarded during the competition is close to $7000.
The theme bird for this year will be the New Brunswick warbler, and the general theme is “night time”, which means a carving can be anything related to night-time. For the bargain hunters out there, there will be a use equipment sale on Friday, August 9, from 4 to 5 p.m. in the SJDA foyer. The show will be free to the public on Saturday, August 10, from 12 to 5 p.m. and on Sunday, August 11, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The awards ceremony will take place at 2 p.m. on Sunday.