Photo by kthread

Crafty Bastards, the premier fall arts and crafts fair put on by the folks over at the City Paper, is in search of a new home. The Prince of Petworth reports that instead of occupying the grounds of the Marie Reed Community Learning Center in Adams Morgan as it has for the past seven years, the fair will be looking for an indoor space for this year’s installment. Wrote City Paper publisher Amy Austin:

It is with great disappointment that we are announcing that City Paper will not be able to host Crafty Bastards at Marie Reed this October. The challenges of producing an outdoor festival on school property have gotten progressively steeper, which led us to a decision to look for an indoor venue. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find an indoor space in Adams Morgan that has the capacity the festival needs.

We’ve reached out to Austin for more details on the move, but haven’t heard back. Kristen Barden, director of the Adams Morgan Partnership Business Improvement District, said that Austin had told her that the fair was getting too big for Marie Reed and that last year’s rainy weather had spurred the search for an indoor venue. Adams Morgan doesn’t have such a venue to offer, said Barden, and the City Paper may be looking at the Washington Convention Center as a possible site.

“We’re disappointed that it’s leaving,” said Barden of the fair, noting that Adams Morgan businesses enjoyed the visitors that would stream to the fair every October.