Shear delight: Sheep festival returns to Glen Allen

Artisans, farmers and herders alike will converge in Glen Allen this week for the third annual Ozark Highlands Sheep and Fiber Festival.

The two-day festival will take place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, March 22, and Saturday, March 23.

Ed Crowley and his wife, Terri, host the festival on their Mesta Meadows livestock ranch, 1 mile west of Glen Allen along Highway 34.

"It's a really neat opportunity for people to come out, bring their families and see a working ranch," Crowley said. "... They can actually see the whole process from wool coming off the sheep, all the way to creating yarn or even finished products."

The Crowleys raise goats, cows, donkeys and, of course, sheep on their nearly 200-acre ranch. They started farming in Kentucky after their children went off to college, but moved to Glen Allen after Crowley got a teaching position at Southeast Missouri State University.

"When we moved here, there really wasn't anything like that in Southern Missouri and only a few fiber festivals in the state to begin with. So we thought, 'What the heck, let's try to start this,'" Crowley said.

Attendance is free, and the Crowleys expanded their parking lot to accommodate what they believe will be a record number of guests. The first festival had some 350 attendees and the second had more than 700.

Crowley estimated this year could see more than 1,000 people head to the ranch.

"It's really turned into a larger arts and crafts festival," Crowley said. "... We have a lot of different vendors, kind of something for everybody."

Dana Schwieger, left, of Cape Girardeau and Terri Crowley of Glen Allen skirt a sheep's fleece to clean it during the first Ozark Highlands Sheep and Fiber Festival in 2022. The festival showcases the entire wool gathering process, from shearing sheep to storing the wool.Courtesy photo

Festive events

Tony Troendle is the owner of Advanced Tree Service in Jackson, but he is also a champion sheep shearer.

He has competed in professional competitions in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and his wool-removing skills will be on full display both days of the fiber festival.

The festival also features artisan craft vendors selling yarn, pottery, candles and soap. Different classes, free to attend, will teach visitors how to make their own.

For the first time, the festival will feature live music with the Green & Grassy band performing country and folk music.

Food items for sale include sheep cheese, sheep's milk ice cream, lamb burgers and kettle corn.

An expanded, renovated petting zoo features the likes of donkeys, goats, Great Pyrenees dogs and Highland cattle.

"And of course we have the sheep," Crowley added, "which are the stars of the show."

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