The Herkimer County Arts & Crafts Fair, known around here as the Arts & Crafts Fair of the Mohawk Valley, returns to Herkimer County Community College on Saturday, November 7, 2026, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. More than 100 juried artisans fill the Robert McLaughlin College Center at 100 Reservoir Road with pottery, woodworking, textiles and weaving, jewelry, soaps, oil painting, and gourmet food. It is the largest single shopping day of the year in this county, and it draws people from well outside it.
Grand Colonial Bed and Breakfast is under ten minutes from the college. If you are driving in from Syracuse, Albany, the Southern Tier, or anywhere that turns the fair into a two-hour trip each way, staying the night before is the difference between a rushed errand and a good weekend.
Why a B&B beats a chain hotel for craft fair weekend
Fair weekend is a specific kind of trip. You want to be at the doors when they open, because the best pieces at a juried show do not last until four o’clock. You want somewhere to put what you buy that is not the trunk of your car in a parking lot. And after five hours of concrete floors, you want to sit down somewhere that is not a lobby.
We have four en-suite rooms, which means the whole house is a small number of guests rather than a corridor of strangers. Breakfast is homemade and cooked to order, not a tray of pastries under a heat lamp. You can leave your purchases in your room and go back out for dinner. And when you check in, we sort out what time breakfast works for you, so you are not negotiating with a buffet schedule on the morning you want an early start.
How far is Grand Colonial from the Herkimer County Arts & Crafts Fair?
The fair is held at Herkimer County Community College, 100 Reservoir Road, Herkimer, NY 13350. We are under ten minutes away by car, on the same side of the Mohawk River, with no highway between us and the campus. Call us at (315) 982-5004 and we will tell you exactly how to get there, which is not something a call center in another state can do.
For anyone coming from further out: Herkimer sits directly on the New York State Thruway (I-90) at Exit 30. Utica is about twenty minutes west, Little Falls fifteen minutes east, and Cooperstown thirty minutes south.
Planning craft fair weekend
Friday night: Arrive, drop your bags, and eat in Little Falls or at Beardslee Castle up Route 5. Our restaurant guide covers what is open and what is worth the drive in November. Get to bed early, because doors open at ten and the parking lot fills.
Saturday: Breakfast at whatever time you told us the night before, then the fair. Five hours goes faster than you expect at a show with a hundred booths. Bring a tote or two, bring cash as well as cards, and if you are buying anything fragile, bring a blanket for the car.
Saturday evening: Come back, drop everything off, and go out again. Downtown Little Falls is fifteen minutes east and its Main Street is the right size for a walk before dinner.
Sunday: Slow morning. If the weather cooperates, Moss Island and the Erie Canal at Lock 17 are worth an hour on the way home, and November is the season when you get them to yourself. Our antiques guide is the other good answer, and it pairs naturally with a craft fair weekend.
What craft fair visitors appreciate
- Four en-suite rooms, each with climate control and premium cable, in a quiet residential neighborhood
- Free on-site parking, which matters when your car becomes the second shopping bag
- Free WiFi throughout
- All four rooms welcome dogs, so the dog does not spend the weekend at a kennel (a pet fee applies)
- Beekman 1802 toiletries
- A full homemade breakfast, with the timing arranged with you at check-in
- Innkeepers who live here and answer the phone themselves
Make it a longer November weekend
Craft fair Saturday is the opening act of the quietest and cheapest month in Central New York. The first two weeks of November are genuinely empty here: past foliage, before the holidays, with the canal path and the back roads to yourself. If you have ever wanted the room you actually want at the rate you actually want, this is the window.
Later in the month it picks back up again with Glimmer Nights in Cooperstown and Thanksgiving weekend. Our seasonal events guide tracks what is coming, and our Herkimer lodging overview covers the area more broadly.
Ready to book
We have four rooms. On craft fair weekend that is not a lot, and Friday night November 6 goes before the Saturday does. Book direct at grand-colonial.com/book or call (315) 982-5004. Booking direct gets you our lowest rate, a real person on the phone, and $10 per night off if you have stayed with us before. You can also look at the four rooms first.
Come for the breakfast, stay for the night.
Fair details above are from the organizers as published for 2026. Confirm hours and admission with Herkimer County Community College or Kessler Promotions before you travel.