Crooksville-Roseville Pottery Festival Opens with Ceremonial Plate Smashing
ROSEVILLE, Ohio – The Crooksville-Roseville Pottery Festival returns this year with a smash as the community began celebrations with the ceremonial Plate Breaking.
The clay capital of Ohio is drawing in people from all over the US this week as it celebrates its 56th Annual Pottery Festival.
The festival’s location alternates each year between the two communities, with celebrations being held in either Crooksville Village Park or Roseville Park. The Pottery Festival was first held in 1966 to acknowledge the booming clay and pottery presence in Southeastern Ohio. The festival begins each year with a formal plate-breaking ceremony. Twelve plates are handmade in the community with a unique design for that year. One plate is broken to signify the start of the festival, one plate is kept for permanent display – and the remaining plates are auctioned off with the proceeds supporting the Clay Center of Ohio.
Dale Hague, Board Member of the Clay Center of Ohio and creator of this year’s plate, spoke with WHIZ about the festival’s impact on the community.
“The estimates are that as many as 85% of the working population worked in pottery or supporting industries. So something that was that much a part of our heritage needs to be remembered.”
The plates are handcrafted with local clay from a clay mine a few miles north of Roseville. This year’s plate features Rose Pottery, a local pottery off Potter’s Lane specializing in novelty pottery from the 50s, 60s, and 70s. Plates were being auctioned off for as much as $700 this afternoon, with local businesses and community members hoping to have the chance to obtain one of the valuable items.
Hague encouraged people to come to the celebration this weekend to celebrate the community and learn more about the rich history of pottery in Ohio.
“Because it’s an opportunity to learn more about why it was important to our community and how it still is.”
The festival will be open from 10 am to 9 pm on Friday and from 10 am till 10 pm on Saturday at the Roseville Village Park.
