200 MAKERS ARE TAKING OVER A GOTHIC MANSION. HERE’S HOW TO DO FALL CRAFTS AT LYNDHURST RIGHT.
Fall Crafts at Lyndhurst returns September 18-20 with more than 200 artists and makers, food worth stopping for, 67 acres along the Hudson, a Gothic mansion, and enough handmade things to make ‘I’m just looking’ a completely unserious statement.
Most things we buy arrive without fingerprints.
A bowl shows up in a box. A necklace lands in a padded envelope. A wooden spoon appears on the porch, and somewhere between the cardboard and the tracking number, the person who shaped it, fired it, hammered it, polished it, painted it or spent three days swearing at it disappears.
Fall Crafts at Lyndhurst Mansion is the opposite.
From September 18 through 20, more than 200 modern American makers, artists, designers and craftspeople will spread across Lyndhurst’s Tarrytown grounds with ceramics, glass, jewelry, furniture, fiber, wood, metal, photography, painting, mixed media and work that does not fit neatly into any category. And in booth after booth, the person standing behind the table is the person who made the thing sitting on it.
That is the first reason we keep telling people to go.
The second is that these guys have been doing this for a very long time.
ARTRIDER DIDN’T JUST BUILD A CRAFT FAIR
Artrider began in 1982 with Stacey Jarit and Jeff Sobel. Stacey understood this world from the artist side as a maker herself. Jeff came from city planning, which is a strangely perfect background when your future involves figuring out how hundreds of artists, thousands of visitors, tents, parking, food and historic properties are all supposed to coexist without the day becoming chaos.
Four decades later, Artrider’s calendar stretches through New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, with seven 2026 events including CraftMorristown, two shows at Lyndhurst, the Rhinebeck Crafts Festival, Guilford Craft Expo, CraftWestport and Holiday CraftMorristown.
And then there is Jackie.
Jackie Jarit Sobel Hersh grew up so thoroughly inside the family business that Artrider’s office was literally in her childhood playroom. She later came back to the Hudson Valley, joined the company and now directs it.
We have worked with Jackie and covered Artrider events for years, and one thing keeps coming through: when she wants us excited about a show, she talks about the artists.
Earlier this summer, when Jackie sent Hudson Valley Happenings information for this fall’s Lyndhurst show, she did not lead with herself.
She sent us makers.
So that is where we are starting too.
GO MEET THE PEOPLE WHO MAKE THE WEIRD, BEAUTIFUL STUFF
Do not interpret this as a list of the ‘best’ six booths. With more than 200 makers, that would be ridiculous. Think of these as six reasons not to speed-walk through the tents looking for whatever matches your couch.
DWO WEN CHEN MAKES THE FLOWER DISAPPEAR
Providence potter Dwo Wen Chen works in high-temperature stoneware at Three Wheel Studio, throwing and hand-building pieces before painting them by hand.
But his botanical work has one of our favorite processes in the entire show.
Real leaves, flowers and greenery are pressed into the clay while it is still soft. Then the piece goes into the kiln. The plant burns away. What remains is its imprint. Chen adds glaze before the next firing, so the finished piece holds the record of something that physically disappeared while it was being made.
That is a lot to hide inside a bowl.
JONATHAN SIMONS BUILT A 49-YEAR BUSINESS BECAUSE HE FORGOT A SPOON
In 1977, Jonathan Simons was apprenticing with a furniture maker when he realized he had forgotten to pack a spoon with his lunch. So he grabbed some scrap wood and made one.
That is basically the origin story of Jonathan’s Spoons.
Nearly five decades later, his Pennsylvania shop still works primarily in wood, obsessing over balance, handles, edges and the tiny decisions that determine whether something as ordinary as a spoon feels completely right in your hand.
You could buy a wooden spoon anywhere. Or you could meet the guy who has been thinking about the geometry of spoons since the Carter administration.
SHEKINA RUDOY PAINTS THE CLOTHING BEFORE THE CLOTHING EXISTS
Shekina Rudoy’s silk garments begin as yardage stretched across horizontal frames. Wax goes down as a resist. Dye is painted onto the silk by hand. The fabric is heat-set, then hand-washed repeatedly until the water runs clear. Only after that does it get cleaned, ironed, cut and sewn into Rudoy’s patterns.
So when you see a finished jacket hanging there looking effortless, remember that it began as a giant painted piece of silk that had to survive chemistry, heat, water, scissors and somebody’s patience.
CHRIS BELLEAU DOESN’T JUST BLOW THE GLASS
Christopher R. Belleau started out as a potter before glass won him over. One of the details we love about his work is that Belleau does not always start with commercially produced color. He has described making colored glass from raw ingredients himself, giving him control over the hue and intensity before the finished object even exists.
So yes, the vase is a beautiful color. But somebody had to make the color first.
NOELLE AND ERIC VANHENDRICK MAKE POTTERY WITH SOMETHING TO SAY
Noelle VanHendrick and Eric Hendrick have spent more than 25 years making ZPOTS together. Their ceramics mix useful objects with words, drawings and messages about love, gratitude, belonging and being alive, which means you can walk into their booth intending to buy a mug and somehow leave holding a tiny emotional support vessel.
Their studio’s thinking goes beyond what gets painted on the clay. ZPOTS says its electric kilns are powered using solar energy and Vermont’s Cow Power program. Even the electricity firing the pots has a story.
And that still barely gets us through one tiny corner of the artist list.
There are jewelers, furniture makers, printmakers, sculptors, painters, photographers, fiber artists, ceramicists, glass artists, woodworkers and studios making things we do not know how to describe without pointing and saying, ‘wait, what is THAT?’
That is the fun.
WHY LYNDHURST MAKES THE WHOLE THING BETTER
You could put 200 excellent makers inside a convention center and still have an excellent craft show. But it would not be this.
Lyndhurst is a 67-acre Hudson River estate anchored by one of America’s great Gothic Revival mansions. Architecture, furniture, decorative art and landscape design are already baked into the place before Artrider unloads a single tent.
Then, for three days, contemporary makers move in outside.
Historic decorative arts inside. Living artists outside.
Glass, clay, wood, textiles, jewelry and furniture being made now, sitting on the lawn of a place built around what people made then.
It works.
And importantly, you do not have to spend six straight hours staring at merchandise until your eyeballs resign.
Your craft-show ticket includes access to Lyndhurst’s grounds, where you can walk away from the tents, find the river, explore the rose garden, see the carriage house and conservatory, eat lunch, sit down for a minute and return when you remember why you came.
HERE IS HOW WE WOULD DO THE DAY
IF YOU WANT TO SHOP
Go Friday.
The show opens at 10 a.m. Friday, September 18, and runs until 5 p.m. The weekend-only kids programming does not start until Saturday, so Friday is the day we would choose if our main mission was seeing the work, talking to artists and leaving with something we absolutely did not need but will defend forever.
Get there around opening. Spend the first couple of hours walking before deciding what you are buying. If you love something, take a photo of the booth name or make a note because ‘I’ll remember where it was’ is a lie people tell themselves at large festivals.
Then eat.
There will be food trucks and gourmet specialties including BBQ, wood-fired pizza, crepes, seafood, burgers, ice cream and vegetarian choices, plus New York distillery and winery tastings and a mobile beer and wine truck.
After lunch, leave the booths for a while. Walk the grounds. Go look at the river. Find the rose garden. Let your shopping brain cool down.
Then do your second pass and buy the thing you have been thinking about since 10:42 that morning.
That is our Friday.
IF YOU ARE BRINGING KIDS, GO SATURDAY OR SUNDAY
Weekend days add interactive puppet theater, face painting, craft demonstrations and, new for 2026, a scavenger craft hunt with prizes.
Saturday runs 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., which also gives you the longest festival day.
At 11 a.m. Saturday, author J.W. Ocker is presenting Chasing the Headless Horseman at Lyndhurst. Craft fair in the morning. Headless Horseman history. Lunch. Then send everybody back out looking for pottery. That is an extremely respectable Saturday.
SUNDAY HAS A GILDED AGE NERD OPTION
Fall Crafts runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. That afternoon, Lyndhurst hosts a Dark Genius of Wall Street program tied to former Lyndhurst owner Jay Gould.
So if your household contains one person who wants ceramics and another who would rather spend Sunday discussing a robber baron, congratulations. You have found your compromise.
SHOULD YOU TOUR THE MANSION TOO?
If you have never been inside Lyndhurst, yes, we would seriously consider adding it.
The Classic Mansion Tour is a separate ticket from Fall Crafts and runs about an hour through two floors and roughly 16 rooms. Do not casually assume you can grab a tour when you arrive. Lyndhurst says tours can sell out, so book ahead and build the craft fair around your timed entry.
Also know your group: the Classic Tour involves extended standing and stairs, and large bags, backpacks and strollers are not allowed inside.
MAKE A WEEKEND OUT OF IT
We have already built Tarrytown weekends around this festival before because this is one of the easier events to turn into a legitimate overnight escape.
You have Lyndhurst. Tarrytown. Sleepy Hollow next door. The Hudson. Historic houses. Restaurants. And by mid-September, the entire area is preparing to become completely unhinged about the Headless Horseman again.
If you want the stay to match the estate mood, Tarrytown House Estate is our atmosphere pick.
If you want to lean fully into the Tarrytown/Sleepy Hollow weekend, Sleepy Hollow Hotel, Dolce by Wyndham is another full-service option close to the action.
If your hotel’s main job is to give you more room, breakfast and somewhere comfortable to collapse after carrying pottery around all day, SpringHill Suites by Marriott Tarrytown Westchester County is the practical pick.
BEFORE YOU GO
DATES: Friday, September 18 through Sunday, September 20, 2026.
HOURS: Friday 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Saturday 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Sunday 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
WHERE: Lyndhurst, 635 South Broadway, Tarrytown, New York.
ONLINE ADMISSION: General $13, seniors 62+ $12, ages 6-16 $6, under 6 free, plus service fees.
AT THE GATE: General $16, seniors $15, ages 6-16 $8, under 6 free. Lyndhurst says gate sales are cash only, so do not arrive armed exclusively with Apple Pay and confidence.
DISCOUNT: Artrider has a $1-off admission coupon. Each person needs an individual coupon, and it does not apply to child admission.
PARKING: Free on-site parking. Saturday and Sunday have overflow parking with a free shuttle.
TRAIN: Artrider describes Lyndhurst as a short cab ride from the Metro-North station.
WEATHER: The show is outdoors and runs rain or shine.
KIDS: Weekend activities are Saturday and Sunday.
DOGS: No pets inside the craft show site. Service animals only.
REFUNDS: Craft-show tickets are non-refundable and non-exchangeable.
MANSION: Craft-show admission does not include mansion admission. Tours are separate.
TICKETING QUESTIONS: Lyndhurst lists its box office at 914-303-6838.
THE REASON WE KEEP COMING BACK TO THIS ONE
Every year the Hudson Valley calendar gets flooded with fall events.
Some are good for an hour. Some are good for a pumpkin photo and a cider donut.
Fall Crafts at Lyndhurst is different because you can build a whole day around it without inventing reasons to stay.
You can meet a potter who burns flowers out of clay. Talk to somebody who has spent almost 50 years perfecting a spoon. Try on silk that began as a hand-painted piece of fabric. Eat lunch. Walk down toward the Hudson. Go inside a Gothic mansion. Learn about the Headless Horseman. Come back through the tents and discover you are still thinking about that lamp you absolutely said you were not buying.
And behind all of it is a family business that has spent more than four decades creating places for artists and audiences to find each other.
That is what Jackie Hersh grew up inside.
That is what Artrider still does.
And for three days in September, they are bringing the whole thing back to Lyndhurst.
We would clear the weekend.
Fall Crafts at Lyndhurst | September 18-20, 2026 | Lyndhurst, Tarrytown, New York
