Cancellation of the 2020 Festival

With regret that is beyond words, we are announcing the cancellation of the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival for the first time in our 47 year history. We had originally intended to reassess the circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak at the beginning of April, but the ever-increasing bad news in terms of the virus and its effects, and the increasing government restrictions on public gatherings that we do not see being lifted in time for the festival have led us to follow the lead of national, state, and county authorities and make this extremely difficult decision.

We realize that there are many of you that will be disappointed, and, beyond disappointment, we realize that for many vendors the business they do at the Festival is the single biggest contributor to their annual income. However, we want all of you, your communities, and everyone you interact with to stay safe and well, so we feel that this is the correct decision to make at this time.

Because of the complexity involved in planning this event—over 53 different committees, plus several hundred committee members and volunteers—rescheduling the Festival for a later date is not a viable option. We are looking into things we can do to help our vendors, such as the possibility of providing some kind of online virtual marketplace. Some of you have expressed an interest in purchasing t-shirts even if we don’t have a Festival, so that is something else we will be looking into. Stay tuned for further information.

Refunds will automatically be given to everyone who registered online for Fiber Arts Seminars, Shepherd Workshops, or Family Activities. Entry fees for the Sheep Shows, Fleece Show & Sale, and Sheep-to-Shawl entries will also be returned. If you paid for a 2020 catalog, we will apply that money to a catalog for next year. If you purchased admission tickets, we will be happy to give you a refund, but ask that you consider donating your admission fee to the Festival to help defray the expenses that have gone in to planning the Festival thus far, as well as any fees we may incur because of this unanticipated cancellation. If you wish to request a refund of your admission fee, you may do so by going to “Tickets” in your Eventbrite account, finding your order, then selecting “Request a Refund”; or by emailing . If you do not request a refund, we will assume you have chosen to donate your admission fee. We are also going to leave the “Donate” ticket option open at https://mswf2020.eventbrite.com/ for those of you who would like to make an extra donation to help us out.

Please remember to take care of yourselves and to take care of one another, and join is for the 48th annual Festival on May 1 & 2, 2021.

3/19/20 Update

Because the 2020 catalogs were all printed before the decision was made to cancel the Festival, we have decided to go ahead and mail catalogs to everyone who ordered one, and we are reopening catalog sales at https://mswf2020.eventbrite.com/. We have a couple of thousand of them that would normally be given away at the Festival sitting on pallets at the fairgrounds, and we’d love to get rid of them. So order a catalog to commemorate the Festival that never happened! Your purchase will help offset the printing costs. Plus they are chock full of advertisers that could use your support right now!

Don’t forget that can you also use Eventbrite to make a donation to help offset the expenses that went into planning the Festival so far, as well as any fees we may incur because of the unanticipated cancellation.

2023 Featured Breed: Jacob

Learn more about the Jacob breed and talk to JSBA members in the Breed Display Barn (Barn 7-8 on the map) while you are at the Festival.

Schedule of Events

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In case you missed our earlier announcement, we are now accepting orders for a second printing of large tote bags and moss green t-shirts at www.sheepman.com/product-category/maryland-sheep-wool-festival-online/. Orders will be accepted through COB on Wednesday, May 24th. After that time, the order will go to the printer. They have given us a turn around time of around 2 weeks to have the items printed. Once we have the shirts in hand, we will start shipping to fulfill the orders. Your credit card will not be charged until your order ships. Note: The "guesstimated" shipping fee that is computer generated by the online sales platform at the time of your order tends to run high. You will likely notice the actual charge when your order is shipped is considerably less. Store pickup at the Sheepman Supply showroom in Frederick, MD is also possible; put "store pick up" in special instructions when you check out and you won't be charged the shipping. #mdsw #mdsw2023 #festivalgear #celebrating50years ... See MoreSee Less
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Due to the overwhelming popularity of our 50th anniversary items, we are now accepting orders for a second printing of select items at www.sheepman.com/product-category/maryland-sheep-wool-festival-online/. The order period will run until COB on Wednesday, May 24, at which time we will send the order off to the screen printing company. The delivery time will run 2-4 weeks from that point. These second printing items are limited to the large boat tote bag and a short-sleeve t-shirt in Moss green. The shirts are a ComfortWash by Hanes garment-dyed t-shirts in 5.5 ounce, 100% ring-spun cotton and standard unisex sizing, sizes S to 3X. All sales on this second printing will be final (no returns or exchanges). There is also a small quantity of already-printed items available on a first-come, first- served basis until supplies are exhausted:Short-sleeve t-shirt in “Indigo Blue” – Small (16), Medium (14), Large (8), XL (6), 2X (4), 4X (4), 5X (2)Hooded long-sleeve t-shirt in “Saltwater” – Small (6), Medium (4), Large (4), XL (8)Large boat tote bags (8) – these are the same mentioned above“Peacock” blue backpack (13)“Red Rock” beach wash shoulder tote (6)Large posters (12)Small posters (7)These are the same items that were available online prior to the festival and were also sold at the festival. Pickup at Sheepman Supply in Frederick, MD is available. Put “Store Pick Up” in special instructions when you check out and you won’t be charged the shipping. Thank you for your patience while we worked out these details.#mdsw #mdsw2023 #celebrating50years #festivalgear ... See MoreSee Less
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