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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Long’s Park Art & Craft Festival Named Fourth Best Show in the Nation.

LANCASTER, PA -- It rained cats and dogs this past Labor Day weekend, but that didn’t stand in the way of the Long’s Park Art & Craft Festival capturing national attention.  Despite a virtual rainout one of the four days of the 2006 show, the fine art and craft show has just been named the fourth best in America by The Harris List.

In addition to its fourth place national ranking, Harris named the Long’s Park Art & Craft Festival best in the Northeast region and best in Pennsylvania. The Harris List is a national ranking service for the country’s 120 best art and craft shows.  

Last year The Harris List rated the Long’s Park show seventh in the country in 2005.  Early in 2006 ArtFair SourceBook, the other annual nationwide rating service, cited Long’s Park as America’s sixth best fine art and craft show. “We are humbled by this recognition,” said 2006 festival director Donna Stephen Reinaker of Lancaster.  “To have reached this level of excellence speaks volumes for our community’s support of our show and for our hundreds of dedicated volunteers.  Without this support, Long’s Park wouldn’t be what it is today.”  

Reinaker has led the Long’s Park show as its volunteer festival director the past three years.  She is in her second term of service as Lancaster County register of wills.

The Long’s Park Art & Craft Festival was founded in 1979 as the primary revenue source for the regionally renowned Long’s Park Summer Entertainment Series.  Over the years it has grown in size and reputation.  An estimated 1,000 artists and craftspeople from across the country now vie to be one of the show’s coveted 200 exhibitors.  Approximately 20,000 guests from across the Mid-Atlantic region and beyond make the show a regular part of their Labor Day weekend celebration.  The volunteer-driven event is supported by just one paid staff member. Artist applications to be a part of the 2007 show are being accepted online at www.longspark.org through February 28, 2007.  The 2007 Long’s Park Art & Craft Festival will be held Labor Day weekend, Friday through Monday, August 31 to September 3.

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