The Kings Mountain Art Fair returned to its bucolic setting among the redwoods this Labor Day weekend, holding in-person festivities following a two years of going virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now in its 59th year, proceeds from the juried art fair support the Kings Mountain Elementary School and the Kings Mountain Volunteer Fire Brigade, which responds to over 300 calls per year, according to fair volunteer Erin Baumgartner.

Local residents started the event in 1963 as a fundraiser to help create a volunteer fire department for the remote Kings Mountain community. The first fair, held in a red barn, featured mostly local artists and raised $50, organizers said.

Photos by Vivian Cromwell.