By SARA FURLONG

s.furlong@bradfordera.com

RIDGWAY – More than 100 carvers and nearly 40 vendors are set to put on quite a show April 23 to 26 for the 24th Annual Ridgway Chainsaw Carvers Rendezvous.

There will be live carving, finished carvings for sale, food, beverages, live entertainment, and a small auction at 3 p.m.

Saturday after the ‘quick carve’ set for 1:30.

The borough expects 25,000 to 30,000 visitors for the event, staged every year but two during the covid pandemic since 1999.

Hosted by Appalachian Arts Studio, the event is held at Ridgway Mills Campground, 260 W.

Main St., a venue that organizer Liz Boni said is ‘the best’ of all the venues used so far.

‘We used to do it throughout town and it was so hard to manage. It was a logistics nightmare and very difficult for our crew,’ Boni said. ‘The crowd loved it in town, going back and forth to the stores, but they still do that.

‘It’s so much easier to do it (at Ridgway Mills) because it’s all concrete — conducive to conducting a

Chainsaw… page A-8

A majestic elk by Dennis Beach Carvings stands tall against a bright blue sky at a previous Ridgway Chainsaw Carvers Rendezvous.

Era file photo chainsaw carving event.”

Boni’s husband, Rick, is a carver. He and his twin brother, Randy, got together in the early 1990s with nine carvers they happened to know.

“Carving was a new thing — we didn’t know if there was anybody out there (also carving),” Liz Boni said. “The internet came out about that time and we were able to make contact with a few people.

“We had so much fun doing this at the studio that we decided to take it public in 1999. We did it at Sandy Beach (Park). We had 33 carvers and that was incredible.”

There were two international carvers on the roster that year — one from Germany and one from England.

From there, “it just blossomed,” Boni recalled. “Somebody said it was like rolling a snowball down a hill. It just grew. The timing was perfect, the internet was new and people were searching for things to do. From there it’s really grown exponentially.”

The 2025 edition will feature 103 carvers and live carving every day. Each artist will start with an 8-foot log to create a piece before the crowd’s eyes. Thursday will also include a carving demonstration by Travis Burrows at 10 a.m. and a carving seminar at 11 a.m., by Steve Backus and Jamie Doeren.

The festivities will run from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. April 23, 24 and 25, and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 26.

“I’m always looking forward to meeting new people and to the crowd’s reaction,” Boni said. “It’s always very positive and it makes you want to do it again because it’s a really hard show to put on.”

For a complete schedule of events and lists of carvers, vendors and performers, visit the event’s website, chainsawrendezvous. org. A $5 gate fee for adults — children 17 and younger pay no admission — buys a wristband good for all four days of this year’s Rendezvous.

According to the website, “Each year the event attracts novice, amateur and professional chainsaw carvers who share this unique art form with the public. Carvers come from all across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Australia and Denmark. The multi-national event has made people call Ridgway the Chainsaw Carving Capital of the World.”