The Pasadena Bead and Design Show opened Friday at the Convention Center with a sparkle that matched the goods on display — from rough gemstones and antique trade beads to handmade jewelry, sacred oils, and Native art. Now doubled in size, this year’s event spans more than 50,000 square feet and features around 300 exhibitors, along with hands-on workshops and artisan demonstrations.
“This is the biggest it’s ever been,” said show manager Casey Manager Casey Kennerson of Garan Beadacio, LLC, who have run the event since 2008. “We started here in Pasadena after years of doing the Tucson shows. It’s really our second home now — we do four events a year here.”
The show draws a dedicated clientele, 90% of them women, mostly aged 40 to 65. “But it’s really anyone who loves handmade, unique pieces — crafters, collectors, and just people who appreciate beauty,” she added.
Christopher Kamuck, whose booth “Silk Road Treasures” offers a mix of ancient, antique, and newly recreated jewelry styles, showcased a cornelian and Berber-chain necklace he made using African elements. “Some of these designs go back 500 years,” he said. “It’s a hodgepodge of history.”
Around the corner, Kissima Drammae of KS Brothers African Import presided over a section of tables of antique African trade beads — some dating back to the 17th century. “We import from all over the continent,” he explained. “Ghana, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Kenya. We even have bone beads from cow bones.” His business began in 1984 and now includes his children.
“It started with me,” he said proudly, “but it’s grown into a family thing.”
That family spirit was everywhere. Lori Myers, a Sitka-born Native artist from Alaska, stood behind her colorful booth filled with handmade beadwork. “I think of myself as a raccoon — I collect shiny things,” she joked. “It’s so much fun to be Native right now.”
Myers teaches art through the Kern County Arts Council’s “Common Ground” program and finds deep purpose in connecting others to their roots. “It helps them,” she said. “But it also helps me.”
Elsewhere, Cheri Arellano of Divine Light Codes offered healing oils and sprays she creates herself, infused with crystals and affirmations. “If you need more grounding,” she said, “you can work with the oil called ‘I Am Grounded.’” The products align with chakras and draw from her work as an energy healer, she said. “Each item is a self-healing tool.”
Arrellano, like many of the show’s participants, also exhibits in Tucson. “This is my first Pasadena show,” she said. “But I already love it here.”
And that’s the magic of the Pasadena Bead and Design Show — part marketplace, part cultural crossroads, and part spiritual retreat. Or as one loyal vendor put it simply: “It’s a little bit of heaven.”
The Pasadena Bead & Design Show runs Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day at the Pasadena Convention Center, Exhibit Hall B, 300 E. Green Street in downtown Pasadena. For more, click here. $10 admission.
