[photo credit: Jackalope Arts]
The Jackalope Indie Artisan Fair returns Saturday and Sunday to the park where co-founders Sara Diederich and Melissa Kohout staged their very first event in 2015. The fair, now in its 11th year, has grown from a single food truck at the top of the park to a signature Old Pasadena weekend drawing artisans from across Southern California — but Pasadena remains its anchor. Diederich told Pasadena Weekly that the city holds “a special place in our heart as being our number one home, especially Central Park.”
This year’s edition debuts a walk-through butterfly garden presented by Grace & Honor. Visitors can hand-feed hundreds of butterflies inside the enclosure, and a pollinator release at day’s end will send the insects into the surrounding neighborhood. Diederich told Pasadena Weekly that it’s the first time the fair has featured butterflies, and guests will be able to enter the enclosure and interact with the butterflies.
The butterfly garden is one piece of a broader hands-on program. The fair’s nonprofit arm, Jackalope Gives, hosts free flower picture frame building and friendship bracelet making. A live custom screen-printing station invites attendees to bring their own T-shirt, tote bag, or jacket for an on-the-spot print. Children can paint pots and plant seeds with Brella, while Sparklez Slimez offers a customizable slime station and Face Painting By Linda sets up nearby.
Adults have their own diversions. Artist Mary Milliken draws ink or watercolor portraits in roughly 20 minutes. Los Angeles street poet Bryan Mahoney types custom poems on vintage typewriters. Chubby Beagle Productions sketches live caricatures, and tarot readers offer walk-up sessions. A floral mosaic make-and-take workshop from Piece by Piece runs $15 for a 30-minute session — one of the few activities with a fee.
Every vendor at the fair passes a jury review. Diederich told Pasadena Weekly the curation standard is strict: “We’re not looking for vintage or AI-generated work. We want to have work that was hand created by all the artists that are part of the event. That’s really the biggest criteria that we look for.” Goods on offer range from original jewelry and paper goods to photography, housewares, and artisan food. Participating vendors include Altadena Maid Products, Arivka Jewelry, and Friendly Folk, according to Pasadena Weekly. Food trucks Bao Bao Express and Thai Mex Cocina are also on the lineup, Pasadena Weekly reported.
The Altadena connection runs deeper than a single vendor. Team member Gloria, who helps organize the fair, was born and raised in Altadena and joined Jackalope as a high school intern before studying psychology and philosophy and returning to the organization, according to the Jackalope Arts website. The fair’s nonprofit, Jackalope Gives — a California 501(c)(3) — was founded in part to support artisans who lost their homes in the Eaton and Palisades fires, according to Pasadena Weekly.
Live music from local performers, including Rusty Perez, Ricky England, and Paul Falcon, runs both days, according to Pasadena Weekly. Admission is free, the grounds are ADA-accessible, and the event is open to all ages.
Jackalope returns to Pasadena twice more this year: the ARTWalk at Playhouse Village on September 19–20 and a fall fair back at Central Park on November 14–15.
*Jackalope Indie Artisan Fair, Saturday and Sunday, April 25–26, 2026, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Free admission. Central Park, 275 S. Raymond Ave., Pasadena. Recommended parking at Fishbecks, 150 S. Raymond Ave. Metro A Line riders can exit at Del Mar Station, across the street from the park. For more, call (323) 989-2278 or visit www.jackalopeartfair.com/old-
