Village of Knives Celebration Returns to Little Valley
Village of Knives Celebration Returns to Little Valley
Rooted in Little Valley’s rich cutlery past, this year’s Village of Knives Celebration honors the legacy of America’s knife makers with two days of history, vendors, food, and family-friendly fun.
Whether you’re planning to slice a watermelon, cut open a box, or whittle the perfect marshmallow-roasting stick, you wouldn’t get very far without a knife. Despite recent technological progress, this simple and versatile tool remains unmatched - a fact especially celebrated in Little Valley, once the world's leading knife producer. Aptly nicknamed the “Village of Knives,” Little Valley is now home to the annual Village of Knives Celebration, which is taking place at the Cattaraugus County Fairgrounds this Friday and Saturday, July 11-12th from 9:00am-5:00pm.
The idea for a knife festival began last year with Ellicottville Mayor John Burrell and his cousin, Brad Lockwood, author of The Case Cutlery Dynasty: Tested XX. Burrell and Lockwood are descendants of the Case family, America’s oldest and largest family of knife makers who started, owned, or ran 32 different cutlery companies in the Ellicottville area. Just a few years ago, Burrell started his own company, Top Flight Early American Cutlery, and in talking with Lockwood, making knives, and traveling to knife shows, the two decided that Little Valley should celebrate the village’s unique history with a festival. The inaugural festival took place last year, drawing the attention of knife collectors and vendors from all over the country, as well as the owner and editor of Knife Magazine, Mark Zaleski, who recognized the value and unique nature of the event. Reflecting on his conversation with Zaleski, Burrell recalled, “He said, ‘It’s a festival, a celebration. Just keep that up and do more and more of that, because that’s what people want. They want history.’”
And when it comes to history, Burrell and Lockwood have it in spades! “I’ve got collectors that can tell me how many of a particular knife were made and what they sell for,” said Burrell. “I can’t do that, but I can add history. And more importantly history, like Brad, history of the family. You know, the collector that can tell me how many were made and what they sell for doesn’t know anything about the people that made them.” Burrell certainly does, as his grandmother, Addy Case Burrell, was the daughter of Jean Case, who along with his two brothers, started the first Case brothers-owned cutlery company. “The first Case knife company was Case Brothers, and that was in Little Valley, and her dad was president and she, as a teenager, ran the office… She actually spent 67 years of her life actively involved in the cutlery industry: office manager at Case Brothers, office manager and part owner at Kinfolks Cutlery, and then co-founder and owner of Burrell Cutlery here in Ellicottville.”
The festival welcomes families and kids! Admission is just $1 (children under 10 are free) and benefits the local library, fire department, American Legion, and other community groups. Buttons that say “Junior Knife Ambassador” will be given out to all children in attendance, as the festival emphasizes history, tradition, and safety for the next generation. Burrell said, “As a former Boy Scout, I enjoyed as a youngster learning the safety and how to handle knives… Times have changed a lot, but especially in rural areas like this, we can still connect the knife as a tool and how to use it properly, how to clean it, how to store it, but also the history about it and especially the history for western New York and northwestern Pennsylvania.”
Last year’s event brought out 46 vendors and 3,000 attendees, and this year’s festival promises to be even bigger. As of last week, the festival has 96 vendors from across the country and 125 tables being set up, and Burrell has 4,800 admission wristbands ready. In honor of the festival, Ellicottville Brewing Company is relaunching their limited edition Village of Knives Vienna Lager, available exclusively at their Little Valley pub. “We do so much more than a knife show,” Burrell said.
Enjoy delicious food, view incredible collections, learn about Little Valley’s knife history, including vital wartime manufacturing, take a self-guided walking tour of the many former sites of Little Valley’s cutlery history, purchase a limited-edition festival knife, and more. Additional information is available at www.villageofknives.com.